Republic of India Livelihoods in intermediate towns
Mobility and the Non Farm Economy
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- Bu səhifədəki naviqasiya:
- Table 17: Occupational Mobility across two generations
- Table 18: Fathers Occupation across social categories
- 8. Motivations Sources of Funding and Income
- 8.1: Motivations
- Table 19: Caste Category and Motivation for Starting Current Activity
- 8.2. Investments and Sources of Funding
- Table 20: Amount Invested at the time of establishment
- Table 21: Caste and Source of Funding for NFE
7. Mobility and the Non Farm Economy7.1. Where Do They Come From? Interestingly, only around one-fifth (20.3%) of those who reported being involved in non-farm activities currently, appeared to have switched over from agriculture, as their previous livelihood. Upon analysis, we understand that a substantial number of them had a member of a generation prior to them from their families working in either the traditional caste based occupations (23%) or another non-farm employment (26%) or a salaried job (10.3%). The proportion of those respondents who had themselves worked as full time cultivators or in a traditional occupation for their own family before they moved to a non-farm economic activity is much smaller (12.3%). The corresponding combined figure for the same set of activities (i.e. a traditional caste based occupation and farming) for the prior generation of the respondents (father) is higher (43.3%) (see Table 17).
Among the trends for a generation wise analysis of the involvement in non-farm activities, we can see significant and interesting variations across caste and communities. For instance, families of respondents from the traditionally upper castes cannot be identified with any caste specific occupation, even for a prior generation (See Table 18). Members of the traditionally upper castes in both the settlements either reported to be directly pursuing farming or were already engaged in a non-farm occupation. In contrast, a much larger proportion of OBC and SC respondents reported that a prior generation of family members was employed in traditional caste-based occupations (see Table 11). Not only did a majority of these respondents’ families not pursue agriculture a generation earlier, most of them also owned no or very small plots of agricultural land. In the current generation, as many as 68 percent of all the respondents (94% among SCs) reported owning no agricultural land and another 19 percent reported owning less than one acre of land. Only around 4 percent of the total respondents reported owning 5 or more acres of land. Thus, for a large majority of those respondents who belonged to traditionally land owning caste and community groups, their holdings have increasingly become unviable (due to fragmentation of holdings across generations).
Some of the respondents continue to practice farming (10.3%) along with a non-farm activity but reported farming as a secondary source of livelihood. Most of such respondents belong to the traditionally upper castes and both the OBC categories. A large majority of the respondents (74.7) work full time in their corresponding non-farm activity though some of them simultaneously engage in more than one non-farm activity (6.3%). A good proportion of the respondents (24.3%) also have another family member along with them in the (primarily) reported non-farm activity. 8. Motivations Sources of Funding and Income: From the discussion above, it is discernible that more than 60 percent of those who reported being currently engaged in a non-farm activity are first generation workers, i.e. their fathers and other members of the family from the generation prior to them were either employed in agriculture or in a traditional caste based occupation. It is therefore both interesting and worthwhile for us to understand what was it that motivated them to shift from such livelihoods to those that they are currently employed in? How did they mobilize the initial investment required for starting such enterprises? How much do they earn? 8.1: Motivations: Even though the decline of agriculture as a source of employment and of social status is quite evident, few of our respondents seemed to have consciously attributed their decision to start a non-farm activity to it. Given the average size of land holdings in the area, agriculture is perhaps no longer seen as a viable option of employment by villagers from across communities (see Table 12). As one of the respondents put it: Agriculture is good. One can do many things with land. One can keep cattle and also do a poultry business. But only if we have enough land. We do not have much land here. We also have a serious problem with irrigation. Other inputs such as seeds, fertilizers and labour, everything is very expensive. Those who are doing agriculture are not doing well. There is no income from land. Agriculture is a lot of hassle (bahut lafda hai kheti) Ram Yadav, an auto-rickshaw driver in Satghara, also felt similarly and argued that agriculture could be a profitable and worthwhile activity, only if the government provided facilities. In absence of electricity and assured irrigation, which ought to be provided by the government, we will only loose our money if we were to invest in agriculture. Among those who own larger than average tracts of cultivable land, farming is still not seen as a viable option for either current or future livelihoods. Interestingly, such respondents complained of a shortage of labour. Pankaj Kumar of the Suri caste in Satghara, had this to say to us - We have land and we used to cultivate it on our own. But with people going out for work, it is hard to find labour. We do not have a large proportion of SCs here. If they were around, farming would have been easier. It is better to give it on sharecropping. Agriculture is also seen as a stagnating work, with no future for progress. Sachin Kumar Thakur, a twenty-year old man returned to his village after working as an assistant in a dental accessories making unit in Amritsar for a few years. His two brothers are still in Delhi and Mumbai respectively. Even though they own a small plot of land, Sachin chose to work with his father as a barber. He expressed his opinion on agriculture clearly and sharply: The world is progressing very fast. How long can we keep sitting with a shovel in our hand? Working in the shop is far more profitable than working on land. This work is also easier. Who would want to plough land? Most of the respondents reported starting a non-farm activity because it made sense to them as a possible source of employment. Many of them did so either because it was their family business (nearly 30 percent) or they had been exposed to it during their work outside the village (nearly 15 percent) and many others reported assessing that they simply had no other options for employment (12.3 %) or that there was a local need for the business they initiated (28.7%) (see Table 19). Interestingly, we observe very similar patterns of aspirations across communities.
An overwhelming majority (73 per cent) of migrant workers are in the age group of 15-35 years. Deshkingar et. al. (2006) in their study of migration from Bihar also state that ‘young people are now consciously opting to migrate to explore other areas and in the case of lower castes to break away from caste oppression in the village’. Migration is hence also a strategic decision in case of the young and the vulnerable groups who chose to move out of the rural agricultural economy.
As we can see from Table 20, a significant share of the SC and EBC respondents were in activities that did not require any investment, which also implies that they tended to work for others. Even in cases where we can ascertain that they set-up their own enterprise, the corresponding investments for SC, EBC and Muslim respondents were relatively meager. For instance, we do not find any SC or Muslim respondent among those who reported investing more than 2,00,000 rupees.
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