Agricultural labourers use mobile apps to avoid being cheated

The labourers are charging Rs.4,500 to Rs.5,000 per acre to plant paddy. However, to cut costs, some farmers were allegedly misleading the labourers by giving wrong measurements of the land.

Karimnagar: Agricultural labourers from other States are utilizing modern technology to avoid being cheated by farmers here. With a few instances of them being misguided on the extent of the land wherein paddy plantation would be taken up, labourers have now started using mobile applications to measure the exact area of the land.

A number of agricultural labourers from different States such as Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh and Odisha have been engaged in paddy plantation in different parts of the State.

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The labourers are charging Rs.4,500 to Rs.5,000 per acre to plant paddy. However, to cut costs, some farmers were allegedly misleading the labourers by giving wrong measurements of the land.

If 5.5 to 6 acres of land was available in a particular location, the farmer would say that it was only 5 acres. As a result, the labourers would lose on what they actually deserve. To check this kind of cheating, they started using mobile measurement apps. A 13-member team of labourers from Tanakpur road, Neoria Husainpur in Pilibhit of UP, are using the Distance and Area Measurement App.

Speaking to Telangana Today, one of the team members, Golak Mandal, said that except land owners, it was not possible for anybody else to measure the exact area of the land with just their eyes. They had faced a number of instances of farmers telling them wrong area measurements during the last four years, following which they decided to using a distance and area measurement app to know the exact area of the land.

The process is very simple, says Mandal. Once the app was downloaded on the mobile phone, they just had to walk a round of the land with the app on. The exact measurement of the land would be displayed on the screen, he said.

Another labourer, Ashid Bairagi said they had migrated here leaving their children and elderly parents in UP. They did not want to suffer losses by being misguided by farmers. Though they charged around Rs.4,500 for an acre, they had to pay Rs.1,000 to the agent for providing work and accommodation.