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Changes in India's Rural Labour Market in the 2000s: Evidence from the Census of India and the National Sample Survey

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  • Jayan Jose Thomas

    (Associate Professor, Humanities and Social Sciences Department, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, jayanjthomas@gmail.com)

  • M. P. Jayesh

    (Research Scholar, Humanities and Social Sciences Department, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi)

Abstract

This paper examines changes in India’s rural labour market after 1991, but mainly in the 2000s, using evidence from the Census and the National Sample Survey (NSS). The Census data show a large decline in the size of main cultivators and an increase in the size of marginal agricultural labourers in the two decades after 1991. These changes were more marked in the eastern, northern, and central- eastern States, than in the western and southern States of the country. The combined size of cultivators and agricultural labourers increased between 2001 and 2011, according to the Census. On the other hand, the NSS registered a decline in the size of the agricultural work force and an increase in rural construction jobs after the mid-2000s. The discrepancies between these two data sources are particularly striking in some States, including Bihar, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan. The findings of this paper suggest that a structural transformation of the work force away from agriculture is yet to begin in many parts of rural India, and that the optimism generated by the NSS data on this count is perhaps unwarranted. At the same time, the paper highlights some of the problems with India’s employment statistics, especially with regard to measuring the short-term migration of workers.

Suggested Citation

  • Jayan Jose Thomas & M. P. Jayesh, 2016. "Changes in India's Rural Labour Market in the 2000s: Evidence from the Census of India and the National Sample Survey," Journal, Review of Agrarian Studies, vol. 6(1), pages 81-115, January-J.
    • Handle: RePEc:fas:journl:v:6:y:2016:i:1:p:81-115
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    Cited by:

    1. Majumder, Rajarshi, 2022. "India’s rural employment scenario: challenges & opportunities," MPRA Paper 120108, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Karthikeya Naraparaju & S. Chandrasekhar, 2022. "Poverty Reduction in Rural India During 2004–2005 to 2011–2012: Role of Growth, Redistribution, and Population‐Shifts," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 68(S2), pages 295-316, December.
    3. Jayan Jose Thomas, 2023. "Employment Growth and Industrial Policy: The Challenge for Indian States," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 66(1), pages 113-129, March.
    4. Sreeja, K.G. & Madhusoodhanan, C.G. & Eldho, T.I., 2017. "Processes of peri-urban resource – livelihood transitions: Glimpses from the periphery of greater Mumbai city, India," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 49-55.

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