Census 2001 recorded a substantial shift of rural workforce from agriculture to non-agricultural sectors during 1991-2001, in Punjab. Figures suggest that 60.6 per cent workers in Punjab are now engaged in non-agricultural activities and 46.5 per cent rural workers in Punjab have been absorbed by the non-farm sector. Such a transformation of rural economy of Punjab seems unprecedented in the face of low growth rate of employment in secondary and tertiary sectors during 1991-2001. This paper, based on an empirical study of three villages in three districts of Punjab, however, reveals the wide variations that exist with regard to the proportion of rural non-farm workers between census data and ground realities. According to this study, nearly 16 per cent of the rural workers in Punjab are engaged in the rural non-farm sector as compared to 46.5 per cent recorded by Census 2001.
The Economic and Political Weekly, published from Mumbai, is an Indian institution which enjoys a global reputation for excellence in independent scholarship and critical inquiry. First published in 1949 as the Economic Weekly and since 1966 as the Economic and Political Weekly, EPW, as the journal is popularly known, occupies a special place in the intellectual history of independent India. For more than five decades EPW has remained a unique forum that week after week has brought together academics, researchers, policy makers, independent thinkers, members of non-governmental organisations and political activists for debates straddling economics, politics, sociology, culture, the environment and numerous other disciplines.
First published in 1949 as the Economic Weekly and since 1966 as the Economic and Political Weekly, EPW, as the journal is popularly known, occupies a special place in the intellectual history of independent India. For more than five decades EPW has remained a unique forum that week after week has brought together academics, researchers, policy makers, independent thinkers, members of non-governmental organisations and political activists for debates straddling economics, politics, sociology, culture, the environment and numerous other disciplines.
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