The Hindu : New Delhi News : Agro sector now employs only three in a thousand

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New Delhi

Agro sector now employs only three in a thousand

Staff Reporter

Non-agro sector accounts for 99.7% of the total jobs in Delhi

Agricultural spaces increasingly falling prey
to unplanned development in the Capital
Report reveals the dominance of non-agricultural sector evenly in rural and urban areas

NEW DELHI: While agricultural land constitutes a large percentage of the total area of Delhi, it now only supports the livelihood of three in a thousand persons.

According to a report on the Fifth Economic Census of Delhi (2005) released here over the weekend, the indomitable position occupied by the non-agricultural sector in providing gainful employment to persons usually working in this sector is evident from the fact that they account for more than 99.7 per cent of the total employment in the establishments of Delhi. The report also reveals that the dominance of the non-agricultural sector is felt evenly in both rural and urban areas. In the rural area, of a total of 70,063 persons employed in all types of establishment, 68,424 or 97.66 per cent were employed in non-agricultural establishments. In urban areas, of a total of 348,6324 employed persons, as many as 3475,701 or 99.69 per cent were found to be working in this sector.

The data clearly shows that in order to grow and to provide gainful employment to more and more people, Delhi needs to concentrate on utilising the agricultural areas for development activities that may support more livelihoods. However, due to political considerations and priorities which are at times misplaced, agricultural spaces are increasingly falling prey to unplanned development in the Capital.

According to the report, there were 7.58 lakh establishments working in Delhi in 2005 compared with 6.86 lakh establishments in 1998 at the time of the fourth Economic Census. Of these 7.58 lakh enterprises, only 26,380 (3.48 per cent) were in the rural areas while 7.31 lakh (96.52 per cent) were in the urban areas. The report also shows that 3.14 lakh (41.39 per cent) establishments were working without any hired worker and the remaining 4.44 lakh (58.61 per cent) were establishments with hired workers. Also, around 7.31 lakh establishments were under private ownership, around 1.15 lakh (15.22 per cent) worked without any premises.

According to the economic census, the maximum number of 3.70 lakh establishments (48.86 per cent) against the national level of 41.83 per cent were engaged in “retail trade” in Delhi. Only 20,654 establishments, or 2.73 per cent of the total, were engaged in “wholesale trade”. The share of retail trade and wholesale trade establishment in Delhi’s total establishments is more than the national level which indicates that Delhi is still a hub of trading activity in India.

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