Sectors of the Indian Economy

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1. Over the forty years between 1971-72 and 2011-12, while production in all the three sectors has increased, it has increased the most in the tertiary sector.
2. Tertiary sector has emerged as the largest sector because it helps in the development of primary and secondary sectors.
3. Several services such as hospitals, banks, insurance companies, transport, educational institutions are the basic services which are required by primary and secondary sectors for their normal functioning.

Where are most of the people employed?

1. A remarkable fact about India is that while there has been a change in the share of the three sectors in GDP, a similar shift has not taken place in employment.
2. The primary sector continues to be the largest employer even now.
3. More than half of the workers in the country are working in the primary sector, mainly in agriculture, producing only a quarter of the GDP.
4. The secondary and tertiary sectors produce three-fourth of the produce whereas they employ less than half the people.
5. It means that there are more people in agriculture than is necessary. So, even if you move a few people out, production will not be affected. In other words, workers in the agricultural sector are under-employed.
6. The underemployment is hidden in contrast to someone who does not have a job and is clearly visible as unemployed. Hence, it is also called disguised unemployment.
7. We see other people of the service sector on the street pushing a cart or selling something where they may spend the whole day but earn very little.
8. They are doing this work because they do not have better opportunities.

How to Create More Employment?

1. One of the best way to tackle the problem of unemployment is to identify, promote and locate industries and services in semi-rural areas where a large number of people may be employed.
2. A study conducted by the Planning Commission estimates that nearly 20 lakh jobs can be created in the education sector alone.
3. Every state or region has potential for increasing the income and employment for people in that area. It could be tourism, or regional craft industry, or new services like IT.
4. A study by Planning Commission says that if tourism as a sector is improved, every year we can give additional employment to more than 35 lakh people.
5. Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme-2005 (NREGA-2005): It was a great step taken by the government for providing short-term relief to the unemployed persons: This act is implemented as “Right to Work” in all the 604 districts of India. Under this act, all those who are able to work and are in need of work have been guaranteed 100 days of employment in a year by the government. However, only one person per family is entitled to this benefit.