(i) India being an agrarian economy has the majority of the population dependent on the agricultural sector to earn their livelihood. Although, the development strategies in India have aimed at the reduction of population dependent on agriculture, yet the reduction in the population engaged in the agricultural sector has not been significant.
(ii) In 1972-73, about 74% of the workforce was engaged in the primary sector which reduced to 60% in 1999-2000. On the other hand, the shares of the secondary and tertiary sector in employment rose from 11% to 16% and 15% to 24% respectively. The workforce distribution indicates that over the last three decades i.e. From 1972-2000, people have moved from self-employment and regular-salaried employment to casual wage workers.
(iii) This particular pattern of moving from self-employment and regular-salaried employment to casual wage work is termed as casualisation of the workforce. Thus it can be concluded that although changes in the distribution of workforce have taken place, the industrial and tertiary sector need to increase their share in the workforce distribution by generating more employment opportunities and absorbing excess labor from the agricultural sector.