Is Rural Non Farm Sector the Last Resort for Employment in India

TLDR: In this article, the authors attempted to review the determinants of rural non-farm employment i.e. the factors determining the access by the households and individuals to rural nonfarm income generation activities.

Abstract: The current trend in Indian Economy reveals that the excessive dependence on agriculture as a source of livelihood is on continuous (steady) decline and rural employment base has accordingly witnessed a modest degree of diversification. In this paper it has been attempted to review the determinants of rural non-farm employment i.e. the factors determining the access by the households and individuals to rural non-farm income generation activities. The share of total working population in Primary sector is more than 60% even today but its contribution to GDP is around 21%. The statistics reveal that the large population is unproductively engaged in agriculture and the need of the hour is to take this huge army of labour into more productive sectors. These statistics reveal that the country is facing huge challenges of productive employment in agriculture and its allied activities. That's why in India, non-farm activities in rural areas have become increasingly important.