Working Population of India

Transcription

1 THE ECONOMIC WEEKLY January Working Population of India S K Rao The ago structure of the population of India shows a very high proportion of children below 14 years. This throws a heavy burden on the economically active population. However, during the decade the rate of increase of the working force was higher than the rate of increase of the population of working age. The impact of economic development is seen in the increase in the participation rate which has been marked in manufacturing, construction, and transport and communimtions. Though the overall distribution of the working force among the different sectors has changed little as yet, during the working force in the secondary sector expanded faster than that in the primary and tertiary sectors. If these relative rates of change are maintained, the overall pattern of distribution of the working force will soon begin to show change. THE economically active population of a country refers to only those who are of the age to work. For while they have their own wants to be met, they can provide the resources out of which these wants can be satisfied. Viewed from this point, the age-structure of the population in India reveals a heavy burden on the active population due to the high proportion of children. Out of the population of million, according to the 1961 Census, 40.2 per cent belonged to the age-group The agf-composition of the population as revealed by the 1961 Census and some earlier Censures are given in Table 1. It will be seen from the table that the percentage of the persons below 15 years was continuously high during the period and the range of variation in the proportion was between 36 and '40 only. This might be due to the high birth rate and low expectation of life in the higher age groups. According to Sundburg, the proportion of the age-group 0-14 per 100 persons should be around 40, 33 and 20 in progressive, stationary, and regressive populations respectively. The figures in Table 1 emphasise how the Indian population is still progressive and youthful with a steady increase in the expectation of life, contrary to the European experience of a stationary or even regressive and ageing population. Table 2 presents a broad comparison of the proportion of the different age-groups in a few countries. Even among the working agegroup of years, not all the people work. Similarly some persons outside the age-group years may work. The people who are actually working or are looking for jobs, i e, the employed and the unemployed, constitute the labour force. According to the 1961 Census, the working population of India was about 188 millions, out of which 129 millions are males and 59 millions females. The labour force constitutes 78.7 per cent of the working ago (15-64) population and 39.1 per cent of the total population. The percentage of working force to the working age population is high compared to other countries, particularly among males. Table 3 compares the indices of (a) growth of total population (b) population of working age and (c) population recorded as at work in each census. The year 1901 has been taken as the base. It will be seen that while population has gained 83 points in sixty years the population of working age and the population at work have gained only 69 points during the same period. In other words the growth of population of working age and that of population at work has been trailing behind population growth. Table 4 (on page 130) gives the participation rates in different agegroups of population in India and some other countries. It will be noted from the table that the overall participation rate is appreciably lower in underdeveloped countries, due apart from the factor of low industrialisation and lack of many avenues for ab sorption of labour, to a higher proportion of population being in the age-group below 15 years. There are also social and economic reasons for the low participation rate. Employment of women is still not socially acceptable in many underdeveloped countries and their sphere

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3 January 25, 1964 THE ECONOMIC WEEKLY of economic activity is still limned to the household. The noto-migratory character of rural labour in some cases is another reason. The participation rate in India showed considerable improvement in the period when the rate of increase of labour force outstripped the increase in population for the first time. The population increased in 1961 over 1951 by per cent or at the rate of 2.17 per cent per annum. The working force increased by 33.8 per cent or at the linear rate of 3.39 per cent per annum. This had the effect of increasing the participation rate from per cent in 1951 to per cent in In the case of males the proportion of workers to total population increased from per cent in 1951 to per cent in while in respect of females it increased from per cent to per cent. In other words the rate of increase of participation by females was far ahead of that of males during this period. The increased participation of women in work is perhaps the result of change in the social attitude and of economic compulsions. An indication of what may loughly be regarded as the effect of the iwo Five Year Plans on labour force participation in the different sectors may be had from Table 5. The table shows the impact of the Plans on the participation rate, especially in Construction; Transport storage and communications; and Other services. It is possible that the indices for Mining and quarrying when abstracted will also show a similar upward swing. Table 6 shows the distribution of the working population among the different sectors in 1951 and Agriculture constitutes the major source of employment and there is no significant change in the proportion of labour force employed between 1951 and 1961, except a slight fall in the case of males and a slight increase in the case of females. Household industries and Manufacturing accounted for the second largest proportion of the working population. Here there was a significant increase in 1961 over The other sectors which showed an increase are Construction; and Transport, storage and communications. This was to be expected considering the emphasis on these sectors Vn the Five Year Plans.

4 THE ECONOMIC WEEKLY January 25, 1964 Table 7 shows growth of the working population in the primary, secondary and tertiary sectors. The secondary sector has expanded at a faster rate than the other two sectors. In the case of male workers, the tertiary sector had a higher rate of growth than the primary sector, but the reverse was true of female workers. Table 8 gives the distribution of the increase in working population in 1961 over Agriculture accounted for per cent of the total increase in the number of workers. The preponderance of agriculture was more marked in the case of female workers than male workers. Taking female workers alone, agriculture accounted for more than 85 per cent of the total increase Manufacturing, including Household industry, accounted for per cent of increase in the total number of workers. dary sector has expanded at a higher rate than the primary and tertiary sectors. If these relative rates of change continue, the overall pattern of distribution of the working force will begin to show change in the near future. To sum up, the rate of increase of total population was higher than the rate of increase of population in the working age and the rate of increase of the working force during both and Also during the rate of increase of working force outstripped the rate of increase of population of working age. The impact of economic development is seen in the increase in the participation rate which has been marked in Manufacturing; Construction; and Transport, storage and communications. Nevertheless, the overall distribution of the labour force among the different sectors has changed little. Agriculture continues to provide * Cultivation and agricultural labour; Mining and quarrying. ** Household industries; Manufacturing; and Construction. *** Trade and commerce; Transport, storage and communications; and Other Services. Source: Census of India 1961, Paper No 1 of

5 January 2 5, 1964 THE ECONOMIC WEEKLY