Unit-2

What do you mean by occupational diversity?

Livelihood is defined as a set of activities essential to everyday life that are conducted over one's life
span. Such activities could include securing water, food, fodder, medicine, shelter, clothing.

The occupational structure of any country is defined by the segment of a country’s population that is
engaged in economic ventures and various professions. To define occupational structure more simply,
the different demographic sections of a country who are employed in different sectors like agriculture,
manufacturing and transport, among many others constitute the occupational structure of a nation.

Different nations have varied percentages of the population working in various sectors. A developing
country like India had and continues to have a fair share of its population employed in agricultural
and manufacturing divisions.

Types of Occupations
An occupation of a person is defined as the principal work or business which he or she carries out on a
daily basis to earn their primary earning. An occupation or a job provides for a person’s subsistence
meaning it helps him to earn whatever is necessary to cover all the basic amenities of his life.
Occupation in any country can be broadly divided into three major categories. These are the building
blocks of occupational structure meaning these different professions can also roughly indicate how
expansive the occupational structure of a country is.

1. Primary occupations of any country include agriculture, construction and animal husbandry.
2. The secondary set of occupations includes the people who work in the manufacturing and
servicing industries.
3. The tertiary branch of occupations encompasses the part of the population working in
communications, transport, administration and other remaining services.

Features of Occupational Structure in India:

1. Dominance of Agricultural Sector

a. The main occupation of Indian people was agriculture, which employed around 70-75 per
cent of the population.

b. Due to a considerable fraction of the population already employed in agriculture, other

industries did not see a boom in revenue and this was one of the reasons why the Indian
economy never rose to its heights during the pre-Independence era.

c. There was no balance in the occupational structure. The primary occupations attracted more
people, and so, the secondary and tertiary occupations never saw themselves contributing
much to the national economy.

2. Growing Regional Dissimilarities

a. States like West Bengal, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra saw a significant number of
people, previously working in the agricultural sector, moving away from it. They started
working in other secondary and tertiary occupations, which then started to balance the
unbalanced occupational structure of the country.

b. At the same time, states like Punjab, Orissa and Rajasthan shifted their focus hugely to
agriculture and have continued to do it even now.

c. This whole process helped the Indian economy to balance itself, with all sectors contributing
equally to the economy at present.
TRADITIONAL (RURAL) LIVELIHOOD
India's rapid economic expansion has tried to include the rural population, which is concentrated in places
where rain-fed agriculture is the primary source of income. Poverty remains, however, because of restricted
and inequitable access to productive resources such as land, water, improved inputs and technologies, and
microfinance, as well as drought and other natural calamities. Low literacy and skills conspire to keep people in
poverty, prohibiting them from claiming their basic rights or engaging in extra activities that would earn them
money or help them create assets.

It's not just about poverty alleviation. It's most important for people to stand on their feet and develop on their
own. A lot of times, people in rural communities have the knowledge, but there are not enough opportunities
for them to apply their knowledge.

Types of Livelihood Opportunities in Rural India

65.53% out of the total population of India lives in rural areas as per the data of 2019. There are various types
of livelihood opportunities in rural India, which are given below:

Farming
This is the major source of livelihood in rural India, but not the only one. Farmers do agricultural activities in
their lands and do sowing, weeding and harvesting, etc and earn the profits at the end. Sometimes, because of
bad weather or monsoon, their crops get destroyed, and they have to suffer a lot. They have to depend on other
sources of income as well, like the dairy business, etc.

Poultry or Dairy Business

People also conduct these businesses in rural areas as they usually keep livestock etc. They used to sell the milk
of cows, buffalo or goats, etc. Not only this but beekeeping is also done in rural areas most frequently for the
production of honey.

Agricultural Laborers
These are those people who do not own agricultural land, and they used to work on other farmers' lands during
the specific season. They comprise two-fifth of the rural population in India. They do not own permanent jobs,
but seasonal jobs like during sowing or harvesting season. The remaining days of the year, they are
unemployed, which leads to seasonal unemployment.

Money Lending
There are rich farmers as well in the villages who own larger pieces of land and hire many people to work or
sometimes own mills or industries as well. These rich farmers lend money to other people as well and do
exploitation of the weaker society by charging a large sum of interest.

Fishing
Fishing is also the major source of income for those who live along with the coastal areas. It is done for
domestic and commercial purposes. Some fishermen also do exports as well.

Handicrafts
India has a huge heritage and culture with immense talent in every corner of the country. Handicrafts are also a
significant source of income in rural areas, which are made by hand such as pottery making, basket making,
weaving, printing, painting, etc. The livelihood opportunities in handicrafts depend upon the heritage and
culture of the region and also on the skills of the person. Most of the handcrafted items are costly and attract
several tourists in the tourist places in India.

Small and Cottage Industries

These are the industries that are run in the houses and family members contribute to that business, such as
pottery or basket making, furniture, shawls, mats, caps, woolen or crochet work, etc. There is no need for large
capital for investment or big land facilities to start any small business and even no need occurs to hire laborers
as well because family members work in this which saves the cost of hiring labor from the outside.
Define the following
a) Region
India can be divided into six physiographic regions. They are:
 Northern Mountains: Himalayas
 Peninsular Plateau: contains mountain ranges (Aravalli, Vindhayachal and Satpura ranges), ghats
(Eastern Ghats and Western Ghats) and plateaues (Malwa Plateau, Chhota Nagpur Plateau, Southern
Garanulite terrain, Deccan Plateau and Kutch Kathiawar plateau).
 Indo-Gangetic Plain or The Northern Plains
 Thar Desert
 Coastal Plains: Eastern Ghat folds and Western Ghats folds
 Islands- The Andaman and Nicobar Islands and the Lakshadweep islands.

Northern Mountains: Himalayas

The Himalayas in India extend from the Indian-administered region of Ladakh in the north to the state of
Arunachal Pradesh in the east. Several Himalayan peaks in India rise above 7,000 m (23,000 ft), including
Kanchenjunga (8,598 m (28,209 ft)) on the Sikkim–Nepal border, and Nanda Devi (7,816 m (25,643 ft)) in the
Garhwal Himalayas of Uttarakhand.

The Peninsular Plateau

Aravali Range is the oldest mountain range in India, running across Rajasthan from northeast to southwest
direction, extending approximately 800 km (500 mi).] The northern end of the range continues as isolated hills
and rocky ridges into Haryana, ending near Delhi. Vindhya Range lies north of Satpura range and east of Aravali
range, runs across most of central India, extending 1,050 km (650 mi). The average elevation of these hills is
from 300 to 600 m (980 to 1,970 ft) and rarely goes above 700 metres (2,300 ft).] They are believed to have
been formed by the wastes created by the weathering of the ancient Aravali Mountains. Geographically, it
separates Northern India from Southern India.

Indo-Gangetic plain
The Indo-Gangetic plains, also known as the Great Plains, are large alluvial plains dominated by three main
rivers, the Indus, Ganges, and Brahmaputra. They run parallel to the Himalayas, from Jammu and Kashmir in
the west to Assam in the east, and drain most of northern and eastern India. The plains encompass an area of
700,000 km2 (270,000 sq mi). The major rivers in this region are the Ganges, Indus, and Brahmaputra along
with their main tributaries—Yamuna, Chambal, Gomti, Ghaghara, Kosi, Sutlej, Ravi, Beas, Chenab, and Tista—as
well as the rivers of the Ganges Delta, such as the Meghna.

Thar Desert
The Thar Desert (also known as the deserts) is by some calculations the world's seventh largest desert, by
some others the tenth. It forms a significant portion of western India and covers an area of 200,000 to 238,700
km2 (77,200 to 92,200 sq mi). The desert continues into Pakistan as the Cholistan Desert. Most of the Thar
Desert is situated in Rajasthan, covering 61% of its geographic area.

Coastal plains and ghats

The Eastern Coastal Plain is a wide stretch of land lying between the Eastern Ghats and the oceanic boundary of
India. It stretches from Tamil Nadu in the south to West Bengal in the east. The Mahanadi, Godavari, Kaveri, and
Krishna rivers drain these plains. The temperature in the coastal regions often exceeds 30 °C (86 °F), and is
coupled with high levels of humidity. The region receives both the northeast monsoon and southwest monsoon
rains.

Islands
The Lakshadweep and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands are India's two major island formations and are
classified as union territories.
The Lakshadweep Islands lie 200 to 440 km (120 to 270 mi) off the coast of Kerala in the Arabian sea with an
area of 32 km2 (12 sq mi). They consist of twelve atolls, three reefs, and five submerged banks, with a total of
about 35 islands and islets.
The Andaman and Nicobar Islands are located between 6° and 14° north latitude and 92° and 94° east
longitude. They consist of 572 islands, lying in the Bay of Bengal near the Myanmar coast running in a north–
south axis for approximately 910 km. They are located 1,255 km (780 mi) from Kolkata (Calcutta) and 193 km
(120 mi) from Cape Negrais in Burma.

b) Employment
Employment : The term ‘employment’ refers to the state of being employed. It is the relationship between an
employer and employee, usually. Employment for people varies in the sense that some of them are employed
for the entire year, while the others are employed for only some portion of the year.

Worker and Workforce

All the persons in a country who are engaged in productive activities i.e. in activities that contribute to the
national product of the country constitute the workforce. Statistics on the workforce reveal that 70% of the
workforce is constituted in rural areas, while only 30% belong to the urban areas. Out of the rural workforce,
only 26% are female workers.

In the urban areas, the figure drops to 14%. The overall female percentage of the workforce is 30%, while the
remaining 70% is constituted by males. It is important to note the formula for the workforce participation
ratio:

Participation Ratio = (Total Workforce/ Total Population) x 100

The workforce discussed earlier is different from another concept called labour force. It refers to the number of
workers willing and able to offer their labour at a wage rate. This is nothing but labour supply. It refers to the
work workers are willing and able to do at a given wage rate.
The participation rate in rural areas is 41% and higher than that in urban areas (35% only). The overall
participation rate in the country stands at a low figure of slightly over 39%. This means that even while more
people may be working, only a small chunk is engaged in productive activity. Even then, the participation rate is
higher in rural areas. Even the female participation rate is higher in rural than urban areas.

Sectors of the Economy

Based on the engagement of workers in different kinds of employment, the economy can be broadly divided
into three sectors:

 Primary: Constitutes agriculture and allied activities. The Primary sector continues to employ the
maximum number of workers in our country, even though the number has dropped over the years.

 Secondary: Mainly includes the manufacturing activities, along with electricity, gas, water supply, and
construction. Workers have shifted from agriculture to other forms of productive activity. This is also
followed by rural to urban migration. A country’s transformation in employment from agriculture to
secondary and tertiary sectors is called structural transformation.

 Tertiary: Comprises the service sector i.e. transport and communication, banking, insurance, trade,
storage, etc.

Types of Workers
 Hired Worker: These are workers who are employed by others (employers) and receive a salary/wage
as compensation for work. Hired workers may again be of two types:
 Casual Worker: These are workers who are engaged by employers on a temporary basis for some
specific work. They are not permanent and do not receive any social security or other work benefits.
Example: Construction workers are contracted only for specific projects and not hired permanently.
Seasonal workers such as those engaged on the farm only during the harvest season are also classified
as casual workers.

 Regular Salaried Worker: These are workers hired by employers on a permanent basis and are paid
regular salaries/wages for their work. Example: Chartered accountants, teachers, sports trainers at a
sports club.

 Self-Employed: The other set of workers are those who are not employed by some employer but who
own and work for their own enterprise. Example: Proprietors, business persons.
What do you mean by workplace diversity?
Ans- Workplace diversity is the term used for the workplace composed of employees with varying
characteristics, such as different sex, gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, etc.
A company with workplace diversity is the company who has employees with a wide range of characteristics
and experiences.

There are many different types of workplace diversity. In the beginning, the term diversity was used primarily
to address racial and ethnic diversity.

However, in recent years, the term workplace diversity has been expanded to encompass many different
characteristics, such as: Race, Ethnicity, Gender, Age, Sexual orientation, Physical abilities and disabilities,
Religion, Political beliefs, Education, Socioeconomic Background, Geographical orientation, Language, Culture,
Military service.

Why workplace diversity is important

In the modern, globally connected society and market, workplace diversity is becoming a necessity rather than
a banner companies wave to show their commitment to embracing differences.

Most of the modern companies can sell their products all over the world, reaching many different groups of
people. In order to successfully create, present and sell their products in this global market, companies need a
diversified workforce.

Benefits of workplace diversity

Companies with diversified workforce experience many advantages over those who don't have diversified
employees.

Workplace diversity is not just something that improves your company’s reputation. Workplace diversity also
has many direct, tangible benefits.
Here are the commonly cited benefits of workplace diversity.
● Variety of different perspectives
● Increased creativity
● Increased problem-solving
● Increased profits
● Improved employee engagement
● Reduced employee turnover
● Improved company reputation
● Improved hiring results

How You can improve company workplace diversity?

The first step in improving your company’s workplace diversity is hiring more diversified employees.
In order to make that happen, you should make your hiring process more inclusive and inviting for people with
different characteristics.

Here are 3 actionable advice you can implement right now to make your hiring process more inclusive:
● Recruit from diverse talent pools-
Recruiting form diverse talent pools will give you access to a greater range of talent.

● Diverse panel interview -A more diversified recruiting team will be more attentive to diversity issues.

● Sensitivity training for interviewers-Provide training for your interviewers in order to help them
become more aware of workplace diversity issues.