The Ration Book
Chapter Thirty-Four
Syllabus topic 5, "Types of Farm Records- Specimen. (Muster roll, Overseer’s diary, Cultivation register, Cashbook, Stock book, Issue register, Receipt register, Labour requisition book, Attendance register, Deadstock, Ration book, Peon book, General register)."
Pages 76 to 77 of 110
In one line
The ration book is the record of grain and provisions issued from the farm's own produce to the labour, in place of or in addition to a cash wage, showing what was issued, to whom, in what quantity, and against which wage.
Why a record of this exists at all
Because payment in kind is normal on an Indian farm and it is income and expenditure at the same moment.
Grain given to a labourer is:
- a credit to the crop, because the produce has left the farm and the crop must be given the value of it; and
- a debit to wages, because it is part of what the labourer was paid.
A farm that issues grain and records nothing understates its wages and overstates its closing stock, and the profit is wrong twice over.
Who receives a ration
- Regular staff whose terms include a monthly grain allowance.
- Casual labour where local custom pays part of the wage in grain.
- Resident labour and their families, where the farm provides food.
- A watchman, a cattle attendant or a driver living on the farm.
The specimen
Shivneri Farm, Baramati. Ration book for November 2026.
| Sr | Name | Item | Quantity kg | Rate Rs. | Value Rs. | Against cash wage or extra | Signature |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | S. R. Pawar | Jowar | 40 | 32 | 1,280 | Terms of service, extra | Signed |
| 2 | M. Gaikwad | Jowar | 30 | 32 | 960 | Terms of service, extra | Signed |
| 3 | R. Jadhav | Jowar | 30 | 32 | 960 | Terms of service, extra | Signed |
| 4 | V. Salunke | Jowar | 30 | 32 | 960 | Terms of service, extra | Signed |
| 5 | A. More | Jowar | 25 | 32 | 800 | Deducted from cash wage | Signed |
| 6 | K. Shinde | Jowar | 20 | 32 | 640 | Deducted from cash wage | Signed |
| Total | 175 | 5,600 |
Issued from the jowar store on the authority of the Proprietor. Rate: the farm gate price ruling on the date of issue. Stock book folio: Jowar, issues of 175 kg on 30-11-2026.
The column that decides the accounting
"Against cash wage or extra." It has two possible answers and they are accounted for differently.
Extra, being part of the terms of service. The value is an additional wage cost. The cash wage is unchanged and Rs. 4,160 is added to wages.
Deducted from the cash wage. The value is part of the wage already recorded. The muster roll shows the full wage, and the ration value is deducted from what is paid in cash. Wages are not increased; only the mix of cash and kind changes.
A student who treats the second case as an extra cost has double counted the wage, and that is the commonest error on this topic.
The valuation
At the farm gate price ruling on the date of issue. Not at cost of production, because the labourer is receiving something the farm could have sold, and not at the retail price, because the farm is not a shop.
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