Kottayam pitches rural employment scheme as answer to shortage of rubber tappers
The Kottayam district panchayat is proposing to include rubber tapping under the rural employment guarantee scheme to combat a severe labor shortage. This initiative aims to help growers capitalize on record-high rubber prices while providing stable employment for rural workers.
Why it matters
This represents a potential policy shift to link rural welfare schemes with specific agricultural labor needs to boost productivity.
With a severe shortage of skilled tappers leaving thousands of rubber trees untapped despite record prices, the Kottayam district panchayat has proposed bringing rubber tapping under the revamped rural employment guarantee scheme, Viksit Bharat–Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin).
Even as natural rubber has traded above ₹250 a kg for the past two months, many growers have been unable to capitalise on the rally, with plantations lying untapped for want of workers. Seeking to address the labour shortage , the district panchayat has submitted memorandums to both the Union and the State governments, arguing that bringing rubber tapping under the employment guarantee programme could simultaneously generate rural employment and ease the chronic shortage of tappers in rubber-growing regions.
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