Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Rural Development Minister Rao Birendra Singh released the results of the Socio-Economic and Caste Census (SECC 2011) today, the first exercise of this nature since independence. It shows that most of the rural population is engaged in unorganised jobs, and that scheduled caste and scheduled tribe households are faced with lower income and opportunities compared with overall figures.
A total of 17.91 crore rural households were surveyed across India. Only 5 percent had a salaried government job, and 3.57 percent had a salaried private sector job. That means over 90 percent of rural India is engaged in unsalaried work. Also the private sector is a smaller provider of jobs in rural India compared with the government. The percentage figures of salaried employment are even lower for scheduled castes (SC) and scheduled tribes (ST).
And almost 51.14 percent are engaged in manual casual labour, the survey shows, pointing to lack of other jobs.
The highest earning member in 74.49 percent of households makes less than Rs 5,000 a month. When it comes to scheduled castes, the number rises to 83.56 percent (out of total of 3.3 crore SC households surveyed), and 86.57 percent of ST households (out of 1.96 households).
This is also reflected in ownership of vehicles. 17.43 percent of all households own a two-wheeler. But only 11.27 percent of SC and 8.42 percent of ST households can afford that.
Only 4.58 percent of households pay income tax or professional tax. The vast majority does not fall within the government's tax slabs which is an indicator of the low levels of income overall.
Mobile phone ownership far outstrips landlines. That is not a surprise because other studies have shown that India has leapfrogged into the mobile age before landlines could spread to rural areas. 68.35 percent of all households own a mobile phone. The figure for SC households is comparable at 66.64 percent but drops sharply for ST households in which only 41.4 percent have a mobile phone and 57.37 percent have no communication device at all.
25.63 percent of all households surveyed own cultivated land. The figures are lower for ST and SC households. However 42.71 percent of ST households own land, but it is not irrigated. That is way higher than the overall figure of 29.7 percent who own land that is not cultivated. 18.49 percent of SC households also own similar lands.
Such lands, which are not yielding any income, might be useful to buy for building factories and industries if the Land Bill is passed in parliament. Households owning these lands might be able to earn more from more jobs than just sitting on land.
The caste census and survey results for urban households will be released later.
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A total of 17.91 crore rural households were surveyed across India. Only 5 percent had a salaried government job, and 3.57 percent had a salaried private sector job. That means over 90 percent of rural India is engaged in unsalaried work. Also the private sector is a smaller provider of jobs in rural India compared with the government. The percentage figures of salaried employment are even lower for scheduled castes (SC) and scheduled tribes (ST).
And almost 51.14 percent are engaged in manual casual labour, the survey shows, pointing to lack of other jobs.
The highest earning member in 74.49 percent of households makes less than Rs 5,000 a month. When it comes to scheduled castes, the number rises to 83.56 percent (out of total of 3.3 crore SC households surveyed), and 86.57 percent of ST households (out of 1.96 households).
This is also reflected in ownership of vehicles. 17.43 percent of all households own a two-wheeler. But only 11.27 percent of SC and 8.42 percent of ST households can afford that.
Only 4.58 percent of households pay income tax or professional tax. The vast majority does not fall within the government's tax slabs which is an indicator of the low levels of income overall.
Mobile phone ownership far outstrips landlines. That is not a surprise because other studies have shown that India has leapfrogged into the mobile age before landlines could spread to rural areas. 68.35 percent of all households own a mobile phone. The figure for SC households is comparable at 66.64 percent but drops sharply for ST households in which only 41.4 percent have a mobile phone and 57.37 percent have no communication device at all.
25.63 percent of all households surveyed own cultivated land. The figures are lower for ST and SC households. However 42.71 percent of ST households own land, but it is not irrigated. That is way higher than the overall figure of 29.7 percent who own land that is not cultivated. 18.49 percent of SC households also own similar lands.
Such lands, which are not yielding any income, might be useful to buy for building factories and industries if the Land Bill is passed in parliament. Households owning these lands might be able to earn more from more jobs than just sitting on land.
The caste census and survey results for urban households will be released later.
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