Occupational Structure of Rural Females in India After Globalization

After liberalization and globalization we have forgotten the important task of building livelihood of marginalized sections. Liberalization was taken to improve the condition of women by improving the participation of women in gainful employment opportunities. This is especially important for women in rural India. Employment security is major issue in improving the livelihood security for women after economic reforms. With this background, the present paper examines the occupational structure of women in major states in India. The study is based on secondary data. The analysis will use recent available data from NSSO reports and Planning Commission Reports. This paper finds that women workers are still concentrated in the primary sector especially in agriculture and allied activities. Therefore, a concerted effort is required to shift them towards non-farm gainful employment avenue so as to improve their livelihood security and socio-economic status in the country.