Socio-Economic Profile of Loan Waiver Beneficiary Households in Punjab

Asociety is a composition of various social, economic and political institutions. Any evaluation of the status of particular section of the society can be done on the basis of social framework, social structure, cultural norms, religious beliefs and value judgments. Thus, socio-economic status is a measure of an individual's and society's social and economic position based on education, income, occupation etc. The present study is an attempt to analyse the demographic and socio-economic status of loan waiver beneficiary households in Punjab using primary data collected from three districts of Punjab using a detailed schedule from 318 households. Majority of the households belong to the Sikh religion (92.45 per cent), living in a joint family (58.49 per cent), illiterate (29.59 per cent) and are self-employed in agriculture (61.65 per cent). It is observed that marginal and small farmers are leaving agriculture and giving their land to other farmers on the rent due to the increased cost of cultivation.