Measures to Change the Occupational Pattern of India

Read this article to learn about the Measures to Change the Occupational Pattern of India!

If an agricultural economy can be changed into industrial economy, the occupational pattern of India will be automatically changed.

1. Population Control:

Rapid growth of population is the main problem faced by the Indian economy. According to 2001 census, the active labour force has been estimated to be around 40 crore out of this, two thirds joined the rank of rural labour. Lack of alternative employment facility has compelled them to work in agriculture.

This leads to overcrowding in agriculture. As a result the problem of decreasing the proportion of population dependent on agriculture has become relatively difficult. So we have to keep the population growth rate within one percent and take the following steps to change the occupational pattern in our country.

2. Rapid Industrialisation:

The process of industrialisation is slow in India. This is the main cause for the traditional nature of our occupational pattern. Deficiency of capital and other complementary resources are the main obstacles in the path of rapid industrialisation. Therefore accelerating the process of industrialisation through rapid capital accumulation is the need of hour. This will divert surplus labour from agriculture resulting in the change of our occupational pattern.

3. Development of small scale and cottage industries:

India is a labour surplus country. To increase the rate of labour employment per unit of capital, we have to give emphasis on small scale and cottage industries. These industries are based or labour intensive techniques of production. According to one estimate Rs. 70,000 worth of investment is necessary to create one unit of labour employment in heavy industries while Rs. 10,000 investment is required to employ one labourer in small scale industries.

This shows that the employment potential of small scale industries is seven times more than that of heavy industries. Here we are not underestimating the importance of heavy industries. But many consumer goods which can be produced by small industries should not be produced by the heavy industries. In rural and semi urban areas these industries can be complementary to agriculture and allied activities and will help in changing the occupational pattern of the country.

4. Appropriate production technique:

Generally, there are two main types of production technique:

(a) Labour intensive technique

(b) Capital intensive technique.

In India, the process of industrialisation started from second plan gave importance to heavy industries based on capital intensive technique. This failed to generate adequate employment in the industrial sector. As a result surplus labour could not be withdrawn from agriculture to be employed in industries.

In overpopulated and underdeveloped country like India, the economists have tried to develop an appropriate production technique as a compromise between the above two techniques. This technique is not expensive like capital-intensive technique nor it is traditional like the labour intensive technique. It makes maximum utilisation of labour and helps in economic development. This technique has vast scope in a labour surplus country like India. So adoption of this technique will go a long way in changing the occupational structure of our country.

5. Extension of non-farm employment:

Creation and extension of non farm employment opportunities in rural areas will relieve pressure from agriculture. For this purpose, agro industries, small scale and cottage industries should be set up in rural areas. Efforts should be made to build rural infrastructure. This will help in changing the occupational structure of the country.

6. Man Power Planning:

Man power planning should be integrated with economic planning. The vast supply of unskilled and illiterate labourers and village artisans are still outside the main strata of economic planning in our country. Since India is a vast and diverse country.

We need a regional approach to human resource management. By formulating a separate plan for each region, we have to integrate it with the national plan. This will help in changing the occupation pattern of our country.

7. Modernisation of Agriculture:

Indian economy is mainly agricultural. But it still shows the symptoms of traditional agriculture. To withdraw surplus labour, institutional reforms are necessary in agriculture. Consolidation of holdings and introduction of modern techniques of cultivation etc. will divert surplus labour from the agricultural to non-agricultural sector.