Growth and Structure of Workforce in India: An Analysis of Census Data

Transcription

1 Article Growth and Structure of Workforce in India: An Analysis of Census Data Venkatanarayana Motkuri 1 Suresh V. Naik 2 The Indian Economic Journal 64(1 4) Indian Economic Association SAGE Publications sagepub.in/home.nav DOI: / Abstract The present article examines the trend in growth of workforce and the change in its structure in India during the last three decades using census data. The analysis indicates that there was a fast decelerating rate of growth in overall workforce, particularly females, between 2001 and But the work participation rate did not decline, if not increased, as the rate of growth in workforce was not less than that in population. Secondly, incremental workforce, especially the male, reduced to marginal workers category, whereas the high concentration of female in the category of marginal workers slightly reduced. Occupational distribution of workforce shows that cultivators were declining. Such a decline in agriculture was replaced by increasing agricultural labour. The study further shows that growth of workforce in non-agriculture was higher than that in agriculture. Growth of female workers engaged in non-agriculture was higher than their male counterparts. JEL Classification: J01, J08, J21, J82 Keywords Workforce, labour force, employment, India, female labour, growth of workforce, structural change, development I. Introduction The major objectives of economic reforms are accelerating growth and expanding the employment opportunities. Indian government in its vision programme has stressed more on employment generation, stating that at least 2 per cent per annum has to be compatible with the 9 per cent growth in the economy. Furthermore, it has emphasised on promoting labour-intensive and high employment elasticity sectors to achieve the quantitative employment growth target (Government of India, 2011). Furthermore, one of the objectives of the 12th Five Plan is more inclusive growth (Planning Commission, 2011), which is possible through the growth of productive employment. Despite having grand plan design and 1 Research Officer, S. R. Sankaran Chair (Rural Labour), National Institute of Rural Development & Panchayati Raj (NIRD & PR), Hyderabad, India. 2 Research Scholar, School of Economics, University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad, India. Corresponding author: Venkatanarayana Motkuri, National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj (NIRD&PR), Rajendranagar, Hyderabad , India. venkatanarayan@gmail.com

2 58 The Indian Economic Journal 64(1 4) vision, the overall employment growth rate was decelerating during the post-reform period, in particular during the last decade. Realising the vision and plan objective(s) seems to be doubtful in the context of decelerating employment growth in the recent past. National Sample Survey Office s (NSSO) recent survey estimations with respect to its employment and unemployment survey brings out a virtual stagnation in the employment growth, indicating jobless growth in the Indian economy (see Ghosh, 2013; Mehrotra, Gandhi, Saha and Sahoo, 2013). These results have raised a concern over the employment situation among the policy-makers, academicians and development activists (see Chaudhary, 2011; Kannan and Ravindran, 2012; Papola, 2012; Rangarajan, Iyer and Kaul, 2011; Thomas, 2012; EPW, 2011). In this backdrop, the present article is a quick note with an analysis of the trend in growth of workforce and the change in its structure in India during the last three decades using census data. 1 It is an attempt to present the changes in workforce, particularly in the context of recent release of Primary Census of Abstract 2011 of Census of India. The analysis is done to bring out the changes during the last decade ( ) and the relative performance over the previous two decades (the 1980s and 1990s) for which census data for workers is comparable. The present analysis is confined to census data only; it does not make any comparison with NSSO-based estimates, if not more than passing reference. Finally, the rural urban dimension is out of scope for this article in order to minimise the complexity of in-depth detailed analysis of workforce by status and gender. II. Growth of Workforce: Overall Trend Fast Decelerating Rate of Growth in Female Workforce The analysis of recent census data 2011 reveals that the overall rate of growth in workforce was 1.8 per cent between 2001 and 2011, and it was observed to be marginally higher than that in the population (see Table 1). Furthermore, the rate of growth in workforce during was lower than that in the previous two decades (the 1980s and 1990s) a deceleration. The rate of growth in the workforce as well as population decelerated between 2001 and However, the rate of growth in workforce had always been higher than that in population growth during the last three decades. It means that there must be an increase in work participation rate (WPR). In the context of economic reforms and a subsequent high rate of economic growth in the country, during the 1990s and 2000s, one would have a reason to expect a high growth in workforce too in that period. But one has to note that there are two constrains in the growth of workforce. One is the growth of population, wherein, at a given labour/workforce participation rate (a constant), labour force or workforce cannot grow more than the rate at which population grows. The other constraint is the labour force participation rate itself. Given the rate of growth in population, the rate of growth in labour force depends on the change in the participation rate. On one hand, as it is evident from the recent trend, the rate of growth in population in India is decelerating fast (see Table 1). Therefore, a large part of the deceleration in rate of growth in workforce must be due to deceleration in population growth. On the other hand, in the context of increasing demand for education, a considerable proportion of younger age population is either withdrawing from labour force or postponing their entry into labour force in order to attend educational institutions and pursuing higher studies. Research studies based on NSSO data have already expounded on this fact (Chaudhary, 2011; Kannan and Ravindran, 2012). Such an increase in demand for education increases the human capital base of the country and, hence, it is considered as a welcome feature (Planning Commission,

3 Motkuri and Naik 59 Table 1. Growth of Population and Workforce All India Category Person Male Female Total Population Total Workers Main Workers Marginal Workers Note: (a) Rural and urban combined; (b) compound annual rate of growth (CAGR) in percentage ). Therefore, given the above-mentioned fact, the scope for an increase in labour force participation rate appears to be limited unless the participation rate increases among the adult (25 year and above) and old age (60+ age) population. 2 But, unlike the NSSO estimations, the census data shows no decline in the WPR (see Table 2). Therefore, there might have an increased participation rate among adults and old age population and that could have replaced the declined participation rates among the younger ages. The gender-wise analysis of census data shows that the difference in rate of growth between female workforce and their population was negligible, particularly between 2001 and 2011 (see Table 1). The rate of growth in female workforce during the 1980s and 1990s was 1.75 times higher than that in its population. Such a relatively high growth of female workforce over their population was possible with increasing WPR between 1981 and 2001 (see Table 3). In case of males, there had not been much difference in rate of growth between population and workforce, particularly during the 1980s. But in the 1990s and 2000s, the rate of growth in male workforce was marginally higher than that in its population. Table 2. Work Participation Rate (WPR) All India WPR Total WPR Main WPR Marginal Male Female Persons Male Female Persons Male Female Persons Table 3. Sex Ratio in Population and Workforce All India Population Total Workers Main Workers Marginal Workers , , , ,032

4 60 The Indian Economic Journal 64(1 4) In both the cases of males and females, the rate of growth in their population and workforce was decelerating over a period. However, the deceleration was faster among the female workforce. Thus, a significant part of the deceleration in overall workforce could be because of faster deceleration in the female workforce. Fast-growing Marginal Workers Category Census classifies workers into two categories, that is, main and marginal workers. The main workers are those who work for more than six months in a year and the marginal workers are those who work for less than six months. The analysis of census data shows that during the last two decades ( ), the rate of growth in marginal workers was higher than that in main workers (see Table 1). The rate of growth in main workers had decelerated during the 1990s when compared with previous decade (the 1980s), whereas among marginal workers, it had accelerated during the same period. However, it appears that there was a revival of growth in main workers during the 2000s, but the rate of growth was still less than that in the 1980s. On the other hand, there was a deceleration in the rate of growth in marginal workers between 2001 and 2011, but the rate was still higher than that in the 1980s and also higher than that in main workers. The analysis shows that the marginal workers were growing faster than the main workers. Marginal workers had grown to account for one-fourth of the total workforce in India in 2011 (see Table 4). The gender-wise analysis of the main and marginal workers shows that the above pattern was observed particularly for males. In case of females, the pattern was little different. The rate of growth in female marginal workers increased during the 1990s when compared to that in the 1980s. Thereafter, it decelerated drastically during to the rate that was less than that in the 1980s. Although there was acceleration in growth of female main workers during , it could not compensate the deceleration in female marginal workers during the same period and hence the deceleration in total workforce of the female. Between males and females, the rate of growth in female marginal workers was higher than their male counterparts during the 1980s. However, during the 1990s and 2000s, the rate of growth in male marginal workers turned out to be higher than their female counterparts. In case of main workers, the rate of growth in female workforce had been higher than that in male workforce during the last three decades. The analysis indicates that on one hand, the rate of growth in female marginal workers had decelerated fast and, on the other hand, it had accelerated for the male marginal workers. As a result, the percentage of marginal workers in the total workforce had increased for males since 1991, but for females it increased during and thereafter it declined between 2001 and 2011 (see Table 4). Table 4. Size of the Population and Total Workers All India Population (in millions) Total Workers (in millions) % of Marginal Workers Male Female Persons Male Female Persons Male Female Persons Note: (a) Rural and urban combined; (b) marginal workers are those who work or are employed for less than six months in a year.

5 Motkuri and Naik 61 However, the share of female marginal workers, accounting for about 40 per cent of the total female workforce in 2011, was still considerably higher than that observed for their male counterparts. Improved Main Workers Sex Ratio The sex ratio of the population is increasing since 1991 after a downfall between 1981 and 1991 (see Table 3). In the total workforce, the sex ratio had improved between 1981 and 2001 and declined thereafter in the recent decade. The sex ratio among main workers has, in fact, continuously been increasing since 1981 (see Table 3). Thus, the decline in the sex ratio of the total workforce was due to the fast decline in sex ratio among the marginal workers. While the improved sex ratio among the main workers reflects the accelerated rate of growth in female main workers, the declining concentration of females (sex ratio) among the marginal workers reflects the deceleration in rate of growth in female marginal workers (see Table 2). No Decline in Work Participation Rate (WPR) It is worth mentioning that unlike the NSSO s recent estimates, census data showed a marginal increase in the WPR between 2001 and As the rate of growth in total workforce was higher than that in population, the WPR was increasing, though it was a marginal increase (see Table 2). This marginal rise in overall WPR was, in fact, entirely due to the increase in marginal workers WPR. Between main and marginal workers, the main workers WPR had, in fact, shown a decline since 1991, whereas there was a corresponding increase in marginal workers WPR during the same period. Thus, there was an increase of marginal workers share in the total workforce, particularly since 1991 (see Table 4). The WPR by gender shows that the males overall WPR registered an increase in 2001 and 2011, whereas the females overall WPR increased in 1991 and 2001 but remained the same in The male female combined WPR increased all throughout the last three decades. For the males, their main workers WPR declined and their marginal workers WPR increased. For the females, their main workers WPR did not show any pattern; it increased between 1981 and 1991, it declined between 1991 and 2001, and thereafter, it showed an increase between 2001 and The WPR of female marginal workers increased between 1981 and 2001, and thereafter, it showed a marginal decline in Literacy and WPR of Marginal Workers An analysis of the relationship between literacy rate and WPR across 21 major states 3 in India, for the year 2011, shows an interesting observation. While the WPR of marginal workers category was negatively correlated with literacy rate, the WPR of main workers was positively correlated two different directions (Figure 1). By gender, correlation coefficient was positive and considerably high for the WPR of male main workers and male literacy rate (see Table 5). In case of WPR of males and females of marginal workers category and male and female literacy rates, the correlation coefficient was negative and considerably high for the cases of males and females. In other words, state level observations mentioned above indicate that, on the one hand, the states that are having higher literacy rate have a higher WPR with respect to main workers category and the states that are having lower literacy rates have a lower WPR. It could be because of the fact that in the light of

6 62 The Indian Economic Journal 64(1 4) 50.0 Main Marginal 40.0 WPR (%) Literacy Rate (%) Figure 1. Scatter Plot Literacy and WPR of Main and Marginal Workers, 2011 Source: Authors calculation based on Census Note: (a) Rural and urban combined; (b) male and female combined. Table 5. Correlation Coefficient between Literacy and WPR by Sex and Category of Workers across 21 Major States in India Category Persons Male Female Total Workers Main Workers Marginal Workers Source: Author s calculation. globalised and emerging knowledge-based economy and consequent floating kind of labour market, labour mobility has become indispensable. Such an economy is also increasing the demand for skilled labour. The traditional occupations of labour absorption in the village economy such as agriculture and household industry (HHI) have shown a gradual deceleration in their absorption rate. Non-agriculture has become the residual sector for the absorption of growing labour force. Many a times, in fact, jobs are created in places urban or green fields of rural location that are away from places of the job seekers. Herein, literacy skills in understanding the information plays a role in job search and migration, acting as an advantage of being literate over illiterate. Thus, illiterates might be more likely to end up working in occupations which could provide employment for a few months in a year at their place of residence or neighbouring locations. To sum up, the rate of growth in total workforce was decelerating fast during the last decade when compared with previous two decades. Among male and female workers, the fast deceleration was observed among the female workers. Between main and marginal workers, the rate of growth was high in the case of marginal than the main workers during the last decade. The analysis also brings out that while male workers were moving from main to marginal worker status, the female workers were moving from marginal to main worker status. Finally, the analysis also brings out the inverse relationship between literacy and WPR of marginal worker category.

7 Motkuri and Naik 63 III. Structure of Workforce: Occupational Distribution A Sharp Decline in Number of Cultivators It is observed from the census data that the occupational distribution in the total workforce is still tilted towards agricultural activities more than half of the workforce is concentrated in agriculture. However, a striking feature of the trend is that there is a sharp decline in the size of self-cultivators, and at the same time, there is a bulging agricultural labour category. Strikingly, around 8.9 million farmers, during 2001 and 2011, moved away from self-cultivation in the total workforce. The decline in main workers who were involved in cultivation/farming had begun since Around 7.5 million farmers of the main workers category during and another 7.4 million during , together 14.9 million farmers of the main workers category, were moved away from farming during the last two decades (see Table 6). When there was a decline in main workers involved in self-cultivation during , around 10.4 million new workers entered into farming as marginal workers during the same period. Therefore, there was a net addition of 2.9 million workers into farming activity during Later, during , along with farmers in the main workers category (7.4 million), farmers of marginal workers category (1.5 million) also moved away from farming activity. Thus, there was a total decline of 8.9 million farmers during For the decline in absolute number of cultivators observed during the last two census periods, one may seek an explanation from the two established hypotheses. These hypotheses are valid if the farmers are moving away from agriculture and taking up non-agricultural activities. Over the period, in fact, although at a snail s pace, there was a shift/diversification in workforce in India from agricultural activity to non-agricultural (industry and service sector) ones. In this respect, the first hypothesis was agricultural growth-led and the second was residual sector hypothesis, indicating distress-led shift/diversification (see Mellor, 1976; Vaidyanathan, 1986). Again, another alternative hypothesis emerged in the context of unprecedented episodes of farmers suicides during the last two decades was the extinction of farmers and farming community (Mishra, 2014; Nagaraj, 2008; Sainath, 2013). Besides that, a few other factors which are of recent developments might have compelled them to shift from the agricultural activities to non-agriculture ones. For example, first, increasing cost of cultivation and reducing profitability of farming acts as distress. Second, rapid urbanisation and real estate boom with rapidly expanding construction sector is attracting the rural farmers to urban centres with higher wages. Third, in the name of rapid urbanisation, real estate business and industrial development (i.e., special economic zones SEZ), 4 the government and private entrepreneurs are acquiring farm land and throwing farmers out of land and farming by paying a menial compensation. All the above-mentioned factors might have acted as push factors. Table 6. Workforce (Persons in millions) by Occupation All India Total Main Marginal Cultiv A L HHI Others Cultiv A L HHI Others Cultiv A L HHI Others Note: (a) Rural and urban combined; (b) Cultiv cultivators; (c) A L agricultural labourers; (d) HHI household industry; (e) Others it includes industry sector other than HHI and those involved in the services sector.

8 64 The Indian Economic Journal 64(1 4) Farmers Becoming Agricultural Labourers! In contrast to the above-mentioned hypotheses, the workforce appears to be reshuffled within the agriculture moving away from self-cultivation to agricultural labour. It is evident from the fact that there is more than compensating size increase (to decline in farmers) in the category of agricultural labourers. There are about 36.9 million net additions to the size of agricultural labourers during (see Table 6). When compared to that, the decline in workforce engaged in self-cultivation at 7.4 million is very small. At this point, one can say that on one hand, most of those farmers who are moving away from farming are becoming agricultural labourers. On the other hand, although a part of the net addition to the total workforce is absorbed in agriculture, the whole of the labour force absorbed in agriculture is in turn entirely absorbed in agricultural labourers category. The occupational distribution of the main and marginal workers shows that in both the categories, particularly during , the number of cultivators declined and the number of agricultural labourers increased. The net addition of agricultural labourers, during , in the main workers category was about 22.8 million and in the marginal category it was about 14.2 million (see Table 6). By gender, males shifting away from self-cultivation had begun since 1991 and it continued in However, during , some of the females had taken up the cultivation activity. The entry of females into cultivation had replaced male workers who left cultivation and also made a net addition to this activity in that period. Notwithstanding, the females also began leaving farming activity during Therefore, there was a net decline in the total workforce engaged in cultivation during It is interesting to note that while the males among the main workers category were moving away from cultivation since 1991, at the same time, males who were taking up cultivation in the marginal workers category increased during the same period. Despite the increase in male cultivators of marginal workers category, as it could not compensate the decline in male cultivators of main workers category, total males engaged in cultivation declined during With respect to agricultural labour, in the main workers category, when male and female workers were combined, its size had, in fact, declined during But thereafter, it increased between 2001 and In case of the marginal worker category, the number of workers (males and females combined) engaged in agriculture labour increased since The same pattern is observed for both the males and females of the main workers category. But, in the marginal workers category, the number of male and female agricultural labourers increased since The rate of growth in agriculture labourers was significantly higher among the marginal workers category of males than the rate observed for male main workers category during (see Table 7). In case of female agricultural labourers, it had shown the other way round, wherein the rate of growth in agricultural labourers of marginal workers category was lower than the rate observed in the main workers category. Table 7. Growth (%) of Workforce by Occupation in India Persons Total Main Marginal Cultiv A L HHI Others Cultiv A L HHI Others Cultiv A L HHI Others (Table 7 continued)

9 Motkuri and Naik 65 Male Total Main Marginal Cultiv A L HHI Others Cultiv A L HHI Others Cultiv A L HHI Others Female Note: (a) Rural and urban combined; (b) compound annual growth rate (CAGR); (c) Cultiv cultivators; (d) A L agricultural labourers; (e) HHI household industry; (f) Others it includes industry sector other than HHI and those involved in the services sector. Labour Force Absorption in Non-agriculture Increasing It is observed that during , about 79 million was the net addition to the total workforce. Of the total net addition to the workforce, during , one-third was absorbed in agriculture and the rest in non-agriculture. Thus, a large part of the increasing labour force was getting absorbed in nonagriculture. A relatively higher growth of workforce engaged in non-agriculture when compared with that in agriculture was observed during the last three decades (see Table 8). It indicates increasing absorption of labour force in non-agriculture sector for the last three decades. The rate of growth in the total workforce engaged in non-agricultural activities was distinctively high and different from that in Table 8. Growth of Workforce engaged in Agriculture and Non-agriculture in India Main and Marginal Agriculture Non-agriculture Male Female Persons Male Female Persons Main Marginal

10 66 The Indian Economic Journal 64(1 4) Table 9. Percentage of Non-agriculture in the Total Workforce All India Total Main Marginal Male Female Persons Male Female Persons Male Female Persons agricultural activities, particularly during (see Table 8). Nevertheless, this high growth rate in non-agriculture decelerated during the recent decade ( ) to around half of the rate that was recorded in the previous decade ( ). As a result, the considerable change in the structure of workforce towards non-agriculture observed in the 1990s was reduced in the 2000s (see Table 9). This is in contrast to the growth of gross domestic product (GDP) in India in its non-agriculture sector that had registered its highest ever during The grand old theory of development says that the growth of industry will absorb the surplus labour in agriculture to the extent that the wage differential between agriculture and industry diminishes to zero (Lewis, 1954). Given a significant and distinctively high growth of non-agriculture GDP in India, particularly during the last decade, one would have a reason to expect a further high growth of workforce too in the non-agriculture sector than the rate observed. The reality is in contrast to the expectation. It indicates a glitch in the structural change of workforce. It could be because of growing base of the capital intensity in the non-agriculture sector (including both the industry and services sectors) that reduces rate of labour force absorption (see Kotwal, Ramaswami and Wadhwa, 2011). Also, given the low levels of education and skill of workforce in India, there prevails a shortage in supply of skilled labour force in demand in technologically advancing industry and services sectors. The recent report of McKinsey on education and employment points out a conundrum, that is, there are people who cannot find jobs and there are employers who cannot find people with the necessary entry-level skills (see Mourshed, Farrel and Barton, 2013). Therefore, the industry (including services sector) prefers the capital-intensive technology that replaces the human labour requirement. The growth of otherwise labour-intensive industry must be very low and decelerating, as it is observed in India (Ghose, 2013; see Kotwal, Ramaswami and Wadhwa, 2011). On the other hand, it may also indicate the situation that the labour-intensive agriculture had already relieved all the surplus labour (whose marginal productivity of labour was zero) over time and it has reached a stage where agriculture sector cannot afford further migration of labour to non-agriculture (i.e., Lewis turning point). The emerging phenomenon of labour shortage in agriculture (known as labour market tightening) and the growing agricultural wages rate in the recent past might be the indication. But the latter explanation is reasonably not sufficient for the slow pace of structural changes in workforce; rather it must be due to the growth and pattern of change in the structure of economy (moving predominance of agriculture to services sidelining growth of industry which has large potentials of labour intensity and mass employment opportunities). Very high growth potential industry and services are creating a small fraction to employment opportunities. Besides that, due to low levels of education, there is an inadequate supply of skilled labour that could meet the demand of fast-growing advanced technology-based industry and services sectors.

11 Motkuri and Naik 67 Growing Female Workforce in Non-agriculture Interestingly, the rate of growth among the female workers engaged in non-agriculture is found to be higher than their male counterparts. It is so especially in the case of female main workers in non-agriculture. So, what does it indicate? Is it that non-agriculture is becoming gender-sensitive in female labour absorption? It might be true otherwise, but, if one observes the pattern of workforce engaged in non-agriculture sector, then they would find that most of it is moving towards unorganised and informal sectors, particularly that of the labour-intensive industry/businesses (Unni and Rani, 2008). Herein, one has to note that with the increasing participation of women in education and growing number of educated women, their representation in formal sector, especially in the public sector in compliance with reservations or otherwise, might also be increasing. Also, the fast-growing services sectors, particularly finance, banking, pharma, and information and communication technology (ICT) sectors (including ITES, BPO and KPO), are increasingly absorbing the qualified women, although disproportionately when compared to their male counterparts due to persisted inequality in (technical) education (see Rustagi, 2013). However, these sectors contributions total GDP is substantial but their share in the total workforce is very small (see Ghose, 2013). Moreover, the employment opportunities available in many formal sectors including the public one, in general, are stagnated or shrinking over period, owing to new economic policy (see Ghose, 2013; Kannan and Ravindran, 2009). Thus, a large part of women workforce, particularly unskilled and semiskilled, that is engaged in non-agricultural sector must be located in informal and unorganised sectors. Given the gender-based wage differentials prevailing (see Das, 2012), particularly in unorganised and informal sectors of developing countries such as India, the availability of female labour at cheaper wage rates might be the inducing factor for the preference of female workers over male workers. It may raise the concern over the quality of the females employment in non-agriculture. Moreover, it is also evident from the census data that the growth of females in marginal workers category engaged in non-agriculture is higher than that in the main workers category. As a result, the share of marginal workers in the total female workforce engaged in non-agriculture is increasing over time. In 2011, around one-third of the total female workforce engaged in non-agriculture was in the category of marginal workers. A relatively high growth of workforce in non-agriculture resulted in an increase in the share of nonagriculture in the total workforce. It increased from 31.6 per cent in 1981 to 41.6 per cent in 2001, and further it increased to 45.4 per cent in 2011 (see Table 9). The sharpest increase (9 percentage point), in the share of non-agriculture, that coincides with high growth for workforce engaged in non-agriculture was observed during By the status of workers, a sharp increase in the share of non-agriculture, during the last three decades, was observed for marginal workers and by gender, such a sharp increase was observed for the female workers (Table 9). But the interaction of status of worker and gender shows that such a sharp increase was witnessed among the females of main workers category. For the female workers, sharpest increase in the share of non-agriculture was registered during Particularly among the female workforce of marginal workers category that engaged in non-agriculture, the sharpest increase in the share of agriculture was observed during the last decade ( ). Increasing Marginal Category in the Non-agricultural Workforce It is also observed that the share of marginal workers in the total workforce engaged in the non-agriculture is increasing since the 1990s (see Table 10). It is interesting to note that the increase in the share of marginal workers is even observed for total male workers engaged in agriculture. Among the nonagricultural workers, increasing share of marginal category is observed for both the males and females.

12 68 The Indian Economic Journal 64(1 4) Table 10. Marginal as a Percentage of Total Workers by Occupation in India Persons Agriculture Non-agriculture Cultivators A L Both HHI Others Both Males Female Diminishing Rate of Absorption of Labour Force in HHI Herein, it is important to point out the growth of workforce in HHI. It is an important source of livelihood for a considerable large proportion of workforce. Around 6 per cent of female workforce and 3 per cent of male workforce, together 4 per cent of total workforce in India, in 2011, was engaged in HHI (see Table 11). The analysis of census data shows that growth of workforce in HHI was decelerating fast during the last decade ( ). It had registered a rate of growth 1.1 per cent per annum during (see Table 6). In fact, there was a decline in the workforce engaged in HHI during Thereafter, during , workforce in the HHI registered a significantly higher growth. But it could not sustain such a growth and began decelerating during Table 11. Percentage Distribution of Workforce by Fourfold Occupation All India Persons Total Main Marginal Cult AL HHI Others Cult AL HHI Others Cult AL HHI Others

13 Motkuri and Naik 69 Male Total Main Marginal Cult AL HHI Others Cult AL HHI Others Cult AL HHI Others Female Note: (a) Rural and urban combined; (b) Cult cultivators; (c) A L agricultural labourers; (d) HHI household industry; (e) Others it includes industry sector other than HHI and those involved in the services sector. Within the non-agriculture sector, the workforce engaged in HHI accounted for 8.4 per cent of the total workforce engaged in non-agriculture in Its share had, in fact, declined from 11 per cent in 1981 (see Table 12). Still, for the 6 per cent of male and 16 per cent of female workers (main and marginal combined) engaged in non-agriculture in 2011, HHI was the source of employment. Among marginal workers engaged in non-agriculture, especially women, more than one-fifth were involved in HHI in However, a sharp decline was registered for female workers (main and marginal), wherein the share of HHI in their total workforce declined from 25 per cent to 16.4 per cent between 1981 and Particularly, among the female marginal workers, the decline was even sharper, from 38 per cent to 22.5 per cent, during the same period. In summary, the above analysis of changes in occupational distribution of workforce shows that there was a sharp decline in the size of self-cultivators, but a large part of decline in this occupation was replaced with a sharp rise in the size of agricultural labour. It indicates a sign of cultivators leaving farming activity and becoming the casual labourers working in agriculture itself. With respect to workforce engaged in the non-agriculture sector, it has registered relatively higher rate of growth over agriculture. However, more than half of the workforce is still dependent on agriculture. Moreover, rate of growth in workforce engaged in non-agriculture was found to be decelerating fast, particularly during Again, increasing share of marginal workers category in the total workforce engaged in Table 12. Household Industry (HHI) as Percentage of Workforce in the Non-agriculture Sector Main and Marginal Main Marginal Male Female Persons Male Female Persons Male Female Persons

14 70 The Indian Economic Journal 64(1 4) non-agriculture and relatively high growth among such marginal workers is a cause of concern. As regards the HHI, there is a diminishing rate of absorption of workforce in this occupation. IV. Gender Distribution In fact, we have flagged enough points with respect to females in above analysis. Still, there is space for discussion of gender implications out of recent changes in growth and changing structure of workforce in India. Although females share a half of the total population, only one-quarter of the main status workers are females and little more than half of the marginal status workers are females. Females share in the population had shown a marginal increase since 1991 and continued the increase till Females representation in the main workers had increased during , but their representation had declined among the marginal workers (see Table 13). Their share in the total workforce increased between 1981 and 2001 and thereafter it had shown a marginal decline. But their share in main workers increased throughout the last three decades between 1981 and The decline in their share in total workforce was entirely due to the decline of their share in the marginal workers which had shown a fast decline since Table 13. Percentage of Females in the Total Population and Workforce in India Details Population Total Workers Main Workers Marginal Workers Main and Marginal Cultivators Agricultural Labour HHI Others Agriculture Non-agriculture Main Workers Cultivators Agricultural Labour HHI Others Agriculture Non-agriculture Marginal Workers Cultivators Agricultural Labour HHI Others Agriculture Non-agriculture

15 Motkuri and Naik 71 In the traditional occupations such as agriculture (including self-cultivation and labour) and HHI, females representation was declining (see Table 13). Among the three occupations: cultivators, agricultural labourers and HHI, the females share had increased between 1981 and 2001; thereafter, it declined between 2001 and In the modern industry and services occupations, their representation is increasing. In the workforce engaged in others occupation, which includes non-household industry and services, the share of females had increased between 1981 and However, little over one-fifth of the total workforce and little less than one-fifth of the main workers engaged in the industry and services sectors was found to be females. But, their representation accounts for around two-fifths of marginal workers engaged in this occupation. On the whole, females representation in main workers had increased over time and the concentration of females in the total marginal workers was getting reduced, especially since Their representation in workforce engaged in the agriculture occupation had declined during and there was a corresponding increase in the non-agriculture occupation. To sum up, although there was a continuing tendency of under-representation of women in the workforce, their share was increasing over time, though at a marginal rate. The increasing representation of women in the workforce, the workforce engaged in non-agriculture raises concern over quality of employment. V. Concluding Observations The analysis of trend in growth of workforce and the change in its structure in India during the last three decades using census data show that there was a fast decelerating rate of growth in workforce, particularly that of females, between 2001 and But, the WPR had not declined, if not increased. Secondly, incremental workforce, especially the males, was getting reduced to marginal status workers, whereas the incremental female workers were gradually getting levelled up to the main status workers. Still, onethird of the female workforce was working as marginal workers. Occupational distribution of workforce indicates that labour absorption in self-cultivation was saturated and declining. But, the increase in the size of agricultural labourers was more than the decline in the size of cultivators, indicating that the farmers who were leaving farming activity and those who were entering newly in to agriculture were becoming agricultural labourers. The decelerating but high rate of growth in workforce engaged in nonagriculture compared to that of agriculture could not bring any drastic change in the structure of the workforce a small change in workforce shifting towards non-agriculture. This was in contrast with the highest ever growth of non-agricultural GDP of India that was registered during the last decade. Within the non-agriculture, growth of workforce engaged in HHI was decelerating. Moreover, the rate of growth in marginal workers engaged in non-agricultural activities was found to be higher than that in main workers. The increasing share of marginal workers in the total workforce of non-agriculture sectors indicates a process of marginalisation or pauperisation of workforce and hence a cause of concern. Moreover, relatively high growth of female workforce engaged in non-agriculture appears to be a welcome feature, but one needs to be prudent in interpreting it so, especially in the context of increasing informalisation of labour market. Notes 1. It is an important alternative source of information on workforce in India and is based on the census count unlike the NSSO s sample survey-based estimations. 2. It is possible if those adults who otherwise have not participated in the labour force are incentivised to participate. Here, there is a little scope for increasing participation rate among the adult males wherein it is already saturated.

16 72 The Indian Economic Journal 64(1 4) But there is a possibility among adult females whose participation rate is considerably low. Nevertheless, their labour market participation depends upon their time spent for household chores and child care and also the cultural factors, particularly in India. Besides that, the demand for their labour in the labour market, especially in the context of poor educational levels among women, plays a critical role in labour force participation rate of females. 3. Including Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, New Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and West Bengal. 4. The report of Comptroller and Audit General of India (CAGI) on Performance of SEZs indicates that in India, there were about 572 SEZs (as on 31 December 2013) that accorded formal approval. For these SEZs, there was about 62,565 hectares of land acquired. Striking revelations of the report are that less than 200 SEZs were operational till then. Most of the SEZs (among the operational ones) could not generate employment, garner investment and produce export as they promised/proposed. The gap between the proposed and the reality in this respect was more than 90 per cent (see Government of India, 2014). Appendix A Table A1. Size of Main and Marginal Workers (in millions) in India Main Workers Marginal Workers Male Female Persons Male Female Persons Table A2. Workforce by Occupation All India (in millions) Total (Main & Marginal) Main Marginal Cultv A L HHI Others Cultv A L HHI Others Cultv A L HHI Others Persons Males

17 Motkuri and Naik 73 Females Total (Main & Marginal) Main Marginal Cultv A L HHI Others Cultv A L HHI Others Cultv A L HHI Others Note: (a) Rural and urban combined; (b) Cultv cultivators; (c) A L agricultural labourers; (d) HHI household industry; (e) Others it includes industry sector other than HHI and those involved in the services sector. Table A3. Workforce Engaged in Agriculture and Non-agriculture All India (in millions) Persons Total Main Marginal % of Agriculture Agri Non-agri Agri Non-agri Agri Non-agri TW Main Marginal Male Female References Chaudhary, Subhanil. (2011, August 6). Employment in India: What does the latest data show? Economic & Political Weekly, 46(32), Das, Panchanan. (2012). Wage inequality in India: Decomposition by sector, gender and activity status. Economic & Political Weekly, 47(50), Economic & Political Weekly. (2011, July 9). Don t shoot the messenger. Economic & Political Weekly, 46(28), 7 8. Ghosh, Jayati. (2013). The strange case of the jobs that did not appear: Structural change, employment and social patterns in India. Presidential Address at the 55th Annual Conference, The Indian Society of Labour Economics, December, CESP, JNU, New Delhi.