socio-economic profile of rubber tappers in the small holding sector

Women engaged in tapping have got an advantage. In other agricultural works
labourers have to work up to 5’O clock in the evening. In most of the holdings, rubber
tapping and allied works are completed in the forenoon. So women tappers get more time
for household works than women workers in other sectors. But they have to get up early
in the morning for starting tapping .
Though the time period of work is comparatively low, tapping is heavy and
strenuous. As most of the male tappers are free in the afternoon they get enough time for
taking rest. But most of the women tappers are forced to undertake household work after
completing the tedious job of tapping . All the sample women tappers get up within the
time period 4 A.M to 5.30 A.M.Out of the sample women, 7 persons can go for tapping
only after doing some urgent kitchen works like making bed coffee, break fast etc. After
tapping, only 5 women can reach their home in the forenoon; the rest return only about 2
PM.The working day of a women tapper is longer than that of men by significant margin.
But at the same time they eat much lesser than men and as the last person in the family.
General health condition of women tappers is very poor because of their
continuous engagement in household works or tapping from dawn to desk. Moreover, the
gravity of occupational physical problems such as back pain, chest pain etc. is high
among them.
Leela Babu has been tapping for 26 years. Now she is 49 years old. Husband is
working in a hotel. He is under the treatment of a psychiatrist, which worsens the
financial position of the household. Now she becomes the ‘head of the household’. They
have a daughter of 25 years old. The residential facilities are very low. Leela is suffering
from back pain and chest pain due to the household work and the hard work of tapping.
However she is confident with the tapping work. She explains their financial difficulties
to get their daughter married. She is anxious of her future. She tries her level best to save