The study analyzes the rural non-farm employment in India and examines the participation of SCs in the rural non-farm sector, given the inadequate access of the SCs to agricultural land and capital assets. It also tries to evaluate the trends in the magnitude of rural non-farm employment from the 1980s to the late 2000s. The participation rates are examined on the parameters of age, economic activity, employment and unemployment rates and wages. The paper accentuates the relative situation of the SCs by undertaking a comparative analysis with the other social groups in India and in that regards encapsulates the changes. We hope that the study could help policymakers and others to formulate appropriate policies for an improvement in human capital in the SCs workers in India. The paper concludes by evaluating the implications of the results obtained from the analysis for the promotion of non-farm employment in the rural areas among the SCs.
Rural economic activity, Non-farm employment, Scheduled Castes People, Human capital
