Forgotten Sector
Non-farm employment and enterprises in rural India
This book provides the most comprehensive analysis of the rural non-farm sector in India available for any developing country, and puts forward a coherent and wide-ranging strategy for promoting the sector to meet national goals of full employment, economic growth and poverty alleviation.
Published: 1997
Pages: 296
eBook: 9781780442235
Paperback: 9781853394089
MAP OF INDIA VlU | |||
---|---|---|---|
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS X | |||
ABBREVIATIONS xiii | |||
GLOSSARY xvi | |||
TABLES xvii | |||
FIGURES xix | |||
1. Introduction 1 | |||
Employment in India 1 | |||
Policies and politics 5 | |||
Definitions: what is the rural non-farm sector? 8 | |||
A brief review of some research on the rural non-farm sector 13 | |||
A brief introduction to conceptual frameworks 16 | |||
Sub-sectoral analysis 16 | |||
Institutional analysis 18 | |||
Outline of the book 19 | |||
2. The rural non-farm sector according to aggregate data 21 | |||
Overview and summary 21 | |||
The current status of RNFS employment 21 | |||
The growth of RNFS employment 23 | |||
National data on the rural non-farm sector 25 | |||
Employment in the RNFS 26 | |||
Growth of RNFS employment 28 | |||
RNFS employment by industrial categories and sub-sectors 29 | |||
Growth of employment in RNFS sub-sectors 31 | |||
Emergent RNFS sub-sectors 33 | |||
Female employment, child labour and educational levels in the | |||
RNFS 34 | |||
Incomes in the RNFS 39 | |||
Enterprises in the RNFS: numbers and size 42 | |||
Some inter-state comparisons 46 | |||
Conclusions 53 | |||
3. Sub-sectors in the rural non-farm sector 55 | |||
Competitive versus comparative advantage 56 | |||
The leather sub-sector 59 | |||
Other sub-sectors 63 | |||
Food processing 63 | |||
Other primary processing 64 | |||
Traditional manufacturing 66 | |||
Modern manufacturing 67 | |||
Services 70 | |||
Technology 72 | |||
Conclusions 78 | |||
Different types of sub-sectors 78 | |||
Factor conditions and supporting industries 80 | |||
Size and structure of firms 81 | |||
Demand conditions 83 | |||
4. Regulatory policies and agencies 85 | |||
Specific regulatory policies 85 | |||
An overall assessment of regulatory policies 100 | |||
Regulatory agencies 104 | |||
Conclusions 111 | |||
The continuing rationale for regulation 111 | |||
Recommendations for reforming regulations 113 | |||
5. Promotional policies and agencies 115 | |||
Selected promotional policies and agencies 117 | |||
The Rural Industries Projects 117 | |||
Promotion of traditional rural industries 118 | |||
Technology development, training and technology institutes 121 | |||
Other promotional policies and their agencies 128 | |||
Overall assessment of promotional policies and agencies 136 | |||
Promotional strategies 138 | |||
Promotional agencies 140 | |||
Conclusions and recommendations 144 | |||
6. Rural credit policies and agencies 146 | |||
The rural financial sector in India 146 | |||
Rural credit and the non-farm sector 151 | |||
Aggregate data on rural credit to the RNFS 153 | |||
Perspectives from fieldwork 158 | |||
A closer look at the banks 163 | |||
Informal-sector credit 167 | |||
Lessons from alternative and innovative financial agencies 172 | |||
Conclusions and recommendations 176 | |||
VI | |||
7. The organization and representation of producers 180 | |||
Representation and the right to association 180 | |||
Trade unions 183 | |||
Small-scale industry associations 184 | |||
Other industry associations 186 | |||
Cooperative societies 191 | |||
The role of NGOs in catalysing producer associations 195 | |||
The logic of collective action 196 | |||
A political analysis of the representation and organization of | |||
producers 199 | |||
Conclusions and recommendations 201 | |||
8. The rural non-farm sector in the future 204 | |||
Potential for growth of rural non-farm employment 204 | |||
Economic growth, rural livelihoods and incomes 204 | |||
Projections for rural employment growth 208 | |||
Strategies for the future 212 | |||
The role of government 212 | |||
Preconditions for a dynamic RNFS: agriculture and infrastructure 215 | |||
Sub-sectoral focus 216 | |||
Reorienting organizations 223 | |||
Conclusion 232 | |||
Appendix 1: Study methodology 233 | |||
Appendix 2: Additional data 241 | |||
Appendix 3: Overview of the rural non-farm sector in eight states 249 | |||
BIBLIOGRAPHY 256 | |||
INDEX 266 |
Thomas Fisher
Thomas Fisher works at the New Economics Foundation in London on issues of development finance, organizational development and accountability in both southern and northern countries Previously he was engaged in development training and research in India for five years.
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