Structural change in Indian economy in the post-reform era

Since the beginning of economic reforms in 1991, the Indian economy had followed a growth pattern, which is different from the historical development of the economy as well as different from the developed economies. The Indian economy has undergone structural changes over time with the expected decline in the share of agriculture in the GDP from 55.1 per cent in 1950–51 to 13.9 per cent in 2012–13. It is important sector of the Indian economy from the point of view of employment generation and rural development. The rural areas are still the homes of more than 70 percent Indians and approximately 52 percent working population depend upon it. Though we are service driven economy but the dependence on agriculture still continues. The experiences of developed countries show that transfer of labour force from agriculture to non-agriculture, but this is not true with India. The present paper analyzes the structural change in post-reform era and the imbalance in the growth-employment pattern in Indian economy. The study also suggests some measures that how to reduce this imbalance by agricultural development.