Rural Non-Farm Employment of the Scheduled Castes in India

Transcription

1 International Journal of Research in ocial ciences Vol. 8 Issue 3, March 218, IN: Impact Factor: 7.81 Journal Homepage: Double-Blind Peer Reviewed Refereed Open Access International Journal - Included in the International erial Directories Indexed & Listed at: Ulrich's Periodicals Directory, U..A., Open J-Gage as well as in Cabell s Directories of Publishing Opportunities, U..A Rural -Farm Employment of the cheduled Castes in India Dr. atyen arkar Keywords: Rural economic activity; -farm employment; cheduled Castes People; Human capital; Abstract he study analyzes the rural non-farm employment in India and examines the participation of Cs in the rural non-farm sector, given the inadequate access of the Cs to agricultural land and capital assets. It also tries to evaluate the trends in the magnitude of rural non-farm employment from the 198s to the late 2s. he participation rates are examined on the parameters of age, economic activity, employment and unemployment rates and wages. he paper accentuates the relative situation of the Cs by undertaking a comparative analysis with the other social groups in India and in that regards encapsulates the changes. We hope that the study could help policymakers and others to formulate appropriate policies for an improvement in human capital in the Cs workers in India. he paper concludes by evaluating the implications of the results obtained from the analysis for the promotion of non-farm employment in the rural areas among the Cs. Assistant Professor in Economics, A.C.College of Commerce, D.B.C.Road, Jalpaiguri, West Bengal, India. 359 International Journal of Research in ocial ciences

2 IN: Impact Factor: INRODUCION he Composition of the cheduled Caste Population According to the Census 211, the C population in India (excluding the population of subdivisions of enapati district of Manipur) stood at persons, which constituted 1. percent of the total population. Of the total C population in 21, 79.8 percent resided in the rural areas and conversely, the rest 2.2 percent in the urban areas. Further, the sex ratio of the Cs stood at 93 females per thousand males and slightly higher than the national average of 933. he largest proportion of the C population to the total population, in the order of ranking, was found for the states of Punjab (28.9 percent) followed by Himachal Pradesh (2.7 percent), and West Bengal (23 percent) respectively. In Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Pondicherry, the proportion of the C and the population to the total population was an exact equal of the national average of 1.2 percent. he lowest concentration of the Cs was found in the northeastern region, seemingly so due to a high concentration of the tribal population in the region. tates such as Mizoram (with negligible or 272 persons) followed by Meghalaya (.5 percent) and Arunachal Pradesh (. percent) had negligible C population. he highest percentages of C population to total population were reported for the states of Uttar Pradesh (21.1 percent) followed by West Bengal (11.1 percent), Bihar (7.8 percent), Andhra Pradesh (7. percent) and amil Nadu (7.1 percent) respectively. In fact, almost 55 percent of the total C population resides in these five states. able 1, provides the percentages of the C population in India since the 191 Census. able 1. Percentage of rends of the cheduled Caste Population Census otal Population C Population (in Percentage of the C Population to Year (in millions) millions) the otal Population * ** *** **** International Journal of Research in ocial ciences

3 IN: Impact Factor: 7.81 Note: *Excludes Assam in 1981, **excludes Jammu and Kashmir in 1991, and ***excludes the Mao-Maran, Paomata, and Purul sub-divisions of enapati district in Manipur. ource: Primary Census Abstract, Office of the Registrar General, New Delhi, India, 21 & 211. he scheduled castes (Cs) constitute a little less than one fifths of the total population of India. However, about seventy percent of them reside in the rural areas. he incomes of the C workers in the rural areas are determined by the access to sources of income such as agricultural land, capital, and employment. In the late 199s, less than three-fourths of C rural households/ persons were engaged in agriculture (as self-employed cultivators and agricultural wage labourers) and about one-fourths of the rural households / persons in non farm activities in the form of self-employment or wage employment. Although, the alleviation in the economic condition of the Cs is critically incumbent upon their diversification into the rural non-farm sector, their participation in the rural non-farm sector has been marginal in comparison to the other social groups in the rural society. Given the inadequate access of the Cs to agricultural land and capital in the rural areas, the improvements in their employment levels are closely dependent on their access to rural non-farm employment. his paper highlights the patterns of rural non-farm employment and its policy implications and also examines the trends in the magnitude of non-farm employment among the Cs in the rural areas from the early 198s to the late 199s. It also examines their participation in non-farm employment on the following parameters age, economic activity, employment / unemployment rate and wage. he main focus of this paper is to analyze the situation of the Cs with respect to non-farm employment and also to capture the relative changes. he analysis is based on the National ample urvey Organization (NO) data the Employment and Unemployment urvey the Consumption Expenditure urvey and the Rural Labour Enquiry Reports of the years , , , and 2. he discussion is initiated at the level of non-farm employment (total, by age groups, and economic activities) of the Cs and the C/s. hus, the patterns with respect to employment and wage rates of the C workers engaged in the rural non-farm sector are 31 International Journal of Research in ocial ciences

4 IN: Impact Factor: 7.81 examined. he paper concludes by evaluating the implications of the results obtained from the analysis for the promotion of non-farm employment in the rural areas among the Cs. Magnitude of Rural -farm Employment- otal and by Age Groups his paper at the outset analysis the differences in the levels of non-farm employment among the Cs and C/s. able 2, gives the percentages of workers in non-farm employment vis-à-vis the total rural employment for the years 1983, 1987, , and 2 based on the Usual Principal tatures (UP), the Usual Principal and ubsidiary taturs (UP), the Currently Weekly tatus (CW), and the Current Daily taturs (CD) for the Cs and the C/s. In 2, based on the UP, about 2.3 percent of the workers among the Cs were engaged in the rural non-farm sector. he ratio was slightly higher under the CD (2.18 percent), followed by the CW (2. percent), and the UP (22.7 percent). his clearly elucidates that the participation of the Cs, as well as, the C/ (28.8 percent) under the CD was somewhat higher in comparison to the UP, the UP and the CW. he employment pattern in the non-farm sector seems to help in educing the underemployment of the usually occupied workers. However, as compared to the C/s, the participation of the C workers in non-farm employment was lower under all the statuses in 2. he gaps among the Cs and the C/s, however, were not particularly large in 2, as well as, during other years (the differences being in the range of two to three percentage points only). here were no significant differences among the Cs and the C/s in the non-farm employment across the three statuses in 2, as well as, in the other years. able 3, presents the percentage of the non-farm workers by age groups and highlights the participation labels in the non-farm employment for various age groups, including, child labour in the age groups of 5-9 and 1-1, both for the Cs and the C/s. 32 International Journal of Research in ocial ciences

5 IN: Impact Factor: 7.81 able 2. Percentage of Workers in -farm Employment to otal Employment in the Rural Areas tatus C DI C DI C DI C C/ C/ C/ C/ DI UP UP CW NA NA NA CD NA NA NA Note: UP: usual principal status, UP: usual principal and subsidiary status, CW: current weekly status, CD: current daily status ource: pecial Report on Employment, Unemployment for the ocial Groups, National ample urvey, 1983,, , and 2 able 3. Percentage of Workers in non-farm Employment to otal Employment in the Rural Areas by Age Groups A U U P > Y E A C C C C C/ C/ C/ R C C C/ C/ C/ U P International Journal of Research in ocial ciences

6 IN: Impact Factor: C W NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA C NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA D Note: UP: usual principal status, UP: usual principal and subsidiary status, CW: current weekly status, CD: current daily status ource: pecial Report on Employment, Unemployment for the ocial Groups, National ample urvey, Various Years. In 2, based on the UP, the participation of the C workers in non-farm activities was almost negligible for children in the age groups of 5-9. he participation, however, increased to about 25 percent for the workers in the three age groups, namely, 15-29, 3-, and Interestingly, this ratio was higher in comparison to the workers in age groups of 1-1 and and above (about 17 to 18 percent). hus, the participation of the Cs workers in the nonfarm activities was relatively higher in the age groups between 15-29to 5-59 in comparison to 3 International Journal of Research in ocial ciences

7 IN: Impact Factor: 7.81 those in the age groups of 1-1 and and above. Again, among these three productive age groups, the percentage was the highest for those in the age groups of and 3-. he pattern of non-farm employment based on the UP, the CW, and the CD was not significantly different from the one based on the UP. his paper will investigate into the comparison of the Cs and the C/s by age groups. he UP based participation rate of the C/s was generally higher in comparison to the Cs for all the age groups (th only exception was the age group of and above, wherein, the participation rate of the C workers in the non-farm sector was higher). Among these four age groups (that is, 1-1, 15-29, 3- and -59), the disparity levels for the workers in the age groups of 1-1 and 3- under the UP, 1-1, 3- and 5-59 under the UP, 1-1 for the CW and 1-1 and 5-59 under the CD was relatively high. It may be mentioned that the disparity between the Cs and the C/s in their participation in the rural non-farm sector was generally low for the age group under all statuses under consideration (ee able ). able. Disparity Index - Percentage of Workers in -farm Employment to otal Employment in the Rural Areas by Age Groups > UP UP CW International Journal of Research in ocial ciences

8 IN: Impact Factor: CD Note: UP: usual principal status, UP: usual principal and subsidiary status, CW: current weekly status, CD: current daily status ource: pecial Report on Employment, Unemployment for the ocial Groups, National ample urvey, Various Years. After having assessed the level of non-farm employment at an aggregate lavel and by age groups for the Cs and the C/s, this paper will now ascertain the share of each age group in the total non-farm employment in the country. In 2, under the UP, the maximum concentration of the C non-farm workers was in the age group of and 3- (ee able 5). ogether, these two age groups accounted for about 77 percent of the total C non- farm workers in the country. In the case of the C/s, too, these two groups accounted about 77 percent of the total non-farm workers. he situation was similar in the case of the CW and the CD for the age groups of and 3-. the percentage share, however, differed among the Cs and the C/s, and in that regards, the ration were generally higher for the Cs. he children in age group of 1-1 accounted for about 2 percent of the total C non-farm workers in 2 for all age groups respectively. 3 International Journal of Research in ocial ciences

9 IN: Impact Factor: 7.81 able 5. he hare of the -farm Workers in to the otal Rural -farm Employment by Age Groups (in percentage points) A U UP UP > Y E A C C/ C C/ C R otal otal ( C/ C C/ C C/ C C/ C C/. ) C W N N NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA A A International Journal of Research in ocial ciences

10 IN: Impact Factor: C D NA NA NA NA N A NA NA NA N A 9 NA NA NA Note: UP: usual principal status, UP: usual principal and subsidiary status, CW: current weekly status, CD: current daily status ource: pecial Report on Employment, Unemployment for the ocial Groups, National ample urvey, Various Years. Pattern of Economic Activity otal and by Age Groups. After having examined the differences in the participation rates, in the non-farm employment (total and by age Groups) among the Cs and the C/, this paper will now take a look at the type of the economic activities in which the two social groups participate. able, indicates the percentage shares of the rural non-farm workers engaged in self employment, regular/ salaried, and casual wage labour in the total rural non-farm employment for the Cs and the C/s. According to the UP, in 2 of the total C rural non-farm workers about 2.11 percent were engaged in self employment, percent in regular salaried, and percent in casual labour. More or less. imilar patterns were observed on the basis of the UP, the CW, and the CD. Herein, some important differences among the Cs and C/s could be observed. As compared to the Cs, among the C/s, the percentage of those engaged in self employment and in regular salaried jobs was higher by a fair margin. But in the case of wage labourers, the opposite was true, the percentage share of casual labourers for the C/ was lower by a substantial margin. For instance, based on the UP the percentage share of the C/ workers engaged in the self- employed activities, regular salaried and casual 38 International Journal of Research in ocial ciences

11 IN: Impact Factor: 7.81 labour were 5.98, and 21.8 percentage points respectively. he ratio of the Cs to the C/s was less than one that is.83 for the self employed and.81 for the regular/salaried, but was more than one, that is, 1. in the case of the casual labourers. A lower share of the C workers in self- employment activities in the rural non-farm sector indicates their poor access to capital, an essential component in initiating business. On the other hand, a higher share in the regular salaried job was also an indication of the better human capabilities and capacities among the C/s. Conversely, the higher dependence of the Cs on the casual labour was a reflection of the low quality of their human capabilities and capacities. able. Rural -farm Employment by Economic Categories (in percentage point) tatu s Year elf employed in agriculture Regular alaried C C/ C C/ Casual Laborers C C/ otal C otal ( C/) UP UP CW NA NA NA NA NA NA 39 International Journal of Research in ocial ciences

12 IN: Impact Factor: CD NA NA NA NA NA NA Note: UP: usual principal status, UP: usual principal and subsidiary status, CW: current weekly status, CD: current daily status ource: pecial Report on Employment, Unemployment for the ocial Groups, National ample urvey, Various Years. rends in Rural -farm Employment otal and by Economic Activities: able presents the changes in the absolute numbers of the non farm workers. he percentage changes (in terms of annual compound growth rates) have been worked out for the periods, namely, 1983 to, to and to 2 respectively. aking the overall period it was observed that the numbers of the rural non-farm workers (based on the UP) had increased both for the Cs and the C/s. he rate of increase was however higher for the Cs (.2 percent) as compared to the C/s (.57 percent). It may be mentioned that the rate of increase in the numbers of rural non-farm workers was higher as compared to the total rural employment as well as agricultural employment both for the Cs and the C/s. During the period, 1983 to the growth in the numbers of the rural non-farm workers was higher than the growth in total rural employment as well as agricultural 37 International Journal of Research in ocial ciences

13 IN: Impact Factor: 7.81 employment both for the Cs and the C/s. For instance the rural non-farm employment for the Cs and the c/s under the UP grow at a rate of.8 and 3.9 percentage points per annum respectively (ee able 7). A similar trend was discernible in the growth rate of the rural non-farm employment according to the UP as well. able 7. Change in Numbers of -farm Workers (Annual Compound Growth Rate) 1983 to to to 1983 to to tat C C C C C us C/ C/ C/ C/ C/ otal Rural Employment UP UP CW CD Agricultural Employment UP UP CW CD Agricultural Employment UP UP CW International Journal of Research in ocial ciences

14 IN: Impact Factor: 7.81 CD Note: UP: usual principal status, UP: usual principal and subsidiary status, CW: current weekly status, CD: current daily status ource: pecial Report on Employment, Unemployment for the ocial Groups, National ample urvey, Various Years. During the second period, i.e., to , the trend in the growth of the numbers of the rural non-farm workers, differed in some respects from the earlier period, especially, for the C rural workers. Firstly, the annual rate of increase in the numbers of the rural non-farm workers was much lower, both for the Cs and the C/s. In the case of the Cs, there was an increase in the non-farm workers by a per annum rate of 1.2 percent for the non-farm workers and 1.87 percent for the farm workers. However, in the case of the C/s the rate of increase for the non-farm worker (1.72 percent) was much higher as compared to the farm workers (.8 percent). his means that there was a substantial movement of workers from the farm to the non-farm categories in the case of C/s. However, in the case for the Cs workers, the numbers in both, the farm and the non-farm categories increased. In fact the rate of increase for the Cs in the case of the farm workers was slightly higher (1.87 percent) as compared to the non-farm workers (1.2 percent). his means that although, there was an increase in the absolute numbers of the Cs workers in the rural non-farm sector, it was accompanied by a simultaneous increase in their absolute numbers in the farm sector. herefore, there is sufficient reason to believe that during the aforesaid period, there may have been some reverse shifting of the C workers from the non-farm to the farm sector primarily d to the movement of the C workers from the non-farm to the farm sectors. his is corroborated by the negligible per annum increase (.8 percent in the case of the UP) in the numbers of agricultural workers for the C/s. he reverse shift towards agricultural employment in the case of Cs was also accentuated in the case of employment figures based on the UP. During the last sub-period, i.e., to 2 there was a substantial acceleration in the growth rates in the non-farm employment, both for the Cs and the C/s. Among them the growth in the numbers of the rural non-farm workers (5.92 percent) as compared to the 372 International Journal of Research in ocial ciences

15 IN: Impact Factor: 7.81 C/ (3.25 percent). It may be mentioned that there was also a significant growth in the numbers of workers based on the CW and the CD for the Cs, which was comparatively higher than the non C/s. his inference holds true to establish that there was some improvement in the under employment situation of both the groups, but more so, in the case of the Cs. Unemployment and Wage Rates of the -farm Workers: ince more than percent of the C workers in the rural areas and more than 3 percent in the urban areas depend mainly on wage employment their earnings are obviously determined by the levels of employment and wage rates. he C workers therefore seem to suffer from possible discrimination in the employment market and in receiving wages. Unemployment Rate. : able 8, shows the unemployment rates of the C vis-à-vis the C/ workers for the time periods , 1983,, , and 2. some important features regarding the unemployment situation of the Cs and the C/s are clearly accentuated from the data. In the case of the UP there were no significant differences in the unemployment rates of the Cs and the C/s either in the rural or the urban areas. his was not surprising considering a person is supposed to be usually employed if she/h works for more than 18 days in a year. ince the C workers have limited alternative sources of income other than wage employment their employment days in an annual year are likely to be higher than their C/s counterparts. However considering the unemployment rate based on the CW and the CD the picture changes dramatically. able 8. Unemployment Rate in the Rural Areas All India (5 year and above) Literate Literate Literate Upto Literate Upto Illiterate Upto Upto econdary & High Graduate & otal Primary Middle econdary Above tatus C/ C C/ C C/ C C C/ C C/ C/ C UP Percentage of International Journal of Research in ocial ciences

16 IN: Impact Factor: 7.81 ENA in RNFE Percentage of R in RNFE Percentage of CL in RNFE UP Percentage of ENA in RNFE Percentage of R in RNFE Percentage of CL in RNFE Note: ENA: elf-employed in -agriculture, R: Regular alaried, CL: Casual Labour, RNFE: Rural -Farm Employment, UP: Usual Principal tatus, UP: Principal and ubsidiary tatus. ource: he unemployment rates for the Cs were found to be higher than that of the C/s. In , the unemployment rated based on the CD among the C males (.3 percent) were found to be higher than the C/s (2.7 percent). imilarly in and 1983 the unemployment rates based on the CD for the C male workers were.73 and 7.1 percentage points respectively. Conversely these rates were significantly higher than the ones posited for the C/s (3.9 and.3 percentage points respectively). A similar gap was found to exist for the female labourers as well. he unemployment rates based on the CD for C females were 2 percent in , percent in , and 2.23 percent in 1983 which were again higher than 1.11 percent.97 percent and 1.72 percent respectively for the C/ females. he higher unemployment rates based on the CW and 37 International Journal of Research in ocial ciences

17 IN: Impact Factor: 7.81 the CD clearly elucidate that under employment among the C worker was much higher as compared to the C/s workers. he disparities in the unemployment rates based on the CD and the CW observed at India levels emerged quite clearly in a majority of the states. In in all the seventeen states the unemployment rates based on the CD were higher among the Cs households. imilarly in and 1983, in fourteen out of the seventeen mojor states, the unemployment rates for the C male workers were higher as compared to the C/s. he unemployment rates were also found to be higher for the females in fourteen to fifteen states in Further some disparities were also observed with regards to the wage earnings by the Cs and the C/ labourers in the rural areas. he wage rates received by the C and the C/ workers are delineated in able 9. able 9. Rural Employment Rate - All India (Percentage of employed to the total population) tat C C C C us C/ C/ C/ C/ M F M F M F M F M F M F M F M F UP UP NA NA NA NA CW CD Note: M: Male, F: Female, UP: usual principal status, UP: usual principal and subsidiary status, CW: current weekly status, CD: current daily status. ource: National ample urvey on Employment and Unemployment, , 1983, and 2. In the case of the wage rates for the rural labour in the non-agricultural sector, in the wages received by the C male labourers were however lower than the average wages received by all. As against the national average of India Rupees 32.8 the daily wages received by the C 375 International Journal of Research in ocial ciences

18 IN: Impact Factor: 7.81 labourers were India Rupees 3.2 imilarly, in the wages received by the Cs were Indian Rupees as against 1.21 for all non-agricultural labourers. It is pertinent to mention here that the gaps in the wages received by the C wage labourers and the national average were less because the latter category was inclusive of the Cs and the s. Indeed, if the wages received by the C/s are to be compared to the C wage labourers, the gap may be than be considerable. Findings A comparative analysis based on the NO data from through 2 regarding the magnitude of the rural non-farm employment (total by age groups economic activities and by educational backgrounds) and changes therein for the Cs and the C/s bring to the fore some interesting results which highlight the nature of diversification in favour of the rural nonfarm sector. a) he analysis findings that in 2 about one- fourths of the C workers in the rural areas were engaged in the rural non-farm sector and that this ration was lower when posited against the one for the non C/s although the differences were marginal. b) he participation of the C non-farm workers was relatively high in the age groups of 15-29, 3- and 5-59 respectively as compared to the age groups 1-1 and and above. he analysis also highlighted that the participation under all age groups for the Cs was lower as compared to the participation under all age groups for the Cs was lower as compared to the C/s but in the case of the age group and above the ratio was higher among the Cs. Further for all age groups the share of the self employed among the c workers was higher than regular salaried and casual labourers, the only exception being the age group his meant that the most productive age group of the Cs workers was employed as casual labourers. his is no so in the case of the c/s workers, a majority of whom were self employed. Also the low percentage of the C workers employed as casual labourers according to the CD indicated that the C workers in the age group were marginalized as well as under employed a dismal situation indeed. c) he participation rate of the C non-farm worker was highest in the economic categories of self employment and casual labour and conversely the lowest in the case of regular salaried workers. 37 International Journal of Research in ocial ciences

19 IN: Impact Factor: 7.81 d) As compared to the Cs the percentage share of the regular salaried and self-employed workers was high among the C/s. But their share was lower in the case of casual labors. In other works the C/ workers participated in better quality non-farm activities. e) he analysis further established that during the overall period i.e there was an increase in the percentage share of the rural non-farm workers both for the Cs and the non C/s primarily due to an increase in the proportion of casual labourers as against a decline in the numbers of the self employed regular salaried workers. imilarly it was found that the numbers of the non-farm workers had also increased both for the Cs and the C/s but the rate of increase was higher for the Cs. f) he data further substantiated that the participation rates of the Cs with secondary and higher secondary education were higher in the economic category of casual labour. For instance in 2 about 8 percent of the C workers who were graduates and above were engaged as casual labourers as against only 1.58 percent for the C/s. Clearly the C skilled graduates face some form of discrimination in the regular employment due to which they are left with non option but to work for daily wages in unskilled jobs. his also indicates the importance of some form of affirmative action for the Cs in the regular employment of the rural non-farm sector as 8 percent of the graduates were not employed to their potential. Conclusion In conclusion, lake of human resource development in terms of education and skill as also lack of access to financial capital induces the C workers towards casual unskilled jobs and lowincome self employment business. Moreover it is revealed that the Government policy of promoting self employment through providing cheap credit has achieved limited success as not only is the percentage of self-employed C workers lower than that of the C/ workers, but it also has declined since the early 198 s. Along with easy access to financial capital an improvement in human capital, an equally necessary in order to enable the C workers to take up better quality of self- employed activities/businesses. It is imperative to implement a policy of enhancing education through skill and training, which will enable the C workers to participate in better quality of employment both in the form of self-employment activities as well as in regular salaried jobs. 377 International Journal of Research in ocial ciences

20 IN: Impact Factor: 7.81 References [1] horat,.k,. Land Ownership tructure and -Farm Employment of Rural Households in India, he Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Vol.3, No.3, [2] horat,.k. and abharwal, N.., Rural -Farm Employment of the cheduled Castes-A Comparative tudy, Indian Institute of Dalit tudies, Working Paper eries, Vol.1, No.5, 2. [3] horat,.k. and Deshpande, R.., Caste and Labour Market Discrimination,Vol. 2, No., pp.81-85, [] Chadha, G.K., -Farm Employment for Rural Households in India-Evidence and Prognosis, he Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Vol.3, No.3, International Journal of Research in ocial ciences