Question

why are the wages for farm labourers in palampur is less than minimum wages set by the government?

Answer 1

A waged labourer might be employed on a daily basis, or for one particular farm activity like harvesting, or for the whole year. Most small farmers have to borrow money to arrange for the capital. They borrow from large farmers or the village moneylenders or the traders who supply various inputs for cultivation. The rate of interest on such loans is very high. They are put to great distress to repay the loan. Hence they pay very low wages to the farm labourers.