Question

Give an account of the occupational structure of India’s population.

Answer 1

The population of India according to their economic status is divided into three groups, namely; main workers, marginal workers, and non-workers. It is observed that in India, the proportion of workers (both main and marginal) is only 39 percent (2001) leaving a vast majority of 61 percent as non-workers. This indicates an economic status in which there is a larger proportion of the dependent population, further indicating the possible existence of a large number of unemployed or under-employed people.

The occupational composition of India’s population (which actually means engagement of an individual in farming, manufacturing trade, services, or any kind of professional activities) shows a large proportion of primary sector workers compared to secondary and tertiary sectors. About 58.2 per cent of the total working population are cultivators and agricultural labourers, whereas only 4.2% of workers are engaged in household industries and 37.6% are other workers including non-household industries, trade, commerce, construction and repair and others. services. As far as the occupation of the country’s male and female population is concerned, male workers outnumber female workers in all three sectors. The number of female workers is relatively high in the primary sector, though in recent years there has been some improvement in the work participation of women in secondary and tertiary sectors.

The participation rate in secondary and tertiary sectors has registered an increase. This indicates a shift of dependence of workers from farm-based occupations to non-farm-based ones, indicating a sectoral shift in the economy of the country. The spatial variation of work participation rate in different sectors in the country is very wide. For instance, the states like Himachal Pradesh and Nagaland have very large shares of cultivators. On the other hand states like Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh have a higher proportion of agricultural labourers. The highly urbanized areas like Delhi, Chandigarh and Puducherry have a very large proportion of workers being engaged in other services.