About 42 Pct Decline in Self Employment in India: Survey

Bangalore: The country has created a wave for self employment in the last decade and still continues to boom, leading to India’s economic growth. However, along with the growth it has also led to the decline in the number of home based entrepreneurship in the country in the last decade. The main reason of the decline is considered to be government’s rural employment guarantee programme (NREGA), as found by a new government study, reported Chetan Chauhan for Hindustan Times.

The survey done by National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) showed that during 2009 to 2010 the self-employment rate dropped in the non-agriculture sector as compared to 1999-2000 in both urban and rural areas of India. Since the introduction of NREGA in 2005, a large decline is seen in the rural areas, informed the survey.

Over one lakh households across all Indian states and union territories were surveyed. The report said, “In rural areas, 49.3 percent of the workforce was self-employed in 1999-2000, which decreased to 41.6 percent in 2009-10 and in urban areas, the decrease in share of self-employed workforce was from 40.8 percent to 39.5 percent,” as reported by Hindustan Times.

The primary reason for the reduction in the number is the movement of self employed to wage earning employment which has taken place both in urban and rural areas, as said by a senior government official. He said, “The impact in rural areas was more because of NREGA.”

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