5 Causes of Stagnancy in Occupational Pattern of India

1. Slow Growth of Industrial Sector:

The cause of stagnancy in occupational pattern is the slow growth of industrial sector especially the manufacturing sector.

The average industrial growth rate was around 6 percent per annum between 1951-91.

In comparison to the ‘East Asian Tigers’ like China, South Korea, Taiwan and Malaysia etc. this growth rate is negligible. Thus the slow growth of our industrial sector has kept the occupational pattern traditional.

2. Neglect of small scale and Cottage Industries:

The neglect of small scale and cottage industries is the factor responsible for the traditional nature of our occupational pattern. These industries use labour-intensive technique of production. With small amount of capital these industries can employ more labour. In India, the planners did not give sufficient attention to small scale and cottage industries.

The Industrial Policy 1977 gave due importance to this sector. But in 1980, the trend was reversed and again heavy industries dominated the scene. Obviously, withdrawal of 5urplus labour from the agriculture to the industrial sector has not been possible.

3. Failure of the Employment Policy:

Another reason for failure to change the occupational pattern was the failure of our employment policy since 1951. A review of the employment policy during the last 50 years of planning reveals that no serious attempt was made by the Indian planners to develop and diversify the rural economy. The unemployment alleviation programmes could not succeed due to poor management and leakages of fund.

No sincere efforts have been made by planners to develop mm-agricultural sector like road construction, land reclamation, digging of canals etc. In-fact planners failed to give emphasis on rural industrialisation. As a result occupational structure remained traditional.

4. Capital intensive Industries:

Since the beginning of planning the planners gave emphasis on capital-intensive heavy industries in the producer goods sector. This had very limited employment generation effects. Besides there was rapid expansion of luxury durable consumer goods industries using capital intensive methods. As a result there was no shift of surplus labour from agricultural sector to the industrial sector.

5. Pressure of Population Growth:

Rapid growth of population in India is a major cause of the traditional nature of our occupational pattern. Due to population explosion, there is sharp increase of our work force especially in rural part of the country-. Generally more than two thirds of increased labour joins labour force. Lack of alternative source of employment in agriculture, leads to disguised employment and underemployment.