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Rural India: S&T for Skills and Employment
Introduction
The past decade of rapid economic growth in India coexists
with limited growth in employment. Since more than
half the workforce is rural in its location and occupation,
there has been a clear political articulation of the need
to increase rural employment and incomes by increasing
the application of S&T to solve rural problems (Stone
and Bagla, 2012; Raina and Mandal, 2012). S&T can
work to address rural employment and incomes through
(1) a better understanding of the rural problems; (2)
improved generation and access to solutions; and (3)
better organization of the solution space – management,
governance, pricing or affordability etc.
The next chapter is divided into three sections. They
present evidence on how S&T contributes to skills and
employment opportunities. S&T applications for rural
employment generation are discussed in:
1. the overall macro-economic context of services and
skills;
2. the generation and application of specific production
services in rural areas; and
3. the governance or management of general services and
skills.
In the first section, the authors contextualize the rural
economy and employment as well as S&T efforts within
the macro-economic framework for development in India.
The two sub-sections in the next chapter address how the
rural workforce and their knowledge and service demands
are configured within the current macro-economic
scenario of jobless growth. The second section begins with
the nature of knowledge – especially the organized S&T
efforts evident to support production services, skills and
employment in major rural resource-based sectors like
forestry, agriculture, small ruminants, fisheries, etc. and
other services like markets for the same. The ten sub-
sections in the next chapter present a cohesive picture of
how the state and its public sector S&T have excluded,
much like the private corporate sector, the knowledge and
technology support services for the majority of the rural
workforce. The third section of the next chapter reports
on the services for rural populations and the governance
mechanisms or investments made by the state to achieve
these. Presented in eleven sub-sections, the key S&T
concerns related to health care, drinking water, education
and gender concerns are addressed.
In each section, the authors – scholars, practitioners and
policymakers – have addressed the following key questions:
1. What are the S&T content and investments that
enable or establish the skill sets, rural employment and
income opportunities?
2. How do these S&T services focus on the employment/
skills base in each sector/sub-sector?
The authors in the next chapter have used both secondary
and primary data to address these two key questions.
A major issue is that the chapter contains very limited
information and research data on production services for
the rural non-farm sector.
2 India: Science and Technology

S&T for Rural Employment and Skills – the Context

The application of S&T for development has been a
key feature of India’s planned development and mixed
economy since independence. Yet, factors like the recent
rapid economic growth with limited employment growth,
low value–added per worker and poverty in rural India
question this very foundation of modernization and
development in India. In this section the authors present
a brief overview of the macro–economic and historical
contexts in which S&T applications are being promoted
for skills and jobs in and for rural India. Given the massive
informal unorganized workforce and the diversity of rural
production systems – agriculture and allied sectors, there is
a need for a decentralized state level engagement with S&T
and capacities for rural employment and incomes.
Skills and Employment: The Macro-
economic Context
As Indian economy has grown over time, the contribution
of different sectors to the overall economy has changed,

Table 04.01.01: India is rural and agrarian among emerging economies of the world

Agriculture – value Share of industry in Rural population in

Emerging Share of agriculture in
added per worker GDP total population
economies GDP (%)
(constant US$ 2000) (%) (%)

1980 2010 1980 2009 1980 2010 1980 2010

Argentina 6 10 6615 9987 41 31 17 8

Brazil 11 6 1179 3760 44 27 33 14

China 30 10 191 525 48 47 80 55

Egypt 18 14 1366 3024 37 38 56 57

India 36 19 313 468 25 26 77 70

Malaysia 23 11 2791 6544 41 44 58 28

Mexico 9 4 2247 3231 34 34 34 22

South Africa 6 3 2012 3641 48 31 52 38

Thailand 23 12 399 725 29 45 73 66

Source: World Bank, WDI, various years (from Raina, 2013- forthcoming)

with a significant decline in the share of agriculture.
Theoretically, this is a sign of economic growth. But this
theoretically expected change in composition of the
GDP exists with a major crisis; the negation of ‘structural
change.’ With more than half the workforce dependent on
agriculture, structural unemployment is now considered
the biggest threat to economic growth and peace in the
country.
Rural transformation has been an important concern in
all developing countries. Value added per worker in India
remains among the lowest in the world (Table 04.01.01).
Given the development economics prescriptions for
growth and development sequences, industrialization and
modernization of agriculture have been the two crucial
investments to enable rural transformation. Rural non-
farm employment offers opportunities to correct this.
Though many developing countries did invest in industrial
and agricultural growth, poverty, unemployment and
income inequality are still high in these countries. In some
countries, the rate of population growth has stabilized and
the rates of GDP growth have been spectacular (especially
in China, India, Brazil and South Africa). Though the pace
 Rural India: S&T for Skills and Employment 3

of industrialization has picked up in some

countries, value added per worker is still
low compared to most developed countries.
Moreover, countries like India, China and
Thailand continue to host massive sections of
their populations in the sector, and maintain
a relatively low capitalization of agriculture
compared to the other developing countries
(Table 04.01.01). By the end of the 1970s or
early 1980s many of the developing countries
(including China, Egypt and Mexico) had
begun to garner a third or more of their GDP
from industry. This did not happen in India.
Though the Asian economies did increase
the share of their industrial sector (Latin
America faced a decline) in GDP, India lags
far behind its Asian neighbours in the size Figure 04.01.01: Convergence that conceals domestic dissonance in growth patterns
Source: Lin and Rosenblatt, 2012, p. 13
and pace of industrialization. Among all
the emerging economies, India is evidently
rural in its economic and demographic profile. All the Table 04.01.02: Formal and informal employment in
other emerging economies have achieved the rural organized and unorganized sector
transformation they planned for in the 1950s – their millions (percentage share)
economies responded to investments in modern industry
and agriculture, moving people out of agriculture and Sector Informal Formal Total
rural occupations into industrial or service sector jobs Year (1999–2000)
(Raina, 2013, forthcoming).
Unorganized 341.3(99.6) 1.4(0.4) 342.6(100)
Globally, the increasing convergence in economic growth
between the developed countries and the emerging Organized 20.5(37.8) 33.7(62.2) 54.1(100)
economies – the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and
South Africa) is reason for optimism (see Figure 04.01.01 Total 361.7(91.2) 35.0(8.8) 396.8(100)
below, which is Figure 8 taken from Lin and Rosenblatt, Year (2004–05)
2012). But it is the growth patterns that are the key
concern if rural transformation is central to the economic Unorganized 393.5(99.6) 1.4(0.4) 394.9(100)
development problem – a feature that pervades the Indian
Organized 29.1(46.6) 33.4(53.4) 62.6(100)
economy, unlike other emerging economies (Table
04.01.01 above). Total 422.6(92.4) 34.9(7.6) 457.5(100)
The other countries in the BRICS group, except China, Year (2009–10)
have a significantly lower proportion of their workforce
in rural livelihoods, and in the unorganized informal Unorganized 385.08 2.26 (0.6) 387.34 (100)
economy compared to India. In India, the phase of rapid (99.4)
economic growth coincides with and seems to ride on Organized 42.14 30.74 (42.2) 72.88 (100)
an increasing informalization of the workforce – outside (57.8)
the institutional and social safeguards that would let the
workforce gain from the impressive economic growth rates Total 427.22 33.00 (7.2) 460.22 (100)
(Table 04.01.02). (92.8)

During the period of rapid economic growth – the 1990s Source: For 2009–10, computed from NSS 66th round, for 2004–05
– to the late 2000s, not only did the size of the informal and 1999–2000, NCEUS, 2007
4 India: Science and Technology
workforce grow (from 361.7 million to 427.22 million),
but the share of informal workforce in the total workforce
also increased (from 91.2 to 92.8 per cent of the total
workforce). This workforce also did remain mainly in the
informal unorganized sector.
The combination of informal and unorganized employment
exists mainly in rural India. The urban informal workforce
has some semblance of organization (though still
informal, as in contract labour in the powerloom sector
or construction labour) compared to the rural informal
workforce. While the overall informalization of the
workforce is a major problem, and the reasons for this
are located in the macro-economic transformations of
production relations and income distribution patterns,
the authors’ concern in this section is limited to exploring
how S&T (natural and social science research) is applied to
understanding this macro–economic context and devising
ways of knowledge generation and use (technologies and
other technology enabling investments).
The rural context, the location of 70 per cent of India’s
population and almost the same proportion of India’s
poor, who are mostly un- and under-employed (Dev and
Evenson, 2003; Lanjouw and Murgai, 2009)1 is important
to understand the disconnect between industrial growth
and the overall employment scenario. Analyses of the
Indian economy, and industrial performance (high-tech
sectors like IT, chemical or pharmaceutical industry)
in particular, have drawn attention to the institutional
features that drive and shape the economic activities
within industry (Kapp, 1977; Raj, 1975; Nagaraj,
2006, 2011). But the investments in and capacities for
production and technological change in agriculture and
industry have received limited attention. (Raina, 2013a,
forthcoming). These are the sectors that can create
employment and add value in rural India.
Table 04.01.03: Growth rates in value added (1981–82 to 2009–10) and employment (1983 to 2004–05)
in different sectors of the Indian economy (per cent per annum)
Agri– Mining Manu–
culture facturing
Value added 2.91 5.14 6.19
growth
Employment 1.02 1.37 2.51
growth (usual status:
ps+ss)
Source: Planning Commission, 2011a. (table 5)
The macro-economics of S&T, skills and rural
transformation
Thus when GDP grew at 4.7 per cent per annum during
1972–73 to 1983, employment growth was 2.4 per cent;
GDP growth increased to 5 per cent; but employment
growth declined to 2.0 per cent during 1983/1993–94;
during 1993–94/2004–05 GDP growth accelerated to 6.3
per cent, but employment growth further declined to 1.8
per cent and during the 2004–05/2009–10 quinquennium,
when GDP growth was as high as 9 per cent employment
grew at an insignificant rate of 0.22 per cent! (Papola and
Sahu, 2012)
Historically, a significant reduction of the rural agricultural
and informal sector labour was achieved in the East Asian
countries, which invested in export-led industrialization
after significant breakthroughs in value-addition and
mobilization of rural labour (Kay, 2002). The mobilization
of underemployed manpower was one of the key themes
of development economics; the other three being
industrialization, rapid capital accumulation and planning
of an economically active state (Sen, 1983). Among these
interrelated themes, India had significant achievements
in ‘planning and an economically active state’ with many
proactive S&T based interventions to support agricultural
and rural development. Many of the lessons from the
Southeast Asian experiences of rural value-addition and
mobilization of rural workforce have been relegated to
the background in these planned intervention and export-
led growth strategy. Relying on centralized schemes and
subsidies (for production technologies like fertilizers or
direct price subsidies) as the main policy instruments,
borrowed resources for funding these and the increasing
defence expenditures, and the increasing size and power
of the bureaucracy, the planned investments could not
make much of a difference to rural employment and
Utilities Const– Trade Transport Other Total
ruction etc. etc. services
6.74 6.3 7.28 8.34 6.06 5.87
1.37 6.48 4.76 4.44 2.38 1.92

incomes. Productivity and value–added per worker
remained among the lowest in the world. Moreover, the
mobilization of labour into industry has been limited
because of low industrial growth rates imposed by a major
aggregate demand constraint (Chandrashekhar, 2011).
The indirectly taxed and subsidy driven agriculture
sector could not attain the required breakthrough in real
incomes (ibid). In macro-economic terms there ensued a
vicious circle, with un- and under-employment prevailing
in agricultural and rural India, and urban industrial India
unable to provide jobs to a population that could not
mobilize real income growth rates to sustain industrial
markets and production (Raina, 2013b, forthcoming).
Even after the post-1991 deregulation and liberalization
with conscious designs to encourage investment and
industrial growth, the pain of structural unemployment
continues. During the post-reform phase, though the
falling real price of capital goods (fixed investments)
enabled capital investments (Nagaraj 2006), it is the
consequent increase in the share of machinery in GFCF
(gross fixed capital formation), the relatively slower
growth of labour-intensive sub-sectors and the disconnect
between industrial and agricultural growth patterns that
stand out.
By virtue of its sheer magnitude and in producing economic
goods, generating demand for production inputs and
consumer goods, establishing and exchanging through
intermediaries like credit or extension or local markets,
India’s rural population and informal livelihoods are
critical for economic development. The low growth rates
of value addition in the agricultural and manufacturing
sectors (Table 04.01.03 above) compared to the massive
growth rates seen in the service sector over the past two
or more decades do drive home the baseline for any S&T
effort devoted to skill development and employment for
economic growth and development in India. But even
more striking is the relatively slower growth rates of
employment in agriculture and manufacturing compared
to service sector employment growth (ibid). Obviously,
the macro-level structural changes that many other
countries with abundant rural labour had enabled have not
been favoured in India. Overall, there has been a decline
in the growth of employment (between 2004–05 and
2009–10). Of this, the most notable changes in sectoral
distribution of the work force are the decline in the share
of agricultural labour force (however small the decline
is) and increase in the share of labour in construction,
transport and other services. With the formal sector
Rural India: S&T for Skills and Employment 5
workforce being increasingly skilled and consuming more
formal sector products, the opportunities for employment
and income generation in the informal sector has shrunk
further (Kotwal and Choudhri, 2013). In addition to
the structural constraint, the potential to use services
– skills and investments, to generate employment and
incomes in rural India is further limited by the formal
institutional constraints. This is a poignant message to the
formal S&T establishment. It has to ensure that there is
an articulation of and capacities for understanding these
structural and institutional constraints that are imposed
on many potential S&T applications that can increase
rural employment and add value (per capita value added
per worker).
That over 75 per cent of the service sector jobs are in rural
areas and less than 20 per cent of the service sector GDP
comes from rural areas is an indicator of the poor value
addition – a unique low equilibrium trap of sector and
location/skills. With an increasingly educated workforce
and investments going into the service sector, the key
question is whether and how the service sector demands
in rural India can be addressed. The sheer ‘capacity and
competence’ issues associated with the human resources
needed for service sector organization and performance,
offer a major opportunity for capacity and skill
development in rural India – especially in the livelihoods
that matter to the rural population. Since formal S&T
tends to cater to a skilled workforce (Acemoglu, 2002),
the nature and magnitude of S&T support, especially
for service sector employment will be a function of
the skills and capacities that already exist in rural areas
– which the authors know is highly diverse, and largely
informal or non–standardized). That formal organized
S&T has always focused on provision of technologies or
embodied inputs and practices to rural India, and enabled
little advances in people’s skills and competencies is now
beginning to surface as a real concern, with ‘inclusive
development’ being a slogan that carries new investments
(especially in education and health care) into rural areas.
But there is little attention to investments and capacities
needed for more and better jobs in rural India.
It is often acknowledged that the macro–economic
framework and the historical and social contexts of
employment generation and income distribution in a
country is the context that shapes how effectively S&T
research is done and how its applications are enabled
to ensure innovation and development outcomes (See
6 India: Science and Technology

Nelson et al., 1993). But In India, little of this theoretical communication, computer services, business and legal
grounding is evident in the state’s articulation of S&T and services, technological advisories, etc.).
innovation for rural populations and occupations. The
The opportunities for increasing rural employment are
application of S&T for agricultural and rural development
limited in the third sub-sector, which caters mainly to
is largely driven by the ill-informed and straight jacketed
the urban and industrial production systems and services
view of linear transfer of technology.
therein. Yet, there are many applications of these services,
technology advisories, legal and patent protection for
Service Sector Growth, S&T and Rural modern rural enterprises or traditional technologies, as well
Employment as several financial products and processes that are crucial
to enhance the production and productivity of the rural
By the 1990s, the service sector had emerged as the
production systems. It is mainly the modern economic
major sector of the Indian economy. Divided broadly
and the traditional sub-sectors in the service sector that can
into four major sub-sectors, this massive sector includes:
add to rural employment, skills and increased value-added
(1) wholesale, retail trade and hotels and restaurants; (2)
per worker in rural India.
transport, storage/warehousing, and communication; (3)
construction, financial services, insurance and business Workforce and the service sector in India
services; and (4) community services, personal and social
The service sector in the Indian economy has grown from
services. As discussed above, the purpose of this chapter
48.9 per cent (1999–2000) to 57.3 per cent (2009–10) of
is to understand what role S&T can play in enhancing the
GVA in the economy (Central Statistical Office or CSO,
contribution of service sector to the economy as a whole,
various years). That this massive share in the national
how S&T can increase the productivity of the service
income accounts for only 23.7 per cent (1999–2000)
sector inputs into the development sectors – agriculture
and 25.28 per cent (2009–10) of the employment, is
and industry, and the nature of skills and knowledge
disconcerting in a country where industrial employment is
required for increasing rural employment in the country
growing slower than the rate of growth of industrial value
– in agriculture, industry and service sectors. To this end,
added and the size of the agricultural workforce is increasing
the authors find it fruitful to classify the service sector into
[(from 238 million (1999–2000) to 259 million (2000–
traditional, modern economic and modern business sub-
01) to 245 million (2009–10)) (NSSO various rounds)].
sectors (Eichengreen and Gupta, 2010). Thereby, the three
The Twelfth Five Year Plan has a declared goal of providing
sub-sectors are:
more decent work and more productive employment.
traditional (retail/wholesale trade, defence, public
According to the above (Table 04.01.04) projections
administration, etc.) during the next five years, there will be a 9 per cent increase
modern economic (education, health care, hotels, in the labour force (population aged 15–64 years) and a
restaurants, etc.) and 3 per cent increase in workers per 1,000 population.
Data from 1993–94 to 2009–10 shows that despite the
modern business (financial intermediation, decreasing rate of population growth (down to 1.6 per

Table 04.01.04: Expected changes in the national labour force (twelfth Plan), 2012–17

Estimated population and labour force

2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17
Population (in million) 1232.4 1250.1 1267.6 1285.0 1302.2
Labour force (in
505.3 516.7 528.2 539.7 551.3
million) Per '000
(410) (413) (417) (420) (423)
population

Source: Estimated by Economical and Political Weekly Research Foundation

(EPWRF), Planning Commission, 2011a
 Rural India: S&T for Skills and Employment 7

cent per annum in 2001–11) the rate of growth of the
labour force is even lower. In a country like India, with a
demographic dividend coming up in the next two to two
and half decades, it is important that more jobs are made
available to absorb the young population entering the
labour force. It is more important however, to ensure that
this new entrants into the workforce harvest higher value
added per worker. In particular, the promise of decent work
and productive employment in the Twelfth Five Year Plan
demands that authors take a closer look at the sectors –
mainly in rural India – that seem to lag in both decent work
and productivity.
The prevalence of hunger and poverty, especially
rural poverty in the midst of continuing growth in the
economy is a problem. Given that this is a structural
issue, where the reduction in share of employment in
agriculture has not complemented the reduction in the
share of agricultural income in total national income, the
solution often prescribed is the movement of people out
of agriculture and into urban and industrial jobs. But there
seems to be limited employment opportunity in industry
too; a sector characterized by weak growth and jobless
growth. It is obvious that agricultural labour and the rural
workforce in general is ill-equipped to take on the jobs
Table 04.01.05: Estimates of workers based on long-term growth rate in employment
available in the service sector – majority of the jobs being
skilled work mainly in the IT sector, with the only labour
absorption coming from the construction industry. The
latter, a disturbing trend of casualization of the labour
force, especially female workforce in urban areas and
migration of seasonal labour adding to informal workers,
will be discussed later in this text. Here, the authors’
concern is about the growth evident in the service sector,
and the potential role that S&T has to enhance (1) the
growth and productivity of production services needed
for industrial and agricultural growth; and (2) the growth
of the services sector in itself.
A brief overview of structural transformation reveals how
the majority of the workforce is still engaged in agriculture,
and located in rural India, with limited opportunities for
rural non-farm employment. It was accepted till recently
that urban economic growth had an impact on urban
employment and urban poverty reduction and no impact
on overall national or rural employment and poverty
reduction. But Dutt and Ravallion (2009) show that while
rural growth is important for both rural poverty reduction
and overall national poverty reduction, it is urban growth
that has received policy attention and investments since
1991. There is a demand here for growth investments and

Usual status
Year Rural male Rural female Urban male Urban female Total

2009–10 231.16 106.35 101.08 22.68 461.28

2012–13 242.40 109.07 110.77 24.55 486.79

2016–17 258.23 112.79 125.16 27.29 523.47

Weekly status

2009–10 224.40 90.87 99.78 21.36 436.41

2012–13 236.23 95.80 109.63 23.61 465.27

2016–17 252.97 102.78 124.31 26.97 507.03

Daily status

2009–10 211.72 74.16 97.17 19.23 402.28

2012–13 222.67 77.46 106.88 21.24 428.25

2016–17 238.14 82.07 121.36 24.27 465.84

Source: Planning Commission, 2011a, Table 6a

8 India: Science and Technology
employment generation that focus on agricultural and
rural employment and enhanced value addition in these
sub-sectors (Binswanger-Mkhize, 2012).
Projections of rural workforce reveal that there is little
hope for increased employment and value-addition in rural
areas (Table 04.01.05 above). In the Twelfth Five Year Plan
most of the new jobs created will be in urban areas, with
rural (usual status) workers accounting for a massive share
of 70.88 per cent of the total workforce in 2016–17 (down
from 73.17 per cent in 2009–10). The macro-economic
projection of workforce growth in the country indicates
that few new skills and value-addition opportunities may
be available in rural India to make the structural change
possible or to provide decent and productive employment
to the rural population.
Modern economic and traditional services do offer major
opportunities for service sector growth and employment in
rural areas and S&T applications therein – directly through
increased investments in education, health care, storage
and warehousing facilities, etc. But more importantly
because of the crucial skill dimension involved and the
larger technological capacities that can potentially be
mobilized, it is in the indirect production and productivity
enhancing services in agriculture and rural industrial or
manufacturing sub-sectors that these services can make
massive increases in employment and value-addition.
Let the authors recall that value added per worker in the
services sector is five times that of value-added per worker
in the primary agricultural sector.
The Twelfth Five Year Plan period proposes a marginal
reduction of 5 per cent in the total workforce dependent
on agriculture (Table 04.01.06 above). Of this, 3.5 per
cent is expected to move to manufacturing, 1 per cent
to construction and 2 per cent to transport and related
services. As discussed in the introduction to this chapter,
the movement of workforce out of agriculture and into
unorganized work in the manufacturing and service
Table 04.01.06: Expected sectoral distribution of labour during the Twelfth Five Year Plan (2012–17)
Mining
Year Agriculture and Manufacturing Utilities Construction
quarrying
2012–13 50 1 14.5
2016–17 45 1 18
Source: Planning Commission, 2011b, Table 6b.
sectors seems to be the expected process to achieve this 5
per cent reduction in the national agricultural workforce.
Given the formal, organized and centralized nature of S&T
establishment in India, it is reasonable to assume that the
unorganized workforce in general and the movement of
unskilled or semi–skilled agricultural workforce into other
unorganized sector jobs will receive little support from new
technologies, skills or other S&T based interventions.
There are opportunities to add value per worker in each of
these jobs and to enable the movement of workers from
these jobs to related jobs in construction, transport and
manufacturing (as in Table 04.01.06 above), building on
the skills that are available with the workers in any area of
agricultural work. This demands (1) baseline information
of skills available in specific work categories in agriculture;
and (2) details of scientific research on skill augmenting
jobs or skill development for S&T based employment in
these and related (manufacturing, service sector) jobs.
The lack of baseline information about skills available in
the rural work categories goes hand in hand with a limited
understanding of and data on the service sector itself. The
service sector data questions often begin with statements
about the poor quality of data.
The opportunities to use S&T to generate rural
employment and incomes in rural India demand several
kinds (from natural and social sciences) and levels
(macro, meso, micro-individual household, or worker)
of data. As seen (Table 04.01.07) above, information and
data on castes, public and common pool resources, linked
markets, formal and informal investments, variations
in seasonal and weekly employment, and many tacit
knowledge systems are necessary to understand the
service sub-sectors. These variables again may vary with
the kind of growth rates experienced in different sectors
of the economy. The deterioration of industrial statistics
and methodological weaknesses in estimating service
sector growth (Nagaraj, 2008) make it difficult to plan for
Trade Transport Other
Total
etc. etc. services
0.5 7 11.5 5.5 10 100
0.5 8 12 7.5 8 100
 Rural India: S&T for Skills and Employment 9

future employment and growth in the economy. The data employment in other sectors, it is evident that data and
available shows that trade is the largest employer within information about the informal sector workforce and
the service sector, followed by transport and storage. investments in the service sector remain inadequate.
That employment in the trade sub-sector is positively
When planning for employment generation (recall
correlated to the growth of the manufacturing sector is
the plan promise of enabling decent and productive
not surprising. But trade employment grew rapidly over
employment), the different growth scenarios of value-
the first half of the 2000s and did not grow at all during the
added and employment (Planning Commission, 2011b,
second half of the decade, when manufacturing sector’s
Table 8b) share a common assumption about a given
growth did take place (albeit at a slow pace), this makes
elasticity of employment. Thereby, greater the growth rate
this positive correlation questionable. While the debate
of value-added, higher is the growth rate of employment.
is still on about the nature of growth of manufacturing
But this the authors know is not what the recent history
(labour intensive versus capital intensive) that can induce
Table 04.01.07: Quality of data on services, employment and value-added in rural India

Serial
Service sub-sector Data issues Rural population/skill/value-added data issues
number

1 Trade Poor quality. Large part of trade
data in the informal sector. Growth
related to growth in manufacturing.
Linked markets rampant in agriculture,
manufacturing, credit – defining input and output
trade.
Differentiated labour-capital markets – caste, bonded
labour, gender.

2 Transport and Reasonably good quality. Organized Unorganized transport, processing, storage services,
Storage transport mode-wise data. feudal or caste-based with limited data.
Unorganized measurements poor.

3 Public Relatively reliable data. Protection and access to commons, agri-forestry

Administration and pastoral systems, environmental and gendered
and Defense insecurity questions in production systems – hardly
any data.

4 Hotels and Relatively poor. Large segment Highly diverse, community or caste based, major
Restaurants unorganized. Small share in services social and economic role – poor data.
sector.

5 Education, health Relatively poor. Unorganized sector Diverse, informal and region– specific. Different
and other services with under-reporting. types of health care/medical systems. Limited
engagement with formal systems and limited data.

6 Communication Relatively good. Large public sector Diverse media, social and cultural modes of
or organized private sector data. communication. Least formal investment or support.

7 Banking Reasonably good. Public sector or Informal linked markets – labour tied.
organized private banking. Limited data

8 Business services Relatively poor. Unorganized and Limited data – unorganized

new services dominate.

Note: This table has been adapted from Eichengreen and Gupta (2010)–
last column added by the authors.
Source: Planning Commission, 2011b, Table 6b.
10 India: Science and Technology
of economic growth – value added in particular – has
revealed (see quotation from Papola and Sahu, 2012 – in
section 1.1 here). Keeping the current scenario of jobless
growth and prevalence of the same structural constraints,
the formal S&T establishment needs to be wary of the
positive linear relationship assumed between growth and
employment.
The movement of workforce from informal production
sectors (agriculture) to informal service sector jobs (as in
construction), and the increasing informal employment
within organized sectors adds to the problems of data
and capacities to plan for S&T based investments, skills
and interventions. In the Twelfth Five Year Plan (2012–
17), increasing employment opportunities for scheduled
castes (SCs), scheduled tribes (STs), and Muslims who
have not had enough opportunities for education and
skill development, is a great challenge. Currently, the
concern is that increasing private sector led growth may
not provide these essential opportunities, partly because
these population groups and skills are mainly rural (where
private sector does not stand to gain substantive markets or
volumes of sale) and in eight major states in India, where
the growth rates of GDP have been consistently lower than
the national GDP growth rates (Planning Commission,
2011a). The investment in and governance of services and
provision of production services in particular is also weak
in these eight states, especially when compared to other
states. The role of the state governments in making the
S&T and Employment: Production Services in Rural India
Service sector growth in India has been a predominantly
urban phenomenon, generating employment for skilled
labour. While many efforts are on from the public, private
and civil society agencies to enable skills and employment
in rural India, little is discussed about the nature and
content of S&T based services and interventions that can:
1. generate increased value-added per worker within
agriculture and allied sectors; and
data and information available, in planning and investing
to generate productive employment, promoting S&T
efforts that generate these value-added jobs is of utmost
importance in a country like India where the workforce is
largely in the informal sector (over 92 per cent), there are
massive numbers of rural workers, diversity of production
contexts, resources and skills, markets and products. A
vital opportunity is available with the state governments of
the Indian Union today. Many are increasingly investing in
their own state level S&T programmes and organizations;
the opportunities for skilling and investing in rural India
must be maximized using the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas
Yojana (RKVY), the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural
Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) and many
other decentralized locally accountable initiatives that have
emerged during the Eleventh Five Year Plan.
Endnote
1 There have been recommendations to use the advantage that India
has already built in the IT sector to enable higher productivity in
agriculture and the rural non-farm sector (Singh, 2008), to invest
in rural industrialization or rural non-farm sector employment
(Das 2010; Nayyar and Sharma, 2005), and to enhance public
support for agricultural growth as the key driver of economic
growth in the country (Balakrishnan, 2010). But the authors
will press the argument here that the reasons for the disconnect
between industrial and agricultural-rural growth must be sought in
the nature and content of technology-based investment decisions
made, and therefore must seek solutions that alter or modify
existing technological–institutional arrangements.
2. generate jobs and support the movement of
agricultural workforce to other sectors within and
outside rural India.
The generation and supply of knowledge and the provision
of production services for rural India is highly centralized
and compartmentalized. Evidence from several production
services that can add skills and jobs in agriculture and allied
sectors reveals the need for a more location specific S&T
 Rural India: S&T for Skills and Employment 11

focus with modifications in the contents and direction of

S&T.

Forestry Sector: Skills and Capacities

Introduction
Forests define how the economy has been developing with
the perspective of safeguarding its natural resources as well
as its judicious use. In a sense it is a parameter of gauging
the health of the environment. India, which is ranked
amongst the 17 Mega Bio-diversity Regions of the World,
is substantially rich in floral and faunal diversity. Forest and
tree cover of the country as per 2011 assessment is 23.81 Figure 04.02.01: Designated functions of forests 2010
Source: http://foris.fao.org/static/data/fra2010/KeyFindings-en.pdf
per cent of geographical area. The forests of the country
are catering to 16 per cent of the human and 18 per cent As per the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment,3 the global
of the cattle population needs. India is also maintaining balance sheet portrays that around 60 per cent of the
around 20 per cent of the forest area under a protected area ecosystem services have degraded.
network for providing ecological security.1
Table 04.02.02: Global balance sheet
The protected areas under different categories like national
Enhanced Degraded Mixed
parks, wildlife sanctuaries, community reserves, protected
areas etc., are generally manned by personnel employed by Crops Capture fisheries Timber
the government as well as the tribals co-habiting these areas. Livestock Wild food Fibre
Table 04.02.01: Total protected area in India Aquaculture Wood fuel Water
Carbon Genetic resources regulation
As on February, 2013
Category sequestration Biochemicals Disease
Numbers Area (km2) Percentage Fresh water regulation
National Parks 102 40074.78 1.22 Ait quality regulation Recreation and
ecotourism
Wildlife Sanctuaries 520 121980.08 3.71 Regional and local
climate regulation
Community Reserve 4 20.69 0.00 Erosion regulation
Conservation Reserve 56 1998.15 0.06 Water purification
Protected Areas 682 164073.70 4.99 Pest regulation
Pollination
Source: Wildlife Institute of India, 2013 Natural hazard regulation
Forests primary designated functions include production Spiritual and religious
of fodder, food, fuel and other multifarious by-products Aesthetic values
having industrial use. Apart from this conservation of
biodiversity and protection of soil and water are the major Source: Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005
functions of forests. In the case of forests, the impact is more visible. Habitat
The current production of timber from the recorded forest change, climate change, occurrence of invasive species,
area is about 3.0 million meters3 per annum. About 6.0 its over-exploitation and pollution are the main drivers
million meters3 of wood is being imported in different impacting the biodiversity.
forms (round log, sawn timber etc.) giving an account of India therefore requires a robust system to safeguard
9.0 million m3 per year. Besides, there is unrecorded removal its forests. The skill set, capacities and capabilities of
from forests too.2 However, forests in India, over a period the human capital are to be such that its sustainable
of time have witnessed vagaries of human intervention, use and its protection go hand in hand. A two pronged
climate change and excessive burden.
12 India: Science and Technology
Habitat Climat Invasi
change e ve
change specie
s n,
Boreal
Temperate
Forest
Tropical
Figure 04.02.02: Drivers impact on biodiversity over the last century and current trends
Source:
strategy to increase forest cover has been undertaken by
the Government of India, which essentially comprises
(1) improving canopy cover in the forest land; and (2)
undertaking afforestation in non-forest and degraded
lands, preferably contiguous to forest blocks.
Realizing the role of forests in controlling soil erosion,
moderation of floods, recharging of ground aquifers,
as habitat for wildlife, conservation of biodiversity and
gene pool, etc., programmes were launched as early
as the Second Five Year Plan for extensive Watershed
Management followed later by establishment of a Protected
Areas Network, under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
Inclusion of afforestation, reforestation, agro-forestry,
biofuels plantation, sustainable forest management within
the scope of conservation measures have considerably
proven advantageous.
The Government of India also formulated and implemented
its first National Forest Policy in 1988. The Joint Forest
Management scheme of the Ministry of Environment and
Forests was launched after this policy was accepted by the
government. This gave people in forest fringe villages and
villages in forests the responsibility to co–manage forests
sustainably with the Forest Department.
Capacity Building in Forestry
The essence of greening resides in the context of
environment. Forests, being a valuable ecosystem of a
country play an important role in the chain of carbon
management. The fact that they act as massive carbon
sequestering sinks, converting the burgeoning amount
of carbon dioxide to more useful form makes them
Over- Pollutio
Driver’s impact on
exploitati n biodiversity over the Driver’s current trends
on (nitroge last century
phospho
Decreasing
Low
rus)
impact
Continuing
Moderate
impact
Increasing
High
impact
Very rapid
Very high increase of the
impact
indispensible in carbon chain. In fact, India’s forest cover is
on the rise as observed from the latest forest survey reports.
This can be partly attributed to the institutional mechanism
as well as the organizational structure of the country that is
continuously striving to achieve the magic figure of 25 per
cent of national land area under forest cover.
Accomplishing this Herculean task needs the support
of the masses who are aware and concerned about the
consequences of denudation. As part of India’s Chipko
Movement local villagers registered their right to forests
and their responsibility to conserve forests gained
domestic and international policy attention. The skill set
required to do so, the afforestation as well as its guarding,
is both vertical and horizontal. Generating this pool of
environment conscious people in India is managed through
top to bottom approach.
Forest Management
In India, Ministry of Environment and Forests is the nodal
agency looking after the national forests. Under its aegis are
the state forest departments responsible for administration
and management of forests in the state and enforcement of
National Forest Policy and central and state legislations in
forests, wildlife and environmental matters. Each state has
its own chain of command as depicted in the box.
The forest range officer/forest guard is at the grassroots
level of the system having direct interface with panchayati
raj institutions (PRI). PRIs are the local governing
bodies of the village system representing the forest/tribal
community.
The training of these frontline forest personnel thus has

its own significance. The knowledge infused through
these capacity building programmes permeates to the
local people when they mingle and interact with them. In
fact, this social dialogue between the PRIs and forestry
officials creates environmentally conscious people. Being
the custodian of the protected ecological niches, these
forest dwelling communities then assist in conserving and
managing the forests through sustainable and judicious
measures. Hence it can be said that through this knowledge
transfer chain, skilled government officials spread the sense
of greening as well as of environment protection to the
whole community! It is estimated that over 400 million
people in India gain supplementary income from non-
timber forest produce (NTFP).
Box 04.02.01: Hierarchy in the Forest Department
Range – A Range is the basic unit of functioning in the
Forest Department and the Forest Range Officer in charge
of the Range executes various forestry works and performs
such other duties as may be assigned. For administrative
convenience, a range is divided into Beats looked after by a
Forest Beat Officer.
Division – Few Ranges constitute a Division, which is
headed by a Divisional Forest Officer. The Divisional Forest
Officer can be from State Forest Service (SFS) or from
Indian Forest Service (IFS).
Circle – Few Divisions constitute a Circle which is headed
by a Conservator of Forests. The Conservator of Forests is
from IFS only.
Directorate/Head of Department – All the Forest Circles
are under the control of Principal Chief Conservator of
Forests who is the Head of the Department.
The themes for training workshops under the capacity
building programmes include knowledge management
in forestry sector, role of forests in water supply and
Table 04.02.03: Employment characteristics and trends within the forestry sector
Category Types of jobs
Forestry Wood harvesting jobs (also called logging or
workforce forest harvesting) include chain saw operators,
machine operators for tractors, loaders, cranes,
harvesters and logging trucks, truck drivers and
choker setters etc.
Reforestation and afforestation
jobs (work includes tree planting,
fertilization, nursery jobs, weed
and pest control and pruning)
Rural India: S&T for Skills and Employment 13
conservation, watershed management, climate change,
training curricula and effectiveness review, bio-prospecting,
interventions required for scientific management of NTFPs
and livelihood concerns of local communities, changing
needs of forestry administration and management etc.
Apart from these trained forest officials, India has the
regular mill of forestry colleges and research institutes
under the ambit of Indian Council of Forestry Research and
Education (ICFRE). Some like the Indian Lac Research
Institute work on specific forest–based products. Some
like the Indian Institute of Forest Management (IIFM)
impart postgraduate and diploma courses on forestry,
natural resource management, environment management,
non wood forest products, paper and pulp technology and
wood science and technology.
Forestry Jobs
Jobs in the forestry sector are generally considered to be
underreported. This is mainly due to the nature of the
work, which is seasonal, often part time, and does not
translate well into full-time employment. Importantly, the
vast majority of people whose livelihoods are dependent on
forestry are not wage earners or even informal workers, but
people who rely on the forest for subsistence. These people
use the forest as a source of food, fuelwood and income
and are not considered in official forestry employment
numbers. These jobs and the skills for more efficient and
eco-friendly management of forests by the people who
are largely informal and invisible to mainstream forestry
demand a range of capacity development initiatives which
are not provided currently.
Inclusion of Forestry within NREGA
National Rural Employment Guarantee Agency (NREGA)
Employment characteristics and trends
Over the past several decades, overall decreasing trends in
employment due to increasing mechanization.
Increasingly contract and informal labour.
Considered one of the most hazardous types of work.
Mainly seasonal employment.
Women comprise 10–15 per cent of the tree planting
workforce.
14 India: Science and Technology

Category Types of jobs Employment characteristics and trends

Fuelwood gathering
Agro-forestry
Wood related Wood processing: panel
industries production and sawmill jobs and
misc. wood products (furniture,
crafts, construction materials, etc.)
Paper and pulp manufacturing
NTFP Generally informal, small-scale, and subsistence
work that includes gathering and picking
of food products, medicine/chemical products,
and non-wood (bamboo, cork, thatching grasses)
for construction and structural purposes
Generally informal work for subsistence, but may provide
some additional income for households.
80–85 per cent of all wood processing is done for fuel.
Mostly performed by women.
60–80 per cent of farmers in the developing world are
women and could benefit from agro-forestry.
Panel production wages are second only to paper and pulp
manufacturing, making them relatively high compared to
other forestry jobs.
Wood processing comprises about one-third of all formal
jobs, but also employs a huge amount of informal sector
workers in developing countries.
Generally provide the highest wages in the sector
Large numbers of informal and subsistence workers,
predominantly in tropical areas and developing countries.
Generally excluded from forestry employment data.
Mostly non-mechanized work.
Work tends to be located in remote forest areas

Source: www.unepGreen-Jobs-E-Book-p254-274-%20Part2-sections6.pdf

is India’s flagship employment guarantee scheme. The Skill Development

beneficiaries are the rural BPL masses. Recently in 2008
Education related to forests and trees is crucial to achieving
forestry related activities were also included under the
sustainable management and development needs. In India
scheme. It includes plantation activities like weeding,
forest research and forest education are centralized in a
pitting, plantation, bund construction, trenching and gully
large institution as ICFRE. Apart from this various private
plugging or fire line tracing, construction of roads/trek
owned institutions have sprouted all across the country.
paths etc. Most of these activities do not require skilled
persons. For this reason perhaps most of the below poverty
level (BPL) people become eligible for availing the benefit .
This, in turn, accrues labour involved in greening activities.

Table 04.02.04: List of institutions working in forest research and management

Institutions Number of institutions Objectives Staff strength

A. National level forestry institution
1 ICFRE Regional research institutes – 8 To undertake, aid, promote and 2157
coordinate forestry education,
Research centres – 3
research and their applications.
To develop forestry extension
programmes and to provide
consultancy services
2 IIFM 1 It evolves knowledge useful for
the managers in the area of forest,
environment and natural resources
management and allied sectors. It
disseminates such knowledge in
ways that promote its application by
individuals and organizations.
 Rural India: S&T for Skills and Employment 15

Institutions Number of institutions Objectives Staff strength

3 Directorate of Forest Central Academy for To cater to the training needs of SFS
Education State Forest Service officers and forest rangers of states/
–3 union territories in the country.

Rangers colleges – 1

4 IGNFA (Indira Gandhi Lal Bahadur Shashtri Research and training institute
National Forest Academy) National Academy on public policy and public
of Administration at administration. The academy's main
Mussoorie purpose is to train civil service officers
of the Indian Administrative Service,
Indian Police Service, Indian Foreign
On job training at Service, Indian Forest Service, Indian
IGNFA, Dehradun Revenue Service, Indian Audits
and Accounts Service and other
government agencies.
5 IPIRTI (Indian Plywood HQ – 1 Carry out research and development,
Industries Research and training and education, testing and
Centres – 2
Training Institute) standardization and extension in the
field of wood and panel products
from wood and other lignocellulosics
including bamboo and agro-residues.
100
1200 sessions under 32 courses are held by six faculties
6 FSI (Forest Survey H.Q. – 1 Responsible for 21
of India) assessment and
Zonal offices – 4
monitoring of the forest
(Nagpur, Kolkata,
resources of the country
Shimla, and
regularly. In addition,
Bangalore)
it is also engaged in
providing the services
of training, research and
extension.
7 WLI (Wildlife and 1 An autonomous (49 +21+7+29)
Landscaped of institution under
Society + governing body + finance committee+ training,
India) the Ministry of
research and academic council
Environment and
Forests. It carries (PG Diploma – 33 courses 596 professionals
out wildlife research, Regular courses – 27 courses 487 professionals
courses and trainings Customized trainings)
in areas of study like
biodiversity, endangered
species, wildlife policy,
wildlife management,
wildlife forensics,
spatial modeling,
ecodevelopment, and
climate change.
16 India: Science and Technology

Institutions Number of institutions Objectives Staff strength

8 Forest research SAU–25 Surveys of existing
institutes under the agroforestry systems,
ICAR institute
aegis of ICAR collection, screening
based – 11
and selection of
trees and shrubs for
agroforestry including
tree breeding and
developing sustainable
agroforestry systems
and their management.
B. National level institutions in environment sector
1 CSE (Centree 1 at New Delhi The CSE is a public 11
for Science and interest research and
Environment) advocacy organization
based in New Delhi.
CSE researches
into, lobbies for and
communicates the
urgency of development
that is both sustainable
and equitable.
2 TERI (The Energy H.Q – New Delhi Development of 900
Research Institute) solutions to global
Regional offices
problems in the fields
– Bangalore,
of energy, environment
Guwahati,
and current patterns of
Mumbai, Goa,
development.
and Mukteshwar
3 CEE (Centre for 34 states and UT Centre of Excellence
Environment supported by
Education) the Ministry of
Environment and
Forests. It has a
mandate to promote
environmental
awareness nationwide.
4 GB Pant Institute Decentralized An autonomous 28+33+62
of Himalayan units – 4 institute under MoEF,
(scientific and technical + administrative and supporting +
Environment & it is identified as a focal
research scholars)
Development agency to advance
scientific knowledge,
to evolve integrated
management strategies
and demonstrate
their efficacy for
conservation of natural
resources, and to ensure
environmentally sound
development in the
entire Indian Himalayan
region in harmony with
the local perceptions.

Source: Author’s construction from respective websites

 Rural India: S&T for Skills and Employment 17

Table 04.02.05: Human resource development in forestry

    1990 2000 2005 2008

Employment in forestry
1990–2005
A 6385 6078 6213  
(1 000 FTE)

i In primary production of goods 6360 6053 6188  

In management of protected
ii 25 25 25  
areas

Human resources within public

B 180596 179673 179119
forest institutions 2000–08

C Forest education and research 2008

i Technician/Certificate
Graduation of students in forest   M.Sc.   B.Sc.
Diploma
related education
     565  808  3000
ii Professionals working in  Ph.D.  M.Sc. B.Sc.
publicly funded forest research
  centres  394  1002  1289

Source: Forest Rights Act (FRA) 2010

People’s participation in the protection of forests: Joint Forest Management ( JFM) Programme. The JFM is
Participation of people in the protection and management being practiced through constitution of forest protection
of forests has been emphasized in the National Forest committees. About 84,632 committees are managing a
Policy, 1988. Pursuant to this policy, Government of India total of 17.33 million ha of forest area under JFM
through its resolution dated 1 June 1990 formalized the
Table 04.02.06: Status of JFM In India

Serial Number of JFM Approximate number of

State Area under JFM (in ha.)
number committees JFMC members (in lakhs)

1 Andhra Pradesh 7718 1421000 1519000

2 Bihar 675 14175 691578
3 Chhattisgarh 7887 2763100 3319000
4 Goa 21 315 92300
5 Gujarat 3044 1290864 397203
6 Haryana* 1075 167300 60000
7 Himachal Pradesh 1109 55000 424649
8 Jammu and Kashmir* 4861 268360 40000
9 Jharkhand 10903 218000 2186000
18 India: Science and Technology

Serial Number of JFM Approximate number of

State Area under JFM (in ha.)
number committees JFMC members (in lakhs)

10 Karnataka 4850 421871 603507

11 Kerala 605 66022 173235
12 Madhya Pradesh 15228 10300000 6687300
13 Maharashtra 12653 2573000 2673568
14 Orissa 11521 1580709 1065772
15 Punjab* 1378 183145 198466
16 Rajasthan 5282 573000 780000
17 Tamil Nadu 3337 1057901 721294
18 Uttar Pradesh* 2096 155692 93857
19 Uttarakhand 1824 72421 100576
20 West Bengal 4368 505149 646084
Northeast and Sikkim 100435 23687024 22473389
1 Assam 1558 9348 53216
2 Arunachal Pradesh 447 30295 24116
3 Manipur 577 46713 78528
4 Meghalaya 359 28189 28972
5 Mizoram 529 151423 45870
6 Nagaland 771 552983 40929
7 Sikkim 155 52727 88518
8 Tripura 472 44882 128200
    4868 916560 488348
Union territories
Andaman and Nicobar
1 4 360 262
Islands
2 Chandigarh Nil Nil Nil
No forest area has been
3 Dadra and Nagar Haveli 16 1631 transferred for management
purpose
4 Daman and Diu Nil Nil Nil
5 Lakshadweep      
6 New Delhi Nil Nil Nil
7 Puducherry      
Total 20 1991 262
  Grand Total 105323 24605575 22961999
Source: http://moef.nic.in/divisions/forprt/forprt.html

Conclusion
With such a colossal organizational infrastructure for
forest research, development and protection, the need is
to institutionalize a decentralized management system.
Community participation and a sense of belonging and
possession for the forests have to be generated among the
masses. This can only happen when the people as well as the
government (R&D arms of the state) both work in tandem.
Ever since the Forest Rights Bill became an Act in 2007,
there is increasing concern about integrating forest based
livelihoods and resources (like fodder, honey extraction,
etc.) with rural development and other livelihoods support
schemes, so that human habitations and lifestyles make
least disturbance to existing forests.
Agricultural S&T and Extension:
Development Services
Agriculture is a sector where value-added is relatively low
compared to manufacturing and service sector. It is home
to a relatively underpaid and low skilled workforce, many
of whom are producers – marginal and small holders
themselves. Employment and incomes in the sector are
shaped by the overall terms of trade and the growth of
value added and employment in the rest of the economy,
as much as by production investments and technological
capacities within the sector.
Capital Formation Shaped by S&T
Today, Indian agriculture is governed by the two key
domestic policy planks of output price support and input
subsidies (Ray, 2007; Vaidyanathan, 2010). The domestic
policy planks of output price support and input subsidies,
Figure 04.02.03: Share of public and private investment in agriculture
and allied sectors (1980–81 to 2009–10) ( per cent)
Source: Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Ministry of Agriculture
Rural India: S&T for Skills and Employment 19
along with declining productivity growth rates have in
turn had a major impact on employment and innovation
in agriculture. Value-added per worker remains the lowest
in Indian agriculture among all developed and many
developing countries – especially the BRICS group (World
Bank, WDI, 2011). The impact of any of the S&T based
interventions and skill development initiatives in the sector
will thus depend on capital formation in agriculture (which
can displace or create jobs depending on the skill levels
and markets they demand) and for agriculture (which will
displace agricultural and rural employment in general and
transfer those jobs to industry or service sectors).
Much of this public capital formation, over 90 per cent
(Vaidyanathan, 1998, 2010), has gone into irrigation,
and rice and wheat have gained significantly from these
investments (Rao and Gulati, 1994; Vaidyanathan, 2010;
Fan, Hazell, and Haque, 2000). The first phase of the
green revolution ending around 1983 (Bhalla and Singh,
2010) witnessed the end of the rapid expansion of public
capital formation in agriculture. Overall, the share of gross
capital formation (GCF) in agriculture in total GCF fell
from 20 per cent in 1980–81 to 10 per cent in 1999–2000
and 6 per cent in 2007–08, rising marginally to 10 per
cent in 2009–10. The technological components of the
green revolution – irrigation, chemicals and high yielding
varieties – demanded further expansion of these forms
of capital. Thereby, the mid-1980s witnessed increasing
private investments in irrigation (tube well expansion
– with over 70 per cent of irrigated cereal production
depending on groundwater irrigation by the end of the
1980s), accompanied by increasing subsidies for tube
wells, agricultural chemicals – fertilizers and pesticides,
and seeds. These increasing production investments and
subsidies in response to S&T outputs were used effectively
to enhance irrigated cereal production. Farmers responded
to these capital investments by changing land use patterns,
increasing cropping intensity and devoting more land to
the cultivation of irrigated rice and wheat (see growth rates
of area, production and yield – Table 04.02.07 here).
The consequence of these new land use patterns in response
to increasing production investments in irrigation and
chemicals, was a massive reduction in the area devoted
to pulses and coarse cereals. Pulses and coarse cereals
or millets as they are known (to the societies that have
predominantly millet based food systems) did however,
show good growth rates of yield in the 1980s and surpassed
these growth rates in the 2000s, despite massive loss of land
20 India: Science and Technology

under these crops to the major cereals like rice and wheat. was the gradual reduction of plan expenditure devoted to
Except maize and to a limited extent, bajra (which regained agriculture (Figure 04.02.04 here).
the massive loss in area under the crop during the 1980s),
Though plan outlays have increased over time, there
the millets in general and the small millets in particular
has been a steady decline in the share that agriculture
have continued to shrink in the area devoted to these crops.
commands within the total plan outlay. In effect, this
Table 04.02.07: Compound growth rates of area, production and yield (as per cent per annum with base TE 1981–82=100)

1980–81 to 1989–90 2000–01 to 2009–10

Crop Area Production Yield Area Production Yield
Rice 0.41 3.62 3.19 –0.03 1.59 1.61
Wheat 0.46 3.57 3.1 1.21 1.89 0.68
Jowar –0.99 0.28 1.29 –3.19 –0.07 3.23
Bajra –1.05 0.03 1.09 –0.42 1.68 2.11
Maize –0.2 1.89 2.09 2.98 5.27 2.23
Ragi –1.23 –0.1 1.14 –3.03 –1.52 1.57
Small millets –4.32 –3.23 1.14 –5.28 –3.58 1.78
Barley –6.03 –3.48 2.72 –1.41 –0.25 1.17
Total coarse cereals –1.34 0.4 1.62 –0.76 2.46 3.97
Total cereals –0.26 3.03 2.9 0.09 1.88 3.19
Gram –1.41 –0.81 0.61 4.34 5.89 1.48
Tur 2.3 2.87 0.56 0.26 1.82 1.56
Other pulses 0.02 3.05 3.03 –0.34 –0.32 0.02
Total pulses –0.09 1.52 1.61 1.17 2.61 1.64
Total foodgrains –0.23 2.85 2.74 0.29 1.96 2.94
Sugarcane 1.44 2.7 1.24 0.77 0.93 0.16
Oilseeds 1.51 5.2 2.43 2.26 4.82 3.79
Cotton –1.25 2.8 4.1 2.13 13.58 11.22

Source: http Economic Survey 2012 (Table 8.5)

The impressive yield growth rates of pulses during the

decade of the 2000s, can be attributed to a positive growth
rate in area under pulses – especially gram, and tur (arhar),
which maintained the positive growth rates achieved
during the 1980s. While crops like rice and wheat did gain
the most from the unique convergence of technological
advances and production investments (Rao and Gulati,
1994) it is the growth rates of pulses and millets that
reveal the actual contributions of technological advances
to production and productivity. Given that these are crops
produced in predominantly rain-fed conditions in arid
and semi-arid production tracts, they are indicators of
knowledge and production services in agriculture. Figure 04.02.04: Plan outlay for agriculture, rural development and
other sub–sectors (percentage share of total plan outlay)
Agricultural growth became dependent on drivers of Source: Planning Commission and Economic Survey reports for various
growth that were mainly capital investments for production years
input generation and supply. One of the consequences
 Rural India: S&T for Skills and Employment 21

marks a departure in the use of knowledge and S&T in
Indian agricultural development policy and practice. As
plan investments decline and non-plan investments are
maintained to ensure maintenance of the massive public
investments made in capital formation for agriculture (see
Bhattacharya et al., 2003), there is an erosion of capacities
to conceive, design and implement policy instruments
or programmes that address emerging challenges in
agriculture. With increasing centralization of agricultural
and rural development schemes and programmes, the
technology based production investments made (mainly
till the 1980s) result in lower share of plan expenditure
for agriculture, which is devoted to the implementation of
schemes and programmes based on these past technological
recommendations.
Knowledge Services for Agricultural Production
Industrial input use in agriculture has increased steadily
over the second half of the twentieth century. With the
exception of pesticides, the growth rate of input use has
maintained a steady pace.
Though the lack of national level data leaves the increase

Table 04.02.08: Agricultural output and inputs – key indices (1970–71 to 2011–12)
1990–91=100
Year FG Index CI Index GSA Index GIA Index HYV Index FERT Index PESTI Index
1970–71 58.84 90.17 88.86 55.96 22.96 17.6 38.21
1971–72 57.08 90.20 88.54 56.3 27.12 21.49 46.41
1972–73 52.66 90.20 86.91 57.22 33.32 22.38 55.24
1973–74 56.81 90.99 91.04 59.01 38.87 22.96 79.23
1974–75 54.18 90.91 88.0 61.15 40.80 20.81  
1975–76 65.68 92.26 91.81 63.52 47.60 23.4  
1976–77 60.33 91.52 89.68 63.8 50.10 27.58  
1977–78 68.60 92.56 92.31 67.51 58.11 34.66  
1978–79 71.58 93.27 93.69 70.77 59.90 41.38  
1979–80 59.54 93.15 90.89 72.09 57.29 42.5  
1980–81 70.33 94.07 92.52 72.93 64.31 44.61 70.7
1981–82 72.34 95.01 94.73 75.31 69.40 49.04 73.84
1982–83 70.29 93.99 92.59 75.93 70.89 51.66 78.55
1983–84 82.69 95.90 96.24 78.85 80.22 62.35 86.41
1984–85 78.99 95.48 94.51 79.89 80.82 66.4 87.98
1985–86 81.65 96.63 95.65 79.52 82.73 68.53 81.7
1986–87 77.84 96.42 94.55 81.69 83.85 69.91 78.55
1987–88 76.17 97.14 91.51 82.1 80.76 71.03 105.11
1988–89 92.22 98.01 97.7 89.55 89.73 89.28 119.23
1989–90 92.83 97.69 97.69 90.61 91.31 93.55 113.12
1990–91 100.00 100.00 100. 100. 100.00 100. 100.
1991–92 91.38 98.16 97.67 96.22 96.60 102.93 113.32
1992–93 97.41 99.26 99.53 97.8 97.63 98.29 111.22
1993–94 100.00 100.00 100. 100. 100.00 100. 100.
22 India: Science and Technology

Year FG Index CI Index GSA Index GIA Index HYV Index FERT Index PESTI Index
1994–95 103.93 100.35 100.79 103.5 105.88 109.69 96.4
1995–96 97.92 100.58 100.48 104.53 107.64 112.21 96.25
1996–97 108.23 101.15 101.57 111.38 114.05 115.7 88.15
1997–98 104.81 102.12 101.84 110.49 113.45 130.91 82.07
1998–99 110.50 102.44 102.74 114.81 116.96 135.84 77.23
1999–00 113.86 101.91 100.99 115.43   146.12 72.58
2000–01 106.81 100.01 99.35 112.17   135.06 68.47
2001–02 115.52 102.32 101.68 115.34   140.38 73.87
2002–03 94.86 100.97 94.13 107.75   130.15 75.88
2003–04 115.70 102.93 101.94 114.27   135.85 64.41
2004–05 107.65 102.93 102.06 117.2   148.78 63.9
2005–06 113.20 103.66 103.33 122.91   164.48 62.48
2006–07 117.92 105.36 103.7 126.72   175.08 65.22
2007–08 125.25 106.04 104.6 127.75   182.52 70.34
2008–09 127.25 105.29 104.57 130.24   201.43 68.91
2009–10 118.37 103.6005 101.29 124.52   214.18 65.7
2010–11 132.84 107.186 106.64 130.97   227.41 87.26
2011–12 139.72         224.32 79.47

Source: Estimated from DES, 2012

in area under HYVs questionable, it is evident that the
index of chemical fertilizer use has far outstripped the
index of cropping intensity, irrigation or foodgrain output
(Table 04.02.09 above). As discussed in a later chapter
the concern about declining incremental response to unit
input use (both chemicals and irrigation) (Vaidyanathan,
2010), and increasing input costs, along with steep hikes in
the incremental capital output ratio (ICOR) are important
drivers of slow growth rates in input use in agriculture.
It is the public sector organizations – within the central
and state governments that have received major policy
attention and research funding in India.1 The Indian
Council of Agricultural Research is an apex organization at
the national level for promoting S&T programmes in the
agricultural research and education. Today the research set-
up of the ICAR includes 49 institutes, 6 national bureaus,
25 project directorates, 17 national research centres and 78
all India coordinated research projects including network
projects. The ICAR promotes research, education and
extension education in 44 SAUs, 5 deemed universities,
1 central agricultural university for the northeastern hills
region and 4 central universities with agriculture faculty by
giving financial assistance in different forms. For effective
communication of research findings among farmers, the
ICAR maintains an effective network of Krishi Vigyan
Kendras and trainers and training centres along with
zonal coordinating units. The SAUs are responsible for the
conduct of research, education and extension education
in an integrated fashion, to meet the knowledge and
technology demands of each state. Given that extension in
the SAUs is geared to imparting knowledge and technology
to the extension staff of the Department of Agriculture, all
the SAUs produce a ‘Package of Practices’ for all important
crops in the state, with recommendations of appropriate
embodied and disembodied technologies. The Department
of Extension in each state is responsible for agricultural
extension – within each division like crop production,
animal husbandry, soil and water conservation, agricultural
engineering etc. The NKC recommends dismantling all
 Rural India: S&T for Skills and Employment 23

the extension effort under the line department, to bring national concern for food security.2 By the early to mid-
extension as one of the key activities of the Agricultural 1960s the state had invested heavily in public sector
Technology Management Agency (ATMA) model (NKC, organizations and mandates to address food security. The
2009). Most state governments now have active ATMAs Fertilizer Committee, Agricultural Prices Commission,
to manage and co-ordinate agricultural technologies and the Public Distribution System, the Food Corporation
other information relevant to production problems. of India, the National Seeds Corporation, the State
Table 04.02.09: National agricultural research expenditure
Trading Corporation, the Central Water Commission
(constant price 2004–05) including schemes to promote tubewell irrigation, and the
( crores) Agricultural Produce Market Committees and regulated
markets were among these. Land reform, wage parity, and
Total state agricultural employment were the demands of rural India
Total central
Year governments Total NARE and these were left to the state governments to enact, plan
government
and UTs and implement. Minimum support price, subsidies, credit
1960–61 56.27 86.77 143.04 (including loan waivers every now and then), irrigation
and electricity costs, and procurement prices and processes
1970–71 261.98 187.53 449.51
(especially for rice and wheat) became key issues addressed
1980–81 470.65 239.63 710.28 by the central government and the large farmer lobbies. This
1990–91 784.67 327.05 1111.72 direct support for technology based programmes (whether
on irrigation, seeds, chemical fertilizers or agri-machinery)
2000–01 1443.95 512.55 1956.50
also brought with it an increasing centralization of S&T,
2009–10 2302.40 765.95 3068.35 with the states accounting for a major share of national
agricultural research in the 1960s dwindling to a minor
Source: Estimated from CAG, various years
share (less than a third) of the national agricultural research
Note: Total Central Research Expenditure (CRE) = Research
Expenditure (RE) from Ministry of Agriculture since then (Estimated from Comptroller and Auditor
(a) RE from Ministry of Agriculture = ICAR research payments General of India or CAG, various years ).
+ research account for agriculture + research account for animal
husbandry. Table 04.02.10: Ratio of central government to state
(b) Estimation of Central Research Expenditure, has taken 97 per cent governments and UTs’ expenditure on agricultural research
of union government expenditure on agricultural research and education
(c) Estimation of state research expenditure, the author/s has/have Year Ratio central: state governments
taken 33 per cent of State and UTs’ government expenditure on
1960–61 39:61
agricultural research and education
(d) National Agricultural Research Expenditure (NARE) = Total 1965–66 26:74
(97 per cent of Union Government + 33 per cent of state and UTs
governments) expenditure on agricultural research and education 1974–75 59:41
1979–80 67:33
Consolidation and centralization of agricultural research is 1990–91 71:29
the most important and most acclaimed effort by the state 1997–98 71:29
to enable knowledge and technology inputs for the new
green revolution production strategy. (Table 04.02.10) 2006–07 75:25
As the green revolution strategy to ensure a ‘central line 2009–10 75:25
of authority and control’ over agricultural technology
Source: Estimated from data same as above
and production strategies was implemented, the state
governments devoted lesser resources to agricultural The increasing centralization of research, as discussed above
research and gradually agricultural research in India (Table 04.02.10), was a need to ensure the generation and
became entirely central government directed and executed spread of the irrigation, chemical intensive technologies
as has been shown in a later section. across regions and crops in the country. This centralization
The agricultural production infrastructure and S&T is also accompanied by a series of organizational and
systems, as designed and put in place in this period institutional changes that help maintain the flow of
– 1950s to 1970s, must be seen in the context of the production technologies and capital investments needed
24 India: Science and Technology

for the same (Raina, 2011; Planning Commission, 2008). The growth rate of expenditure during the brief period in
this phase (when re-organization of agricultural research
was a much discussed topic) from 1960–65, reveals a
Table 04.02.11: Phases of growth of agricultural research
expenditure by union and state governments
very poor negative growth rate (Table 04.02.11 above).
(percentage of CAGR) The need for modern technology to shift the production
frontier, a need felt in the 1950s and 60s, demanded that
Important phases Year CAGR ‘far–reaching central authority and a clear line of command
Centre
and execution alone could meet the challenge of growing
more food,’ (The Agricultural Production Team, 1959, p. 6).
Pre-consolidation 1960–61 to 1965–66 –1.96 The second relatively short phase marks some new stresses
Pre-department (in terms of new institutions or norms and organizations),
1966–67 to 1974–75 9.53
(DARE) status significant excitement (in terms of the productive power
Centralized
of the green revolution technology package and the
consolidated expansion 1975–76 to 1996–97 7.49 attention it commanded from the bureaucracy making
phase the production investments), and the end of the ICAR
as a relatively autonomous entity. In its new status as a
Centralized
1997–98 to 2009–10 8.15 full-fledged DARE the ICAR gets its own recruitment
consolidated phase
and career advancement organization and protocols (the
States Agricultural Research Service) and its scientists marked
Pre- Model Act and equal in rank with the Indian Administrative Services
1960–61 to 1969–70 7.69 (Raina, 1999). By the end of the second phase (1975)
SAUs
there is a complete centralization of all aspects (execution,
Pre-NAAC (National
personnel recruitment and career advancement, funding
Assessment and
Accreditation Council) and planning) of agricultural research and education.
1970–71 to 1989–90 2.41 This includes the development of protocols for research
and SAUs+ AICRP
(All India Coordinated – as in the coordinated research projects (designed for
Research Project) Phase uniform trials across diverse agro-ecological zones and
production systems), purpose and content of agricultural
Centralization phase 1990–91 to 2009–10 4.58
S&T curricula taught in all SAUs and deemed universities
Source: Estimated from data same as above (Indian Agricultural Research Institute or IARI, National
Dairy Research Institute or NDRI and Indian Veterinary
The increasing centralization of research can be grouped into Research Institute or IVRI ) in the ICAR.3
four major phases by the organizational and institutional
The third phase beginning with DARE, continues well
changes evident as significant changes in the research
into the 1990s, and witnesses a steady expansion of
expenditure at the central and state levels (Figure in Raina,
research, though the growth rate of agricultural research
2012). The first phase of formal agricultural research began
expenditure remains lower than in the short transformative
with the first provincial research stations established in the
second phase (Table 04.02.11 above). Almost every crop,
late nineteeth century and several research organizations
commodity, natural resource, animal and even women in
established by individual commodity committees, the
farming had a dedicated Central Research Institute, an All
imperial departments and division therein (of land revenue,
India Coordinated Project, or a National Research Centre
agriculture, animal husbandry, irrigation, etc.). It ends with
mandated to conduct research on it. The expansion phase
the consolidation of all these diverse organizational formats
continues unabated even well after the mid 1980s when
conducting agricultural research into one coordination and
the scientific community realized that the green revolution
execution format under the ICAR (which was a Registered
gains were beginning to peter out (Planning Commission,
Society established as the Imperial Council of Agricultural
1992; Bhalla and Singh, 2010). It is the fourth phase,
Research in 1929) in 1965. The consolidation was a process
beginning in 1997, after the Council accepts the revised and
fraught with many concerns (about research mandates,
higher UPSC pay scale (and resets the career advancement
career advancement for personnel already employed in
protocols back to the public services guidelines) that
these institutes, etc. see Randhawa, 1986; Raina, 1999).
continues till date. This phase saw another central public

services pay revision in 2007–08 and establishment of the
recent national institute for biotic and abiotic stress (the
first non-commodity research mandate) with the onset of
climate variability and change.
The growth of central agricultural research had its impact
on state level agricultural research, first with establishment
of the first SAU in 1960 and the formulation of the Model
Act for SAUs (1966) implemented for all SAUs by the end
of the 1960s (phase 1). This was followed by the second
phase of low growth rate of state level agricultural research
expenditure, with the central research establishments
playing a major role with the Norms and Accreditation
Committee (NAAC) for curricula and guidelines for
SAUs and uniform implementation of research projects
(especially the national AICRPs). The current phase
beginning in the early 1990s, comes with a demand for
attention to research for state level and agro-ecological zone
or location specific area based research (which is where
the erstwhile provincial research stations had a strength).
But under the centralized research system ‘the ICAR has
systematically decimated research capacity in the states’
( Jha, 2002). States like Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh,
which till the late 1970s used to account for a significant
share of National Agricultural Research and Education
expenditure and did conduct several experiments on local
production systems, but have now shrunk in their share of
research expenditure (see a later section).
The relative share of the central government’s research
council – the ICAR – and the universities that conduct
research and teaching in the states (the SAUs), is perhaps
less important than the centralized uniform content of
agricultural S&T. The latest available comparable figures
for research expenditure and professional time (though
rather dated as of 2003), gives one a picture of how S&T
personnel contribute to agricultural research and education
– both critical inputs for building farming and related skills
in rural India. According to this estimate, each professional
expert (scientist + technician) receives a support of
1.44 million per annum, in a SAU, the same figure gets
reduced to 1.14 million per annum. (Beintemma et al.,
2008). Given that the SAU professional spends anywhere
between 50–70 per cent of their time on teaching, it is the
ICAR and its 95 different organizations that dominate the
research floor in the country.
Research and education expenditure in the country when
seen as a research and education intensity measure, or
amount devoted to each hectare of cultivated land, has
Rural India: S&T for Skills and Employment 25
crossed 300 per ha.(in current prices). (Figure 04.02.05
above).
Figure 04.02.05: National Agricultural Research and Education
Expenditure (NAREE)
Source: CAG, various years. DES, various years
With limited operating expenditure for research available
with SAUs, the research support available at the state level,
responsive to local agro-ecological variations is limited.
Though the 93 organizations under the ICAR are distributed
across the country and many have regional stations in
different agro-ecological zones, the central research agenda
and the norms of irrigation-chemical intensive production
dominates the research effort (Government of India, 2008;
Raina, 2011). This research agenda is not enough given
that nearly 62 per cent of Indian agriculture is rain-fed and
contributes almost 50 per cent of the national foodgrain
production (CRIDA, 2011; Shah et al., 1998). Irrespective
of whether the states are predominantly irrigated or are
rain-fed, the growth rate of agricultural research and
education expenditure has been relatively uniform across
the states and the union government in the decades of the
1980s and in the 2000s.
The centralization of research however, does not translate
to a high esteem or increased investment accorded
to agricultural R&D compared to conventional input
production and supply. In Indian economy agricultural
research is still as insignificant as it was when the green
revolution was launched – the national agricultural
research expenditure moving from 0.037 per cent
(1965–66) to 0.068 per cent (2009–10) of national GDP.
Within agricultural GDP, the share of agricultural research
expenditure has increased from 0.094 per cent (1965–
66) to 0.448 per cent (2009–10). That the centralized
agricultural research system has not delivered much in
terms of skills and value-addition opportunities for the
agricultural and rural work force is well accepted today.
26 India: Science and Technology
The lament is that this exclusive focus on irrigated chemical
intensive production technologies with no concern about
environmental sustainability is a problem, and attempts to
reform agricultural research to address these problems have
been inadequate (Planning Commission, 2008, p. 13).
The central government investment in and enabling of
one strategy for agricultural development, contradicts
the constitutional role assigned to central and state
governments. ‘Agriculture, including Agricultural Extension
and Research, Protection Against Pests and Prevention of
Plant Diseases’ is a state subject (see Entry 14 of List II -
State List in the VII Schedule of the Constitution of India).
Agricultural development schemes and programmes tuned
to state level needs have been initiated and given some
support during the Eleventh Five Year Plan, with the RKVY
(Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana) and the efforts to promote
Comprehensive District Agricultural Plans (C-DAPs).
A Regional Profile: Research and
Education Services for Agriculture
It is well established that all the developments in Indian
agriculture are contributed by a series of policy supports
initiated by the Government of India. Land reforms,
inauguration of the Commission on Agricultural Costs
and Prices (CACP) to ensure remunerative prices to
producers, new agricultural strategy, investment in research
and extension services, provision of credit facilities and
improving rural infrastructure are some of these policy and
institutional supports provided. But among all these policy
and institutional changes enabled, it is the generation of
public sector knowledge and technologies that is credited
for its contribution to India’s successful green revolution.
In recent decades, the growth of allied sectors in overall
agriculture sector compared to growth rate of foodgrain
Table 04.02.12: Value and share of agricultural and allied sectors in agricultural GDP in different regions of the country from
1970–71 to 2010–11 (in current prices, lakh)
Regions Years Agriculture*
% %
South
1970–71 384196 96.4 5720
1980–81 785740 94.9 17971
1990–91 2646429 92.3 115156
2000–01 9156046 87.5 585251
2010–11 26073500 85.6 78968700
production, and the low growth rates of agriculture in
some states has become a major concern. The decisions
to launch the second green revolution in the eastern and
northeastern states, to revamp production efforts in rain-
fed areas in the country, and supply subsidized inputs in
specific listed districts for the successful National Food
Security Mission of the Department of Agriculture and
Cooperation (DoAC) reflect these regional concerns. In
this context, the authors look at how agricultural growth
and agricultural research and education have performed in
different regions in the country. The objective is to explore
options for skill development and increased value-added in
different regions and states therein.
The National Agricultural Policy (NAP) formulated
in 2000 asserts that agricultural growth will critically
depend on improved R&D processes. The policy
emphasizes the new paradigm of regionalization of research
based on well-defined agro-climatic regions, application
of frontier sciences, participatory and proprietary
approaches in R&D, strengthening research and extension
linkages, and a well organized, efficient and result-oriented
agricultural R&D system to achieve higher growth rate in
Indian agriculture and to sustain it. The National Livestock
Policy formulated in 2013, makes it clear that it takes into
account the National Policy on Farmers 2007, and the
recommendations of stakeholders, especially the states.
While acknowledging that agriculture is, according to the
Constitution of India, a state subject, this recent attention
from the Central Ministry of Agriculture and its policies to
take into account the demands and needs of the states is a
welcome change.
It is noticed (Table 04.02.12) that overall, within different
regions in the country, there is an increasing share of
forestry and fisheries sectors within the agricultural GDP.
Besides, within the agricultural GDP there is an increasing
Forestry Fishery Total
%
1.4 8688 2.2 398604
2.2 24462 3.0 828173
4.0 106658 3.7 2868243
5.6 716844 6.9 10458141
8.3 1986900 6.1 107029100
 Rural India: S&T for Skills and Employment 27

Regions Years Agriculture* Forestry Fishery Total

% % %
North
1970–71 423368 95.9 17216 3.9 924 0.2 441508
1980–81 1382839 96.0 53969 3.7 4184 0.3 1440992
1990–91 4518104 95.7 175001 3.7 27054 0.6 4720159
2000–01 11637562 95.1 490937 4.0 110825 0.9 12239324
2010–11 31437700 90.2 3110800 8.9 311600 0.9 34860100
West
1970–71 218316 96.6 5193 2.3 2448 1.1 225957
1980–81 815019 96.2 15853 1.9 16236 1.9 847108
1990–91 2651598 90.8 202984 7.0 65047 2.2 2919629
2000–01 6205985 91.3 388094 5.7 206631 3.0 6800710
2010–11 27174300 86.8 3629700 11.6 502300 1.6 31306300
East
1970–71 323458 96.3 4450 1.3 8098 2.4 336006
1980–81 798529 95.0 11863 1.4 200670 3.6 1011062
1990–91 2185786 88.0 127101 5.1 170259 6.9 2483146
2000–01 5846190 86.7 301731 4.5 596271 8.8 6744192
2010–11 15596400 84.2 1232300 6.7 1684700 9.1 18513400

Note * Agriculture includes Crop and Livestock

Source: Estimated from RBI, various years.

share of value-added from animal husbandry and dairying. of the country, the share of value-added from mainstream
During the Eleventh Five Year Plan (2007–12) the livestock crop-animal production has declined in overall agricultural
sector grew at the rate of 4.5, 5.6, 7.0 and –1.2 percentage GDP. While south and east India lead in their diversified
(annual average in current prices for milk, poultry, meat sub-sectors, the north Indian states still derive a major
and wool sub-sectors, compared to 3.64, 5.61, 3.2, and share of their agricultural GDP from crop and livestock
–1.77 percentage for the same products in the Tenth Five production.
Year Plan period. As the share of crop husbandry decreases
The regions (state governments within these regions) also
and the share of other sub-sectors increases, there is a need
reveal a different pattern in their share of total state level
to assess the skill and value addition opportunities in these
agricultural research and education spending in the twenty-
emerging sub-sectors. As of 2010–11, in the four regions
Table 04.02.13: Share of different regions in total state agricultural research and education
expenditure from 1970–71 to 2010–11(in current prices, lakh)

Year South North West East Total

Percentage Percentage Percentage Percentage

1970–71 408 12 1344 38 1121 32 621 18 3493

1980–81 1961 22 2759 31 2582 29 1521 17 8814

28 India: Science and Technology

Year South North West East Total

Percentage Percentage Percentage Percentage

1990–91 9626 25 11965 31 10497 27 6727 17 38684

2000–01 35168 30 29170 25 38223 33 13286 12 115322

2010–11 118372 35 60645 18 101065 30 54364 16 332644

Source: estimated from various issues of CAG reports

first century compared to the 1970s, when almost all the
states had established their SAUs and accepted the national
Model Act (1966). The south Indian states now lead in
their share of total agricultural research and education
expenditure by the state governments in the country. While
the eastern and western regions have reduced their share of
state level research and education expenditure over time,
the northern states have seen a drastic reduction of their
share in total state agricultural research and education
expenditure (down from a share of 38 per cent in 1970–71
to 18 per cent in 2010–11).
The northern states of Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab,
Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan and Madhya
accounting for over 70 per cent of the national agricultural
research expenditure and SAUs accounting for the 30 per
cent has been discussed widely ( Jha, 2002b; Raina, 2011).
Even within the ICAR, there is a depressing trend of less
and less resources being devoted to research expenditure.
The share of expenditure on salary and research under
the ICAR is 55.5 per cent and 3.2 per cent respectively
(ICAR budget book, 2012–13). Though there are other
expenditure heads like equipment that will add to the
research activities in the institutes under the Council, it
is the research expenditure that is used for field based and
local experimentation relevant to the diverse production
systems in the states. A decline in the share of that
expenditure must be met with corresponding increase in
state level research expenditure.

Figure 04.02.06: Share of different regions in total state agricultural

research and education expenditure from 1970–71 to 2010–11
Source: same as above
Pradesh are together the major rice and wheat producers
of the country (accounting for nearly 70 per cent of the
wheat production on average annually).
Growth Rates of Agricultural Research and
Education Expenditure – National and Regional
Increasing centralization with more research being
conducted in the ICAR research organizations, and
increasing centralization of norms and accreditation of
local agricultural university syllabi, with the ICAR
Figure 04.02.07: Trend in annual growth rate of agricultural research
and education expenditure in India
Source: CAG, various years
At the national level, the average annual growth rate of
agricultural research and education expenditure (including
central and state governments and UTs) has been around
1 per cent to 1.4 per cent per annum over the past four
decades and more. (Figure 04.02.07). The limited policy
attention and importance given to agricultural S&T –
both technology generation and production of qualified
professionals in agricultural S&T is evident in this

poor growth rate of agricultural research and education
expenditure.
Figure 04.02.08: Trends in the annual growth rate of agricultural
research and education expenditure by state governments in south India
Source: CAG, various years
From the above Figure 04.02.08, it clearly indicates that
during 1971–72, the annual growth rate was around 0.5 per
cent, in 1975–76, growth rate crossed 1 per cent and again
there was steady decline during 1980, from 1990 onwards,
the growth rate remained more than 1 per cent and during
the year 2009–10, the growth rate crossed more than 2 per
cent. It can be noted that from 1970–71 to 2010–11, growth
rate of agricultural research and education expenditure in
south India had been significant and positive.
Figure 04.02.09: Trends in the annual growth rate of agricultural
research and education expenditure by state governments in north
India
Source: CAG, various years
From the above figure, it clearly indicates that there was a
sudden fall in the growth rate of agricultural research and
education expenditure in north India during 1973–74 and
immediately recovered in 1975–76, growth rate crossed 1
per cent and again during 1990 there was a sudden jump,
the growth rate remained more than 1 per cent and during
the year 2009–10, the growth rate has fallen to less than 1
per cent.
Rural India: S&T for Skills and Employment 29
Figure 04.02.10: Trend in the annual growth rate of agricultural
research and education expenditure by state governments in west India
Source: CAG, various years
The growth rate of agricultural research and education
expenditure in west India (Figure 04.02.10) clearly
indicates that during 1972–73 the annual growth rate was
less than 1 per cent, in 1975–76 growth rate crossed 1 per
cent and again growth rate remained at more than 1 per
cent till 1999–2000 and it was less than 1 per cent during
2001–02 and again the growth rate remained more than 1
per cent during the year 2009–10 and in recent years there
is recovery in the growth rate of agricultural research and
education expenditure in west India.
Figure 04.02.11: Trends in the annual growth rate of agricultural
research and education expenditure by state governments in east India
Source:
The growth rate of agricultural research and education
expenditure in eastern India (Figure 04.02.11) clearly
indicates that during 1971–72 there was huge fluctuation
in annual growth rate, in 1975–76 growth rate crossed 1
per cent and again there was steady decline during 1980,
from 1990 onwards, the growth rate remained more than 1
per cent and during the year 2009–10.
It can be noted from the above analysis of growth rates at
regional level among all the four regions of the country,
the growth rate of agricultural research and education
expenditure in south India shows increasing trend during
the last four decades. Since agriculture is a state subject,
30 India: Science and Technology

state investment in agricultural research and education is
increasing in establishing agricultural and horticultural
universities in the southern states. These states are also
changing their research priorities by investing more in the
horticulture sector, fisheries and livestock research than
the other three regions of the country. But there is no
significant increase in growth rate of agricultural research
and education expenditure in the last four decades in the
other three regions of the country. Hence performance of
agriculture growth at state level depends on investment by
state governments to a larger extent and also state-specific
characters like geography and agro-climatic conditions etc.
It is worth noticing that in all the regions the consolidation
and centralization phases of the ICAR caused a change in
their state level expenditure on agricultural research and
education.
S&T Challenges and Capacity Building for
Development of Indian Agriculture
Production services are crucial in the agriculture sector.
Theoretically, the need for public sector research and
extension efforts in this sector has been legitimized by the
fact that individual farmers, unlike individual industrial
or manufacturing firms have no capacities to invest in
or even access the scientific knowledge needed for their
production systems. By the same logic, this provision of
knowledge public goods has been extended to the supply
of commercially viable technologies through the private
Table 04.02.14: Demand for food commodities in India
sector research and extension. In India, the agricultural
research and education system has been a central support
to the successful green revolution and many technologies
for livestock, fisheries and other allied production systems.
These technologies have resulted in massive growth of
yield and income for India’s farmers, and assured food self–
sufficiency in the country. Yet, agriculture and allied sectors
are still the key source of livelihoods for over half of India’s
active workforce, and several environmental consequences
of this yield growth are major concerns today. These
demand that the scientific research system confronts and
addresses these challenges to ensure increased livelihood
opportunities and income in the sector.
Major Challenges for Capacity Building:
Increasing Food Demand
The National Sample Survey Office (NSSO, year) data on
household consumer expenditure shows that per capita
direct consumption of cereals has been declining, but the
intake of horticultural and livestock products has been
rising in the country because of improving purchasing
power. However, for increasing population the demand
for cereals, pulses, foodgrains, oilseeds, vegetables, fruits,
sugar, milk and livestock products have to grow at 1.29,
3.09, 1.45, 3.54, 3.30, 5.09, 2.22, 4.17 and 5.87 per cent per
year respectively during the next 15 years (Table 04.02.14).

Quantity (million tonnes) Compound growth

Commodities
2011–12 2016–17 2026–27 rate ( per cent)

Rice 103.48 110.21 122.01 1.10

Wheat 80.79 89.06 107.18 1.90
Coarse cereals 34.60 36.40 36.05 0.27
Maize 16.86 19.27 24.16 2.43
Total cereals 218.86 235.67 265.24 1.29
Pulses 18.84 21.68 29.73 3.09
Chickpea 7.02 8.22 11.70 3.47
Pigeon pea 4.48 5.10 6.84 2.86
Foodgrains 237.71 257.34 294.97 1.45
Edible oils 14.23 16.64 23.98 3.54
Rapeseed and mustard 4.48 5.19 7.32 3.32
 Rural India: S&T for Skills and Employment 31

Quantity (million tonnes) Compound growth

Commodities
2011–12 2016–17 2026–27 rate ( per cent)

Groundnut 2.12 2.48 3.55 3.48

Sugar 23.70 26.50 32.95 2.22
Vegetables 139.17 161.01 226.39 3.30
Potato 35.76 41.19 56.91 3.02
Onion 15.00 17.42 24.74 3.39
Fruits 77.83 96.86 164.00 5.09
Milk 117.83 141.14 217.50 4.17
Livestock products (meat, fish, eggs) 12.47 15.75 29.36 5.87

Source: National Sample Survey Office, (year )

Optimization of Fragmented Small Holdings
Due to increasing population pressure on land resources,
the average size of landholding is continuously declining
as shown in Figure 04.02.12. It may also be noted that
Indian agriculture is the home of small and marginal
farmers (80 per cent). Therefore, the future of sustainable
agriculture growth and food security in India depends
on the performance of small and marginal farmers. Small
holdings also face new challenges on integration of value
chains, liberalization and globalization effects, market
volatility and other risks and vulnerability, adaptation of
climate change etc.
Declining water resources: Due to injudicious use of
water resources and over-exploitation of ground water,
many areas have come in the semi-critical, critical and over-
exploitation category. In Punjab, Haryana and many parts
of Uttar Pradesh especially the western part, the situation
of underground water resources has become very grim. As
per the Uttar Pradesh Ground Water Census report, out
of total 820 blocks, the position of semi-critical, critical
and over-exploited blocks has increased from 37, 13 and
88 in 2004 to 76, 25 and 117 in 2008 respectively. Under
the declining ground water scenario and growing demand
of other competing sectors namely power, industry,
urbanization and domestic, the availability of water
resources for agriculture sector will further be hard-pressed.
Therefore, farmers have to be educated and advised about
the use of efficient irrigation systems and methods in order
to increase per unit water productivity.

Deteriorating Soil Health and Declining Response

Figure 04.02.12: Declining size of operational holdings in India
Source: Department of Agriculture and Cooperation, Agricultural
Census Division, Ministry of Agriculture
Degradation of Natural Resources
The input intensive agriculture, which was responsible for a
quantum jump in foodgrains production and productivity,
has also led to degradation of natural resources especially
water and soil.
to Applied Fertilizers
The significant increase made in foodgrain production
during the post independence accomplished through
increased use of high yielding varieties (HVYs), chemical
fertilizers and pesticides, increase in irrigated area and
cropping intensity has led to soil nutrient mining (Figure
04.02.13).
Similarly, due to unbalanced use of chemical fertilizers,
the response to applied fertilizers in irrigated areas has
also come down from 13.4 kg grain yield in 1970 to
3.7 kg grain yield/kg NPK applied (Figure 04.02.14).
Therefore, to improve fertilizer use efficiency, fertilizer
recommendations have to be made on the basis of site
specific plant nutrients requirements.
32 India: Science and Technology

Exploiting Production Potential A large gap existing in potential and actual yields harvested
at farmer’s field can be bridged through popularizing
The National Commission on Farmers has indicated
that there is a large knowledge gap between the yields at
research stations and actual yields in farmers’ fields. India
can increase production of major crops by 40–50 per cent
at current levels of production technologies. Uttar Pradesh,
which contributes about 19 per cent foodgrains in the
national basket, also has a large gap in potential and actual
yields realized at farmers field (Figure 04.02.15). Except
wheat, almost in all crops the realized yield is less than 50
per cent of their potential.
?

Mb Mb
Figure 04.02.15: Yield gap in selected crops in Uttar Pradesh
Source:
B B B B
location specific and cost effective technologies feasible
Mn Mn Mn Mn Mn to small and marginal farmers. Considering various
resource and constraints, existing technologies along
S S S S S with agronomic practices need to be refined for specific
locations, so that the potential yields can be exploited. For
K K K K K K
ensuring the expected level of productivity of different
crops from per unit area and optimum rate of return on
P P P P P P
investment, farmer’s have to be continuously guided by
experts in respect to input management and appropriate
production and post harvest management technologies.
Zn Zn Zn Zn Zn Zn
For this, experts and farmers have to work together in
specific locations and agronomic contexts. Further, there is
Fe Fe Fe Fe Fe Fe Fe
a need to shift away from individual crop-oriented research
focused essentially on irrigated areas towards research on
N N N N N N N N crops and cropping systems in the dry lands, hills, tribal
1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 and other marginal areas.

Figure 04.02.13: Increasing nutritional deficiency in Indian soil New Challenges: Effect of Monsoon Aberrations
Source: and High Temperature on Agriculture
Almost every year monsoon failure is experienced in some
part of the country and once in every five years drought is
experienced by all the states except the northeast (Table
04.02.14 ). Further, apart from amount of rainfall, changes
in its distribution are also influencing the cropping pattern,
selection of crops and their varieties and agricultural
production. Therefore, to deal with the changing scenario,
capacity of the IMD needs to be developed for providing
precise and credible forecasting. Agriculture being a state
subject, long term and short term strategies and area specific
contingent plans have to be developed and implemented
by trained personnel in each state. That however, is not the
Figure 04.02.14: Declining response to fertilizer application
Source: reality.

Table 04.02.14: Long-term periodicity of
occurrence of drought
Sl.
Frequency Meteorological divisions
No.
Western Rajasthan, Realayaseema,
Once in two and a
1 Telengana, Haryana, Chandigarh
half years
and Delhi
Eastern Rajasthan, Gujarat, Jammu
2 Once in three years and Kashmir, Tamil Nadu, Western
Uttar Pradesh
Uttarakhand, Vidarbha, North
3 Once in four years
interior, Karnataka
Bihar, Eastern UP, West Bengal,
Jharkhand, Kerala, Odisha,
4 Once in five years Western Madhya Pradesh, Central
Maharashtra, and Coastal Andhra
Pradesh
5 Once in 15 years Northeastern states
Source: ICAR Annual Report 2010–11. pp 76
Apart from the variation in rainfall pattern and its distribution,
National Climate Centre, IMD, Pune has revealed warming
at the rate of 0.48 0C over 100 years. According to the report
annual mean temperature over the country as a whole being
0.59 0C above the average calculated during 1961–90. The
10 warmest years ever since the Meteorology Department
started keeping a record of temperatures since 1901 are 2006
(0.595), 2002 (0.59), 1998 (0.50), 2001 and 2004 (0.47),
2003 (0.45), 1958 (0.43), 1941 (0.41), 2005 (0.40), 1999
(0.39) and 1953 and 2000 (0.36). The average temperature
from 1961–90 was 24.6 centigrade while 2009 had 0.913
centigrade above the average. 2009 was the hottest since
1901. (ref.)
It is estimated that a rise of 20C in mean air temperature
could decrease rice yield by about 7.5 qt/ha in the
high yield areas and by about 0.6 qt/ha in the low yield
coastal regions. Further, a 0.50C increase in winter season
temperature would reduce wheat crop duration by a week
and reduce yield by 4.5 q/ha (10 per cent) in the high yield
state viz. Punjab, Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh.
(ref.) Further, heat affects the fertility in most of the animal
species. Increased disease incidence, poor performance
in terms of growth, milk production and reproductive
efficiency is also observed. Due to changes in discussed
weather parameters, selection of crops and their varieties,
timing of planting and sowing and other agronomic
practices are being influenced substantially. Therefore,
farmers have to be provided accurate and precise weather
Rural India: S&T for Skills and Employment 33
forecasting and agro-advisories on regular basis through
various dissemination methods and techniques. This, in
turn, demands capacities at the local level.
Post Harvest Management
As per the ICAR Annual Report 2010–11, harvest losses
comprising on-farm losses and those in transportation and
storage in different marketing channels are substantial.
The post harvest losses in cereals, pulses, oilseeds, fruits,
vegetables, spices, condiments (plantation crops) and
livestock produce ranged from 3.9–6.0, 4.3–6.1, 2.2–
10.1, 5.8–18.0, 6.8–12.5, 3.6–6.8, and 0.6–6.9 per cent
respectively. Therefore, capacity building is needed to
develop post harvest management technologies in order to
minimize the harvest and post harvest losses in agricultural
produce
Major Thrust Areas for Capacity Building
Policies on human resources development from farmers to
policy makers must be in tune with the current contours of
agricultural development. Due to growing population and
rising per capita income, the demand for foodgrains would
increase and is estimated to be about 345 million tonnes
by 2030. Hence in coming years, production of foodgrains
is estimated to increase at the rate of 5.5 million tonnes per
annum. Further, the demand for high value commodities
e.g. fruits, dairy, livestock and fish products is expected
to increase by more than 100 per cent. Therefore, to face
various challenges under changing scenario, capacity
building focus has to be ensured in the following major
areas associated to agriculture and allied sectors:
Indian agriculture is dominated by small and marginal
farmers as average land holdings has declined from
2.28 hectare (ha) in 1970–71 to 1.23 ha in 2005–
06 and expected to be 0.68 ha by 2020. Therefore,
paradigm shift is needed in analysing location
specific bio-physical and socio-economic problems,
and developing cost effective, location specific and
eco-friendly technologies suitable to fragmenting
land holdings. Thus, manpower has to be trained for
developing and refining location specific farming
system modules on the basis of resources available with
different categories of farmers in diverse locations.
Capacity building to raise productivity level from
per unit area to meet out growing food demand at a
reasonable cost of production under deteriorating
production environment.
Human resource for developing area specific
34 India: Science and Technology
adaptation and mitigation technologies to cope with
changing climatic conditions.
Capacity building in frontier areas such as
nanotechnology, biotechnology and information
is required as they provide ample opportunities for
enhancing agricultural production under changing
scenario. With the increasing accent on productivity,
profitability and competitiveness, farmers’ knowledge
and literacy on quality, biosecurity, GMOs and
reliability should be increased by organizing training
at SAUs and KVKs.
Extensive use of ICT to make knowledge dissemination
and capacity building more effective and efficient.
Streamlining and improving quality of higher
agricultural education to develop accountable,
motivated professionals to face new and complex
challenges.
Faculty competence improvement is necessary for
good quality of education. Therefore, recruiting quality
faculty and updating knowledge and skill particularly
in view of rapid development in S&T.
In order to make higher agricultural education relevant
to present day needs, more experiential learning units
for skill oriented hands-on training to students should
be established in all agriculture colleges.
Initiating pilots and model demonstration sites to
facilitate farmer-expert interactions, learning by doing
and handholding support to farming community.
Regular manpower planning with focus on providing
agri-services, post-harvest management, processing
and agri-business and agri-supply chain management.
Encouraging investment from private sector in higher
agricultural education and research. Linkages between
universities and industries must be encouraged,
mainly to come up with HRD programmes that should
supplement the existing educational programmes, and
focus on capacity development in agriculture and
allied sectors (like livestock, fisheries, forestry) which
are crucial for small and marginal farmers.
Convergence in Education System,
Research and Local Institutions: A Key for
Development of Fisheries Sector in India
The fisheries sector has emerged as one of the most
important contributors to economic growth in the recent
past. It has vast potential to support the small-holders
in agriculture. In fishery sector, development marine
fishery has always received greater focus and attention
than inland fisheries, both from the government and civil
society organizations. While the growth in marine fishery
has somehow remained stagnant during the last decade,
that for the inland fishery is significant. Despite the fact
that there is an inadequate allocation of resources and
effort for developing the vast resources available in inland
fishery sector, the production and productivity are visibly
increasing. Farmers and entrepreneurs are coming forward
to invest in inland fishery. The domestic market has a huge
demand for freshwater fish but the small-holders are not
in a position to cater to the needs and demands of the
market. Traditionally, small-holders have been engaged in
inland fishery and the economic rate of return has always
been low because of poor control over water bodies; lack of
inputs; and inadequate access to markets. Women do play a
vital role in inland fishery but still there is a vast potentiality
for them to develop enterprises on fishery because of
the current opportunities created by the programmes/
schemes of the governments.
The data presented in Table 04.02.15 clearly shows how
important the sector is for national growth. But somehow
the resources allocated for this sector do not match with
this potential and contribution to national GDP.
Table 04.02.16 shows how marginally the inland sector is
supported in planning and through budgetary allocation.
Not only the central plan, even one of the most important
programmes in agriculture sector like RKVY also
allocated only 3.6 per cent of its resources during the last
plan period.
One of the valid reasons for the less programmatic
budgetary allocation for this sector is because India has
limited trained, qualified human resources who could make
significant changes at community level. This demands a
better understanding of the gap between existing fisheries
education and farmers needs. In this brief report the
authors limit the scope to discussion about inland fisheries
sector.
Beyond Provision of Technical Input to Farmers
The current system of fisheries development is geared
to providing technical inputs to farmers, while there is a
major demand for various other forms of technology based
public investments and skills. Jyotishi and Parthasarathy
(2007) mention that reservoir fishery requires special
attention due to its potential of growth and only proper
 Rural India: S&T for Skills and Employment 35

Table 04.02.15: Contribution of fisheries sector to GDP institutional, technical and credit support could contribute
(at current prices) ( in crores) to the fulfilment of developmental goals. Sinha and Katiha
GDP from fisher- (2002) and Gautam et al. (1996) in their papers showed
GDP ies as per cent of that on an average, small reservoirs have a better average
from GDP
yield compared to medium and large ones. Sinha and Jha
GDP (1997) argued that the short term leasing policy of the
agricul- from
Total from
Year ture, agricul- water bodies by the fisheries department adversely affects
GDP fisher- Total
forestry ture, productivity of water bodies because in case of the short
ies GDP
and fish- forestry duration of lease, lessees are not interested in making
ing and investment. Prasad in 1968 argued that the lack of detailed
fishing data on resources, production levels and marketing
2005–06 3390503 637772 31699 0.93 4.97 practices adversely affect the development of inland fish
2006–07 3953276 722984 35182 0.89 4.87 cultivation; today, four decades later, this is still a valid
problem.
2007–08 4582086 836518 38931 0.85 4.65
2008–09 5303567 943204 44073 0.83 4.67 Rahim et al. (1992, p. 8) analysed the functioning of
Fishermen’s Cooperative Societies in West Bengal and
2009–10 6091485 1079365 52363 0.86 4.85
identified that the lack of administrative help to the
2010–11 fisheries cooperatives is an important reason for the
(provi- 7157412 1269888 62594 0.87 4.93 neglect of the fisheries. Similarly, Sharina et al. (2002)
sional) explains that engaging fish farmers with local authorities
Source: Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying & Fisheries in managing resources has the potential to transform the
(DAHD) , GoI, 2012 total behaviour of the community. They also point out the
Table 04.02.16: Funds released during the Eleventh Plan period and 2012–13– CSS and CS schemes ( in lakh)

Total
% of
Funds released during Eleventh Plan period allocation in
Name of schemes allocation
Eleventh Plan
2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12  
Development of inland fisheries and
1284.2 1360 2075 2294.3 2985.4 9998.89 8.80
aquaculture
Development of marine fisheries,
infrastructure and post harvest 4149 4956.3 6211.4 7811.4 7592.9 30721.02 27.05
operations
National Scheme of Welfare of
2138 2517.4 3623.2 4194.5 4456 16929.13 14.91
Fishermen
Strengthening of database and
geographic information system of the 254.25 247.43 1008.4 947.02 432.54 2889.6 2.54
fisheries sector
Biometric ID cards – – 3300 – – 3300 2.91
National Fisheries Development
5000 4690 10000 9230 10800 39720 34.98
Board (NFDB)
National Mission for Protein
– – – – 10002 10002 8.81
Supplements (NMPS)
 Total           113560.6 100

Source: DAHD, GoI, 2012

36 India: Science and Technology

Table 04.02.17: RKVY details of year-wise and sector wise producer organizations and institution building. The
projects cost for all states under RKVY present coursework caters to technical understanding of
( in crore) production and produces technical expert for industry or
research institutes. A proper reorientation in the existing
Total RKVY Total project costs
Year projects cost for fisheries sector Percentage curricula with the inclusion of some emerging areas will
for all states of all states focus fisheries governance and extension as a major
discipline among other specialized subjects.
2007–08 1476.03 63.70 4.32
2008–09 3991.78 144.27 3.61 Most of the proposed courses are designed to fulfil need
2009–10 4729.1 109.12 2.31 of scientific research institutes, marine fisheries sector and
fisheries industry. Whereas need of small fish farmers and
2010–11 8320.32 269.52 3.24
support required to them is in governance and institutional
2011–12 8575.09 390.60 4.56 strengthening as well as to develop value chain in rural areas.
Total 27092.32 977.21 3.61 There are hardly any specializations or core subjects that
Source: DAHD, GoI, 2012 deals with issue and support required for small fish farmers
in inland fisheries. One of the limitations of fisheries courses
importance of education and extension in managing the are lack of gender dimension in the subject list. Fishing and
fisheries resources. harvesting is practised by male household but women do
play important role in this. Women’s involvement is more
Present Fisheries Education System in this sector than assumed by technical experts. According
At present, besides the Central Institute of Fisheries to global estimates, nearly 47 per cent of workforce is
Education (CIFE), Mumbai, which is a deemed university, women in small scale fisheries sector (World Bank, 2010).
16 fisheries colleges offer four-year degree programmes in The trained professionals are yet to learn and understand
Bachelor of Fisheries Science (B.F.Sc.), while 10 of them the complexity of gender concern in fisheries sector.
offer masters and six doctoral programmes. Most of the One of the unaddressed challenges is how to scale up
colleges offer a few specializations, whereas the maximum technical innovation by research institutes at community
number of specializations is offered by CIFE Mumbai. level. During the last decade, Indian research institutes and
In 2009, ICAR revised the syllabus and courses for universities have developed many innovations that can
universities. A total of 14 courses for the Master of Fisheries change fisheries sector, like portable carp rearing hatchery
Science (M.F.Sc.) and 11 courses for the PhD programmes and new variety of jayanti rohu by the Central Institute
were identified. These are aquaculture, aquatic environment of Fisheries and Aquaculture (CIFA, Bhubneshwar),
management, aquatic animal health, business management, effectiveness of polythene lined farm pond for fisheries
fish biotechnology, fish genetics and breeding, fish nutrition at Konkan Krishi Vidyapeeth (Bondre et al., 2009), fish
and feed technology, fish physiology and biochemistry, vaccination for sustainable production (Rao et al., 2009).
fish processing technology, fisheries economics, fisheries As a solution to this problem, state fisheries department
engineering and technology, fisheries extension and must be updated about research findings and all the
fisheries resource management. The ICAR will also provide KVKs must have resources and devise to scale up research
grant of 100 lakh to strengthen education at Masters Level findings with collaboration of some progressive farmers
and another 100 lakh at the doctoral level to each of the in each panchayat. Substantial changes are needed in
colleges offering these programmes, especially to add identifying and providing the services needed for fisheries
laboratory facilities pertaining to the new Courses (ICAR, development.
2009).
Suggested Areas in Fisheries Governance
The importance of social sciences whether it is extension, Research/Education
economics, statistics or any other discipline, is immense
in the application of biological sciences (Salim et al., The state government, fisheries colleges and universities
year). The course works devised at graduate, postgraduate need to develop curriculum and some of the following
and doctoral levels in fisheries science is not at par with interventions and investments to support and develop
these emerging issues like value chain in small scale inland fisheries services; in particular,
fisheries, governance, management of cooperatives, Establishment of a network of fisheries governance

research is very much essential to exchange information
about technologies and governance mechanisms that
work in different contexts.
Collection of reliable data base relating to resources,
utilization, present production and potential increase,
so that proper location specific plans can be developed.
Use of remote sensing and Geographic Information
System (GIS) technology for management of water
bodies and their production potential and ecological
functions, with location specific ground truthing and
infrastructure development support.
Research on socioeconomic status of fisheries and fish
farmers as well as requirement of other support systems
like formal credit, seed, gears, hatchery, marketing,
post harvest techniques etc. It is also important to
analyse economically efficient craft gear combinations
as it differs considerably between regions in inland
fisheries.
Assessment of role of co–operatives, producer
organizations and self help groups (SHGs) in
strengthening fish farmers.
Emphasis on participatory programmes for women
in inland fisheries and value chain including fish
marketing. Fish marketing and management of
producer organization with special reference to women
are necessary.
Location specific and region specific economic
evaluation of fish farming practices.
One of the useful steps to achieve above mentioned
recommendation could be to place students for one
semester in existing Fish Farmer’s Development Agencies
(FFDAs). Presently India has more than 400 FFDAs
but their performance is sliding away. It will also provide
opportunities to young fisheries professionals to plan and
implement to revive the FFDAs.
The challenge remains to get support of technically
skilled human resources in planning, designing and
implementation of fisheries programmes in rural areas.
Most of the qualified human resource opts to join industry
or research institutes. The NFDB and state government
departments must launch a programme to train and
develop para-fisheries experts at the panchayat level to
cater to the day to day needs of fish farmers. These para-
professionals will be change agents as well as extension
service providers in rural areas. Fisheries universities,
NFDB and state fisheries department must design a
Rural India: S&T for Skills and Employment 37
system to launch this programme. The RKVY fund, which
gives state governments a greater voice in designing
programmes for the states’ specific resource endowments
and agricultural development needs, can act as catalysts to
achieve this target.
Conclusion
Inland fisheries have been in focus during the past three
decades as the fastest growing allied sector in the agriculture
system despite low budgetary allocation. Development
of this sector is largely conditioned by the given policy
environment and the commitment of available human
resources. But, lack of enabling policy guidelines at central
and state levels, lack of adequate, professionally trained
human resource and lack of skilled personnel in rural
areas results in a significant gap in present production and
existing potential in inland fisheries.
So far, the importance of policy and HRD has not been
given proper attention in this sector, which is mainly
focused on providing technologies or inputs. In this context,
generating professional and skilled human resource is
one of the critical aspects in sustainable development of
fisheries sector.
It is mandatory that the fisheries education system should be
subjected to constant innovations and reforms, particularly
with respect to redesigning of curricula and syllabi by
accommodating space for governance, location specific
technologies and institutions, and value chain related
course material. Government departments, universities
and fisheries boards need to invest in developing pool of
para-professionals at the panchayat level in a creative way
to pilot knowledge-led blue revolution in the country.
Small Ruminants, Knowledge Gaps and
Employment Questions
Small Ruminant Rearing – Sector Overview 
With 15 per cent of the world’s goat population and 6
per cent of its sheep, India is among the highest livestock
holding countries in the world. As per the Eighteenth
Livestock Census (2007), the number of sheep and goats
in the country was 71.5 and 140 million, respectively.1 
Goats are found across all agro-climatic zones in the
country, with higher densities in irrigated eco-systems,
followed by hill and mountain eco-systems. The states with
the highest number of goats are Rajasthan (21.5 million),
West Bengal (15 million), Uttar Pradesh (14.7 million),
38 India: Science and Technology
Maharashtra (10.3 million) and Bihar (10.1 million),
followed closely by Andhra Pradesh (9.6 million), Tamil
Nadu (9.2 million) and Madhya Pradesh (9 million). These
eight states together account for nearly 70 per cent of the
country’s goat population.
Figure: 04.02.16:
Source: DAHD, GoI,2012
Figure: 04.02.17:
Source: DAHD, 2008
Sheep rearing, on the other hand is a feature of the arid
and semi-arid regions of western India, the Deccan plateau
and the western Himalayas. Sheep ownership is the highest
in Andhra Pradesh (25.5 million), followed by Rajasthan
(11.1 million), Karnataka (9.5 million) and Tamil Nadu
(7.5 million) – the combined sheep ownership of these four
states makes up 75 per cent of the country’s total. The two
states of Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan account for more
than 50 per cent, Jammu and Kashmir has 5.8 per cent and
Maharashtra 4 per cent of the total sheep population.
While sheep rearing is most often the primary source of
livelihood for shepherds, who often belong to distinct
communities (for example the Raikas of Rajasthan,
Dhangars of Maharashtra, Kurubas of Karnataka) goat
rearing is a supplementary, support activity for other
livelihoods, particularly agriculture. Sheep are reared in
relatively larger herds (averaging 60–70) whereas goats
are reared in smaller numbers (9–10). Goat rearing is also
characterized by a greater involvement of women.
The significance of the small ruminant economy to rural
India lies in the fact that around 70 per cent of the goat
and sheep in the country are reared by small and marginal
farmers and landless labourers (Biswas, 2010). Small
ruminant rearing is therefore a priority livelihood activity
for resource poor farmers and is often a key support activity
for other livelihoods.
Major constraints facing the small ruminant sector are
enumerated below:
Small ruminant rearing is still primarily for livelihood
security. There is a gradual commercialization of the
sector, fuelled largely by the increasing demand for
meat. But little research is done on the effectiveness
and income arising from them.
The major products of the small ruminant sector –
meat, wool and leather – have different value chains.
There is a need to understand the differences in these
value chains and the communities dependent on them,
rather than considering small ruminant rearing as a
single uniform sector.
Among the major constraints faced by the small
ruminant sector are inadequate access to veterinary
services, diminishing grazing lands and the lack of
good quality breeding bucks and rams.
Inadequate access to veterinary services and preventive
vaccination results in high levels of mortality, averaging
30–40 per cent. Linked with this is the absence of cold
chain facilities up to the point of delivery. Regular
vaccination against major diseases, notably PPR,4 can
significantly reduce mortality rates.
Information on major diseases, symptoms and
prevention has emerged as a priority need for goat and
sheep rearers. Major knowledge gaps exist between
the practices prevalent among the goat and sheep
rearing communities and the livestock research and
development programmes.
Para-vets trained by both NGO and government
programmes perform a much needed service. There is
however, a lack of accreditation of these trained para-
vets and numerous differences in both the duration

and content of training provided to them as also
supervision of their work.
The non-availability of good quality breeding bucks
and rams is another major constraint. Bucks are often
sold for slaughter as meat, and since price is based
on visual attributes, often good quality bucks are
sold off. There is no market for breeding bucks, and
limited community initiatives on identification and
recognition of superior bucks. Here too, the S&T
system offers few guidelines or support for skills to
identify and conserve good quality parent material for
further breeding and commercial rearing.
Limited supply of good quality bucks, limited location
specific health care and veterinary services, the lack
of monitoring of herds results in in-breeding and an
adverse impact on productivity.
Under various programmes and schemes supported by
the government, bucks are often distributed without
due regard to breed suitability.
Reduction in grazing lands, encroachment of common
lands and increasing industrialization have adversely
affected small ruminant rearing who depend on these
lands for fodder.
There is a lack of focus on the development of
institutional structures to facilitate that rearers
collectively access required inputs and markets.
Small ruminant markets are structured in favour of
intermediaries, to the disadvantage of the consumer,
rearer and the by-products markets. The market is
structured in a manner that clearly puts the rearer at a
disadvantage; however it is not even a buyer’s market.
It will not be inappropriate to label the meat market
as being a brokers’ or commission agents’ market. The
operational focus on meat to the exclusion of all other
by–products obtained from small ruminants manifests
in poor price realization for the rearer. There are several
S&T based development opportunities in this sub–
sector with major implications for better incomes for
the poorest; but there is limited capacity to conduct
these location specific assessments, experiments and
technology development and institutional support.
Transactions in the livestock trade are non-
standardized. There are numerous unfair trade practices
because of the ad-hoc nature of the market. Animals
are sold purely on the basis of a visual estimation of
their weight, age and appearance. Females for the meat
Rural India: S&T for Skills and Employment 39
sector are sold at prices lower than males although
no such distinction is made in the final price of meat
sold in the market through retail outlets. At the same
time, while sheep fetch a lower price than goats, the
meat of sheep is frequently passed off as goat meat. As
discussed in a previous chapter these practices have
major implications for food safety, quality and overall
nutrition and health.
There is virtually no value addition that takes place along
the value chain from producer to consumer although
the price of the commodity keeps rising at every level.
In the meat industry, intermediaries’ gains are on
account of economies of scale and market location.
Here, some location specific aggregation effects will
give small ruminant rearing communities a major gain
from primary processing. But this demands good rural
infrastructure for hygienic and safe processing.
Except where operations have been modernized
and mechanized, there is a lot of wastage, inefficient
by-product collection and utilization. Although by-
products are sold outside slaughterhouses, the full
potential of the by-products industry has not been
realized.
Changes in import policies and licenses have flooded
the market with products made of imported wool.
Costs incurred by shepherds in sheep rearing and
shearing of wool have steadily been rising, however,
this is not matched by a corresponding rise in the
returns from wool, making sheep rearing for wool
production a less preferred option. Loss of markets
for traditionally valued products such as gongadi and
kambali have led to a loss in demand for local wool.
With the objective of increasing indigenous wool
production, cross-breeding programmes were
initiated. However, these are constrained on two
accounts (1) crossbred sheep are unable to withstand
the nutritional stress and difficult terrain/conditions,
resulting in higher mortality; and (2) the extent of
crossbreeding that has been supported has stopped
short of a crossover to the production of higher quality
and superior wool in significant quantities. As a result,
the expected benefits from crossbreeding initiatives
have not materialized.
Crossbreeding initiatives and lack of support for the
development of indigenous, locally adapted breeds
have led to a gradual decline of some breeds, a few of
which are on the verge of extinction. For example of
40 India: Science and Technology
the 23 registered goat breeds, the Chegu of Himachal
Pradesh (population 10,000) and the Attapadi Black
of Kerala (population 7,700); among the 39 registered
sheep breeds the Bhakarwal, Karna, Shapo, Poonchi
(all from Jammu and Kashmir) and the Ganjam breed
from Odisha are close to extinction.
There is a lack of good quality reliable data on small
ruminant numbers and breed populations, trends over
time and the drivers of these trends. It is necessary
that such data is collected and analysed periodically
to establish the reasons for the increase or decrease
in the number of specific breeds. This will also help
in identifying breeds that are at the greatest risk of
extinction so that their ex-situ conservation can be
initiated.
The majority of sheep and goats in India belong to ‘un-
described’ (usually referred to as nondescript) breeds
or they are ‘local’ animals not necessarily belonging
to a distinct group or breed. 51 per cent of the total
sheep in the country and 63 per cent of the total goats
in the country are nondescript or ‘unrecognized’.
The constant emphasis on ‘breeds’ in the context of
conservation or improvement programmes, therefore
needs to be reconsidered. Instead of emphasizing
‘breed purity’, it is important to improve the existing
adapted populations of various breed types in different
parts of the country. Given the threat of climate change
these will become crucial for animal and human health
in the near future.
Small ruminants are currently not a policy priority,
and apart from sporadic interventions and state-
specific programmes, an integrated development of
the sub-sector, with interventions to strengthen each
stage of the value chain has not been designed or
implemented. This is a priority requirement, as also the
need to facilitate convergence with other mainstream
programmes, notably MGNREGA (for revitalization
and community governance of common lands
and support for housing for small ruminants) and
National Rural Livelihoods Mission or NRLM (for
the establishment of collective institutional structures
to enable small ruminant rearers to collectively access
required inputs and markets).
Research priorities need to be better targeted to the
constraints of the sector. In view of the significant
mortality levels in small ruminant rearing, vaccination
against major diseases (particularly PPR) needs to be
universalized and research should be geared to the
development of thermo-stable vaccines.
An institutional structure to facilitate regular
vaccination (for example through trained para-
vets) working under the guidance of state veterinary
hospitals and monitored by PRIs should be designed
and implemented. To ensure sustainability, small
ruminant rearers could pay for these services.
The development of the small ruminant sector requires
focused attention on the protection and development
of common lands, including revenue wastelands,
which are often the first to be allotted for other
purposes, notably industries. Prior to these allocations,
an assessment of community dependence on these
lands must be undertaken. The Supreme Court ruling
of 2011 directing states to provide a status update on
the extent of encroachment of common lands needs to
be monitored, and the removal of encroachments on
common lands should be prioritized in keeping with
this ruling.
Overall, the skills and enhanced income opportunities
needed in the small ruminant sub-sector of India’s large
and highly diverse livestock sector, receives very little S&T
attention and resources.
State governments with the support and active
participation of district administrations should initiate
integrated location-specific research and institutional
changes in districts with high proportion of rural poor and
small ruminant populations to enable services for small
ruminant production systems.
Food Processing Industry: S&T
Capability, Skills and Employment
Opportunities
Across the world, food processing is considered to be a
sunrise sector because of its large potential for growth
and socio economic impact. It not only leads to income
generation but also helps in reduction of wastage, value
addition, and foreign exchange earnings and enhancing
manufacturing competitiveness. In today’s global market,
quality and food safety have given a competitive edge to
the enterprises producing foods and providing services.
‘With proper investment in food processing, technical
innovation and infrastructure for agriculture sector, India
could well become the food basket of the world’ (Punjabi,
2007). In India, the food processing industry is ranked fifth

in terms of production, consumption, export and expected
growth. A strong and dynamic food processing sector plays
a significant role in diversification of agricultural activities,
improving value addition opportunities and creating
surplus for export of agro-food products (Merchant,
2008). Food processing accounts for about 14 per cent
of manufacturing GDP, i.e. 2,80,000 crore, and employs
about 13 million people directly and 35 million people
indirectly. Its employment intensity can be seen by the
fact that for every 1 million invested, 18 direct jobs and
64 indirect jobs are created in organized food processing
industry only (MOFPI, 2010).
In India, the food processing industry is highly fragmented
and is dominated by the unorganized sector. A number of
players in this industry are small. About 42 per cent of the
output comes from the unorganized sector, 25 per cent
from the organized sector and the rest from small players.
Though the unorganized segment varies across categories
but approximately 75 per cent of the market is still in this
segment. The organized sector is relatively bigger in the
secondary processing segment than the primary processing
segment. Increasing urbanization, consciousness on health
and nutrition and changing lifestyles, are changing the
consumption habits of India. Growth of organized retail,
which makes the processed food readily available, is also
driving growth of food processing.
The chapter presents the food processing industry in its
current form in India. It will primarily focus on S&T issues
related to food processing industry, the various challenges
faced by the industry, the future prospects of sector, the
employment generation capability of industry and the
skills possessed by the workforce. It also deals with various
public sector initiatives implemented through various
policies, programmes and schemes of government.
Even after a strong agricultural production base, India’s
food processing industry is still underdeveloped. The
highest share of the processed food is in the dairy sector,
where 35 per cent of total produce is processed, of which
only 15 per cent is processed by the organized sector.
The processing level is around 2.2 per cent in fruits and
vegetables, 21 per cent in meat and poultry products. Of the
2.2 per cent processing in fruits and vegetables only 48 per
cent is in organized sector with the remaining percentage in
unorganized sector (Merchant, 2008). Still, food and food
products are the biggest consumption category in India,
with spending on food accounting for nearly 21 per cent of
India’s GDP and with a market size of 9,050 billion.
Rural India: S&T for Skills and Employment 41
A study by McKinsey reiterates the importance of the
food sector in India. It indicates that food in India has an
economic multiplier of 2–2.5. That is to say that for every
rupee of revenue from food, the economy at large gets
2–2.50. The private sector is yet to exploit the full potential
of food industries in India. There is a big market for products
like sugar, coffee, tea and processed foods such as sauce,
jelly and honey. The market for processed meat, spices and
fruits is equally large. Tripling of the size of industry by
2015 is expected to generate direct employment of 28 lakh
person days and an indirect employment of 74 lakh person
days (MOFPI, 2007).
The state wants to fully utilize the untapped potential of
the sector and generate more revenue from the sector, and
to do so it has come out with Vision 2015, according to
which there will be a increase in the level of processing of
perishables from 6 per cent to 20 per cent, value addition
from 20 per cent to 35 per cent, increase in share of global
food trade from 1.5 per cent to 3 per cent. These targets
can be achieved if policies are implemented properly and
international standards matched. Then the food processing
industry can become the leading industry of India’s
economy, generating huge employment opportunities and
increase in income.
Employment Generation Capacity
As stated earlier, food processing industry employs 13
million people directly and 35 million people indirectly,
and the kind of growth industry is having it is expected that
it will create job opportunities for large part of workforce.
The food processing sector is highly unorganized, 82
per cent of the workforce employed in food processing
industry is in unorganized sector, and i.e., out of every 10
person around eight are employed by unorganized sector
(Table 04.02.18).
As for the unorganized sector, the maximum working
population is in Own Account Manufacturing Enterprises
Table 04.02.18: Employment scenario in food processing
industry in India
Sector Number of persons Share (%)
(million)
Organized 1.53 18 per cent
Unorganized 7.00 82 per cent
Total 8.53 100
Source: ASI, NSSO, 2010–11
42 India: Science and Technology

(OAME – enterprises with no hired manpower), giving Table 04.02.19: Share of various states in employment in
out the fact that more and more people want to be self- the food processing industry
employed (Figure 04.02.18).
SL. Share of employment in
Name of state
No. percentage
1 Andhra Pradesh 14.1 %
2 Assam 4.7 %
3 Gujarat 5.9 %
4 Haryana 3.3 %
5 Karnataka 6.0 %
6 Kerala 11.9 %
7 Madhya Pradesh 2.3 %
Figure 04.02.18: Number of workers engaged in unorganized food
8 Maharashtra 7.8 %
processing industry by enterprise type, 2010–11
Source: NSSO 67th round, November 2012 9 Punjab 7.7 %
10 Tamil Nadu 11.2 %
People employed under the registered food processing
industries have been increasing from 2004–05 to 2007– 11 Uttar Pradesh 12.0%
08. There has been a fall in the growth rate of employment 12 West Bengal 4.8 %
in registered food processing industry units in 2007–08,
13 Others 8.3 %
probably because the growth had been very high in the
preceding years and also because 2007–08 was a year when Source: NSDC, 2010

there was a global slowdown in economic activity (Figure

04.02.19).
Figure 04.02.19: Persons employed under registered food processing
industries
Source: ASI, 2007–08
In division of employment on a state-wise basis, it came
out that Andhra Pradesh has the biggest share of persons
employed in food processing industry, as it is the biggest
centre of food processing sector in India (Table 04.02.19).
While analysing the employment generation of food
processing industry, it is important to understand the
skill set that is required in food processing industry. To
understand the skill set required it is important to know
value chain in food processing industry.
Skill Gaps in Food Processing Industry
The skill gaps present in various segments of the food
processing industry will be analysed in next section.
Analysis of Table 04.02.20 shows that there is a wide gap
between skills needed and skill available. If India is to make
its presence in the world market, then there is a need to
bridge this gap as soon as possible.
The demand for skilled human resource is continuously
increasing, but there is greater demand in unorganized
sector rather than organized sector (Table 04.02.21). This
is because of the fact that organized sector is very small in
respect to unorganized sector.
These existing needs of the food processing sector leads one
to explore various challenges of the sector. Table 04.02.22
lists various challenges faced by food processing industry,
and their weightage.
The food processing sector is governed by multiple
acts rather than a single comprehensive policy on food
processing. The food laws governing food processing
industry span nine ministries, comprising 13 central orders
alone; in addition states have their own control orders.
The policy to be effective will have to be comprehensive
and adopt a number of legislative, administrative and
promotional measures. According to National Bank for
 Rural India: S&T for Skills and Employment 43

Table 04.02.20: Skill gaps present in various segments of food processing industry

Fish and
Sl. Fruits and Meat and
Type of gaps Dairy Food grain milling marine
No. vegetables poultry
products
1 Production Inadequate Inadequate knowledge of Inadequate/ Inadequate Inadequate
knowledge latest/best farming practices restrictive consistency in knowledge of
of ways of because of lack of training/ motivational operations due fish breeding
maintaining the access to other information skills to inadequate and rearing
quality of produce sources. understanding processes.
Inadequate
Inadequate knowledge of of immediate Inadequate
documentation
percentage increase in value or long term sensitivity to
Skills/not environmental
with minimal value addition impacts.
conversant with issues, thus
to produce. Tendency to
e-reporting/ leading to
working on change jobs
poor hygienic
computers. frequently,
conditions
Inadequate leading to a high
knowledge attrition rate and
of operations consequently
resulting in lower quality of
wastage. work and lower
productivity.
2 Testing Inadequate ability Inadequate practical Inadequate Inadequate ability Inadequate
to expertise in conducting ability to apply to conduct tests technical
practically tests. The field needs visual technical and record results. knowledge
conduct examination skills for faster expertise and about the new
segregation and checking of procedural machines and
tests and record
input/output and ability to knowledge in the associated
results, no record the results as they are actual work aspects of
knowledge of observed and reporting non situations, maintenance.
correct sampling adherence to standards. especially at the
methods.
entry level.
3 Procurement Inadequate Inadequate ability to forecast Inadequate
ability to forecast the demand accurately. knowledge
demand. Inadequate training skills for and ability
Inadequate encouraging the producers to educate
communication for better productivity and farmers on
skills, especially quality. demand, advice
in local language on farming
because of diverse and wastage
dialects. reduction.
Inadequate
communication
skills to be able
to motivate
farmers for
better quality
and higher
productivity.

Source: NSDC, 2010

44 India: Science and Technology

Table 04.02.21: Incremental human resource requirement to bring them under single registration authority and start a
for persons trained through short-term/modular massive campaign to register village level agro-industries. It
training initiatives in food processing industry – annual goes on to state that in spite of the government programmes,
requirements (in’000s) lack of infrastructural facilities hinders the growth of agro-
industries. These include electricity connection, power
Demand of
cut, transportation facilities, etc. Infrastructural facilities
Total demand of trained human
Sector trained human resources in
need to be upgraded substantially for economic viability
resources organized of these enterprises through widespread development of
sector rural infrastructure (NABARD, 2005).
Fruit and vegetable If infrastructural facilities present at village level or all
12 2 over India are considered, then the most important part of
processing
infrastructure facility in food processing industry are cold
Food grain milling 42 8
storage facilities, which are crucial for the value addition.
Dairy products 68 12 In India there are 5,381 cold stores with a storage capacity
Meat and poultry of 24.45 MT. Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal account for
104 19 more than 60 per cent of the cold storage capacity followed
processing
by Punjab, Bihar, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya
Fish processing 1 0
Pradesh. Over 95 per cent of the cold storages are in the
Bread and bakery 258 46 private sector. According to the Report of the Task Force
Alcoholic beverages 42 8 on Development of Cold Chain in India constituted by
Ministry of Agriculture in May, 2007 more than 80 per cent
Aerated water/soft
2 0 of the capacities are utilized only for potatoes and about 17
drinks
per cent fall under multi commodity category.
Total 530 95
Lack of skilled and trained manpower in food processing
Source: NSDC, 2010 industry is also a big issue. Many positive developments
in the food processing sector have also resulted in the
Table 04.02.22: Top five challenges of food processing apprehension about the emerging skill shortages due
industry and their weighted response
to mismatch between the demand for specific skills and
Top five challenges identified Weightage of challenges available supply. In fact, of late, shortage of skilled, semi-
skilled and unskilled workers has emerged as a critical factor
Inadequate infrastructural
44.25 impacting the competitiveness of Indian food industry.
facilities
Around 58 per cent of the employers are dissatisfied with
Comprehensive national policy technical skills and knowledge needed for the job. Also 72
34.46
on food processing sector per cent showed discontent with the employees’ ability
Food safety laws 28.51 to use appropriate and modern tools, equipment, and
technologies specific to their jobs (FICCI, 2010).
Inconsistency in central and state
28.08
policies Opportunities
Availability of trained manpower 25.53 The Indian food processing industry has seen significant
growth and changes over the past few years, driven by
Source: FICCI Survey, 2010
changing trends in markets, consumer segments and
Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), village regulations. These trends, such as changing demographics,
level agro-industry does not come within the purview of growing population and rapid urbanization are expected to
any single ministry. Because of this problem, only a fraction continue in the future and, therefore, will shape the demand
of the village level agro-industries are registered. It says for value added products and thus for food processing
further that an overwhelming proportion of the registered industry in India. The government’s focus towards food
enterprises are registered with the village panchayats. To processing industry as a priority sector is expected to
infuse technology and credit in agro-industry, it is required ensure policies to support investment in this sector and

attract more FDI. India, having access to a vast pool of
natural resources and growing technical knowledge base,
has strong comparative advantages over other nations in
this industry. The food processing sector in India is clearly
an attractive sector for investment and offers significant
growth potential to investors. There is a huge opportunity
to develop S&T capability in the food processing sector.
There is a need to train the unskilled labour force, need
for development across various human resource profiles.
India can harness all the opportunities present in food
processing sector only when its labour force is educated
and skilled. The government needs to strengthen its skill
development programme; new training institutes should
be opened up, which are in tune with market demand. The
development of infrastructure facilities like cold chain,
rural road facilities and power supply will strengthen the
food processing industry. It will have a very positive sign
on the perishable food products industry, such as fruits and
vegetables, dairy industry, meat and poultry segment. The
food processing industry is all set to drive Indian economy
to higher growth. The only need is to pay due attention on
technological development in the food processing sector,
and generation of skilled manpower.
Food Processing in Northeast India: Skills
and Employment
Introduction
The North Eastern Region (NER) comprises eight states of
the Indian Union, forming 7.8 per cent of the total land area
and about 4 per cent of the total population of the country.
More than 70 per cent of total geographical area of NER is
covered by hills and about 3 million hectare is estimated to
be under soil erosion hazard as a result of practice of jhum
cultivation. Traditionally, agriculture has been the mainstay
of people of this region but the agro-based economy failed to
flourish as it should have due to lack of proper involvement
and utilization of technological support and innovation.
The northeastern states have observed high production of
fruits, spices and cashew in the recent past but could not
fetch market price to the farmers at par with the markets
in the other states. The topography of the NE states is not
favourable for the transformation of products. Besides,
the infrastructure, procurement practices, marketing
approaches and processing facilities are also observed as
the major constraints in the rural marketing in the NE
region. The social and cultural taboos are also responsible
to a large extent in not developing agro-industries in the
region to provide better value addition to the horticultural
Rural India: S&T for Skills and Employment 45
crops. It is hence, necessary to diagnose the problems in the
NE region for providing improved marketing environment
and value added economic benefits to the farmers through
appropriate jobs and S&T policies for various post-harvest
functions in food processing industries.
Increasing the scale of food processing in a complex system
and in an environmentally positive manner is a challenge
that will not be easy to meet in a place like NER. It is
dominated by the tribal population and the development
of food processing in the region is highly dependent upon
the custom, culture and the food habit of the tribal people.
But the diversity increases the opportunities and scope for
establishment of diverse local food processing systems.
The author’s study is an attempt to highlight important
S&T policy issues, particularly related to skill and
employment in food processing industry in NER. Due
to its peculiar socio-economic and demographic features
NER is different from other regions of India, and for its
development, government has come out with special
policies. The authors will also study these policies and
identify gaps, to meet the local needs, skills and jobs.
Food Processing Industry in NER
The northeast region has immense opportunities for
investments in food processing because of factor like
abundance of raw materials, suitable climatic conditions.
According to Rajeev Singh, Director General Indian
Chamber of Commerce:
The North East is next door to the markets in ASEAN
(Association of South East Asian Nations) nations. With
peace returning to the region and 10 per cent of the budget
for union ministries being allocated to North East, there is
immense scope for food processing industry in the region,
Though the northeast region has a huge potential in agro
processing sector, the region suffers due to insufficient
infrastructure, entrepreneurship and business supporting
institutions. The major problem faced by the northeast
region food processing facilities along the food value
chain is the weak capital base as well as lack of market
access, domestic and international limited flow of man and
material, inadequate technological incentives, absence of
agro processing industries, poor post–harvest technology
and facility.
Subsidies on transport, capital investment, interest on
working capital, excise duty refund, income tax exemptions
etc. are available for industries in the region, as declared in
the new North East Industrial and Investment Promotion
Policy 2007 (NEIIPP). Yet, the growth of food processing
46 India: Science and Technology

industry is very slow in NER. In most of the states there has makes it highly difficult for people to get registration done
been no development in the sector, the sector has remained (Table 04.02.23).
the same for many years, and the most unfortunate point Table 04.02.23: Number of unorganized manufacturing
is that in some states the number of industries is facing a enterprises present in food processing
decline. industry in northeastern states (2010–11)
The northeast has a great potential for fruit and vegetable Number of
Number of
processing. But, the scenario of fruits and vegetables States
enterprises (OAE)
enterprises
processing in the northeastern India is discouraging and (establishment)
has received little attention. In spite of excellent market Arunachal Pradesh 186 197
potential and higher profit margin on fruit and vegetable
Assam 22874 14310
based products, rural mass shows little interest towards this
sector, and this is one of the reasons for the dismal show Manipur 1093 516
of fruit and vegetable industry in NER (Figure 04.02.20). Meghalaya 946 304
Mizoram 1224 96
Nagaland 804 262
Tripura 13782 4843
Sikkim 12 21

Source: NSSO 67th round, November 2012

To develop food processing industry in the northeastern

region, the government is taking various steps, some of the
government initiatives are listed below.

Figure 04.02.20: Number of fruits and vegetable processing units in
northeastern states (2007 and 2009)
Source: Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 848, dated on
09.07.2009., Indiastat.com, accessed on 22 February 2013
In India, the food processing industry is highly fragmented
and is dominated by the unorganized sector and this pan
India phenomena is highly visible in NER also. Here, the
other feature that adds to unorganized sector being more
prominent is the high presence of tribal population and
high terrains and hills, bad transportation facilities, which
Table 04.02.23: State-wise number of agro and rural industry project set up under REGP in NER, (2005 to 2008)
Government Initiatives
Rural Employment Generation Programme: Rural
Employment Generation Programme (REGP) was
initiated for generation of two million jobs under the Khadi
and Village Industries (KVI) sector in the rural areas of the
country. For NER special benefits were given, under this
programme. Capital subsidy in the form of margin money
is provided at the rate of 25 per cent of the project cost upto
10 lakhs and 10 per cent on the balance project cost upto
25 lakhs is being provided, but for Hill border and tribal
areas of NER, margin money grant is at the rate of 30 per
cent of the remaining cost of the project.

Number of
Number of REGP Number of REGP Total number of Number of REGP
projects during
States units 31 March units 31 March projects up to units
2006–07 (up to
2005 2006 January 2007 31 March 2008
January 2007)

Arunachal Pradesh 422 498 80 578 772

Assam 3865 6094 1088 7182 10253

 Rural India: S&T for Skills and Employment 47

Number of
Number of REGP Number of REGP Total number of Number of REGP
projects during
States units 31 March units 31 March projects up to units
2006–07 (up to
2005 2006 January 2007 31 March 2008
January 2007)

Manipur 840 905 10 915 1121

Meghalaya 3293 3499 68 3567 4073

Mizoram 1070 1435 586 2021 3715

Nagaland 4941 5257 133 5390 5875

Sikkim 286 392 46 438 1792

Tripura 666 972 21 993 624

Source: Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 478, Dated on 21 October

2008, Indiastat.com, accessed on 22 February 2013

Under the scheme for providing assistance for setting up
food processing industry in NER, Assam is the only state,
which has had a significant growth; otherwise for all other
states the numbers of projects approved are very low.
For Sikkim and Mizoram the performance is very dismal
(Figure 04.02.21).
Mega Food Park Scheme
Mega food park scheme revised under Eleventh FYP, the
primary objective of the scheme is to provide adequate
infrastructure for food processing along the value chain
from the farm to the market. The scheme provides a grant
of 50 per cent (75 per cent for the NER) of the capital cost
excluding land cost, subject to a ceiling of 50 crores.
The Mega Food Park Project will have a Central Processing
Centre (CPC) at Nathkuchi, Tihu covering 50 acres of land
supported by a network of six Primary Processing Centres
(PPC) and 19 Collection Centres (CC) spread across the
entire NE Region. Agro-marketing hub – Mega Food Park
– Retail Chain Commensurate with the growing trend of
horticulture production in the state, steps have been taken
to set-up an agro-marketing hub near the state capital
Guwahati, which will be forward linked with a Mega Food
Park and a Retail Market Chain. A food processing park at
Chaygaon, located at a distance of 40 km from Guwahati is
also under implementation in the district of Kamrup.
Table 04.02.24: Number of Mega Food Park proposals for
northeastern states (as on 21 November 2011)

States Proposals received Remarks

Assam 1 Park not established.

Mizoram 1 Park not established.

Figure 04.02.21: State-wise number of project approved under food Sikkim 2 Parks not established.
processing sector in NER 2006–07 to 2010–11 up to 30 September 2010
Source: Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 583, dated on 11 Source: Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 1582, dated on 21 August
November 2010, Indiastat.com, accessed on 22 February 2013 2012, Indiastat.com, accessed on 22 February 2013
48 India: Science and Technology

Table 04.02.24 shows that till the end of 2011, the food The governments of NE states and India have taken various
parks of NER are still not operational, highlighting a huge steps to promote food processing industry in area. The
delay in implementation of scheme. results are coming but at a very slow rate and most of the
programmes and policies and running behind time. Many
The development of any sector depends on the kind
policies are stuck in their initial phase only, thus stagnating
of technology used in the sector. Traditionally, FPI are
the growth of industry, and overall NER.
labour-intensive and less technology driven, but to match
Table 04.02.24: Number of project proposals received, approved, pending, closed, and rejected under the scheme for
technology up-gradation, establishment, and modernization of food processing industries (fpis) in
northeastern India (up to 2006)

States Received Approved Pending Closed Rejected

Arunachal Pradesh 6 0 5 1 0
Assam 54 27 22 9 1
Manipur 13 3 5 4 0
Meghalaya 7 3 4 1 0
Mizoram 4 0 1 2 1
Nagaland 22 2 12 4 3
Sikkim 1 0 1 0 0
Tripura 2 3 0 1 0

Source: Rajya Sabha Unstarred Question No. 409, dated 27.11.2006,

Indiastat.com, accessed on 22.02.2013

the international standards and to become processed food
leaders, the Indian government has come out with scheme
for technology up-gradation, modernization, expansion
and setting up of new food processing industries.
The scheme even after being the signature initiative of the
ministry has not been able to make a footprint in NER.
The rate of approvals is very low and pending cases are very
high. There is a need to revamp this policy keeping in mind
the features of NER (Table 04.02.24).
Table 04.02.25: Major skill gaps present in various sector
Another major initiative of ministry of food processing
industry is scheme for human resource development, the
ministry plans to develop around 3 million skilled people
for the food processing industry by the end of the Twelfth
FYP. Since the food processing industry is labour-intensive,
for the sector to grow the basic need of industry is trained
human force. But at present the sector is struggling with an
inefficient workforce. The NER is no exception. Here also all
the segments are fighting with low skilled workforce. Almost

Item Required competencies Skill gaps

Bakery Specific knowledge of technical aspects such as Inability to follow specifications.
temperature settings, turbulence settings etc. and the
Inability to maintain hygiene.
ability o follow specifications. .
Inability to speak English.
Ability to package and do marketing (mostly there are
tie–ups) Lack of maintenance skills, filters and
electricians.
Ability to speak in English.
Fruit and vegetable Ability to visually examine fruits/vegetables and Inability to make end products visually
processing separate rotten fruits/vegetables. appealing.
Knowledge of latest preservation and processing Lack of knowledge of preservation and
technologies. processing technologies.

Item Required competencies
Ability to adapt newer storage technologies.
Sensitization to quality control.
Branding knowledge.
Food processing Producing and selling processed foods.
entrepreneur
Warehousing and cold- Preserving quality of food in storage and transport
chain operators and
managers
Source: NSDC, 2010
all the major segments have workforce, which is illiterate,
thus gripping the development of sector (Table 04.02.25).
Conclusion
The northeastern states are endowed with suitable agro
climatic condition and it stands out from rest of country
due to its climatic diversity, meandering altitudes and
production of varied crop groups. In fact, the uniqueness
of northeastern market is that one can enjoy fresh off-
season crop groups in one state from the neighbouring
states where its season has just started due to this climatic
diversity. This means that for certain produces, the
seasonality is a bit stretched. All these features make NER
favourable destination for food processing industry. The
only need is to promote the region with suitable S&T
policies and infrastructure. The region needs to develop
its transportation and other infrastructure facilities so as to
make maximum use of various incentives provided by the
government. The sector needs to work on skill development
of the workforce, bring maximum employment into
this sector and make them participate and gain from the
development of the sector.
There is a need to promote equitable participation
by large and small scale farmers in NER. In order to
upgrade technology, greater emphasis has to be laid on
the establishment of infrastructure for training facilities.
There is an urgency to improve the rural infrastructure,
a necessity to establish collection centres to reduce the
transaction costs involved in sourcing from small scale
farmers to small and medium food processing enterprises,
Rural India: S&T for Skills and Employment 49
Skill gaps
Inability to adapt to newer storage
technologies.
Lack of branding knowledge.
Lack of food technology and processing
methods.
No innovation for alternative products.
Lack of knowledge on types of
warehousing for each product and at
transit points.
No knowledge on types of refrigeration/
cold storage at different stages of
processing.
the improvement in rural infrastructure will encourage
the entrepreneurs in northeastern states. The increase
in competition among enterprises for the products will
enhance farmer’s capacity to adopt improved production
and post-harvest techniques to meet the required higher
quality standards. In the northeastern states most of the
industries are unorganized and small enterprises, and
technological obsolescence is high in small and medium
enterprises. Therefore, to improve the condition of small
farmers and upgrade technology the government of
northeastern states is joining hands with private parties for
infrastructure and technological development, providing
huge tax incentives and other benefits under the NEIIPP
(NEIIPP, 2007).
Mentha: An Innovation Success Story
Half a century back India was nowhere on the world
mentha map. Today it meets more than half the global
demand. This chapter presents a bird’s eyeview account of
an innovation that is remarkable because mentha happened
to be a crop unsuited to Indian agro-climatic conditions.
Mentha is exotic; a temperate crop from the land of the
rising sun. CSIR–CIMAP, based at Lucknow, adapted it
to India’s tropical climate. Facts, diagrams and many ideas
presented here have been extracted from the authors’ study
‘Impact of Futures Markets of Potato and Mentha Oil on
Commodity Ecosystem’.
Foregrounder
Mint derivatives are popular because of their pleasant
taste as well as their association with freshness, cleanliness
50 India: Science and Technology

and hygiene. Mint oil is obtained from the plant of genus L-Menthol is isolated from mentha oil by crystallization.
mentha. They are primarily obtained by steam distillation After crystallization and centrifuge separation, the residual
of the fresh herbage of the mint plants. oil is known as dementholized oil. In addition to terpenes,
Peppermint/cornmint or other varieties of mint oil by it still contains some menthol and is offered on the market
themselves are rarely used as a natural flavour. They serve as for flavouring applications.
a source for naturally derived Laevo-Menthol. L-Menthol Quantitative data on mentha cultivation, distillation,
incidentally has the largest world demand amongst all mint crystallization and usage is hard to come by but a turn–of–
products. Around 1990, L-Menthol displaced vanillin as the – century estimate of its global usage pattern provides
the world’s chief aroma chemical and continues to be so the following general insight.
even today.
Table 04.02.26:
Mentha oil obtained is stored in plastic or metal containers5 %
Application of global
demand
Oral hygiene (tooth paste, mouthwash etc.) 30
Balms/pharmaceuticals 30
Chewing gum/confectionery 8.3
Paan 9.1
Chewing tobacco 2.5
Cigarettes 14.1
Topical applications (powders, shaving
5.8
products etc.) and other uses

Source: http://www.nedlac.org.za/media/5959/industry.pdf accessed

Figure 04.02.22: Mentha herbage being offloaded from a trolley at a 11 November 2012
village steam distillation unit
Source: A decade later these proportions would have altered.
Usage of L–Menthol in topical applications has grown
significantly. The overall global demand for mentha oil
(both natural and synthetic) was assessed to be 32,000
tonnes in 2007.7 Factories for artificial synthesis of
menthol also exist but it appears that this stream has lost
the competition against its natural variant. At present
synthetic menthol constitutes a small share of the global
menthol demand.

Production and Export

Although several attempts at cultivating mentha were
carried out in the country since 1958, India started entering
the mentha scene as a world level competitor from mid–
1980s. In 1985 ‘Shivalik–88’ and ‘Kosi’ (hybrid clones of
M. arvensis) were released by CSIR-CIMAP after successful
development of acclimatized varieties. CSIR-CIMAP also
developed steam distillation units that were small enough
to be used by a big farmer/(rural petty entrepreneur) or a
group of farmers. Innovation in development of tropicalized
Figure 04.02.23: Various stages in mentha processing
Source:
variety coupled with small-scale processing equipment

enabled the innovation to diffuse fast within a production/
trading system of petty and small entrepreneurs/farmers.
The global mentha oil prices were also high and rising over
much of the last decade, further fueling diffusion. India
began eying domination of the world market, ever since.
Today India is a mentha giant. It meets more than half the
global demand for mint products.
Prior to World War II, China and Japan were the only sources
of natural menthol. Wartime disruptions in stable supply
lines induced other countries to enter the fray. Consequently
Brazil and Paraguay emerged as other big players. However
China continued to lead the pack till the end of the1980s.
India picked up the baton thereon. By the mid-90s India
had established a clear lead in mentha oil production.
India’s mid-90s success however did not mean leadership in
mentha flake and crystal manufacture. In fact for a long time
China kept importing Indian mentha oil, processing it and
exporting mentha crystals to the rest of the world.
Figure 04.02.24: Comparing India – China mentha oil production
(1996–2006)8
Source:
Figure 04.02.25: Break up of India’s mentha exports (1996–2011)9
Source:
Rural India: S&T for Skills and Employment 51
In 2005, China defaulted on its international commitments
in a big way. This probably catalyzed India’s stupendous
rise from thereon.
Figure 04.02.25, not only brings out the sharp rise in India’s
export of mentha oil, but more importantly it captures an
increasing shift to manufacturing of crystals during the
same period. The share of manufactured crystal exports
in total exports has risen sharply during the last few years.
Thus mentha oil production has been sharply increasing in
India from the mid-1990s with the country emerging as the
major global exporter of mentha oil, while the first decade
of the twenty-first century has witnessed another major
structural shift towards manufactured crystal exports.
Information provided by the Spices Board (Ministry of
Commerce, GoI) indicates that by the end of the first
decade of the twenty-first century India was exporting
close to 17,000–20,000 tonnes of mint products.
India’s Mentha Production, Trade and Processing
Infrastructure
A study of the capital deployment by various actors
(farmers, traders and industrialists/exporters) that
correspond to the various stages depicted in Figure 04.02.25
, reveals an inverted pyramid. Most mentha cultivators at
the base happen to possess marginal or small operational
landholdings. The agricultural census records for three
prominent mentha districts of UP – Barabanki, Jalaun and
Moradabad – reveal an operational holdings pattern that is
similar to the national average. Despite the fact that Jalaun
has a greater percentage of farmers with large operational
holdings, more than half of Jalaun’s farmers still belong to
the marginal to small categories. Mentha herb is a product
of the petty proprietor’s labor.
Mentha is a crop that requires hot dry weather and large
amounts of soil moisture; therefore it cannot be grown in
places that do not have adequate irrigation facilities.
Level II actors (steam distillation unit owners)
generally happen to be large farmers or resourceful rural
entrepreneurs. Small and marginal farmers get their oil
extracted at these units and pay for the service, just as they
pay for tractor tillage.
Level III actors (traders) happen to be multi – layered
ranging from small village/town level aggregators to
big traders who supply mentha oil to exporters and
manufactures of mentha flake/crystal. The norm for
mentha sale and purchase is transactions in cash; therefore
these traders need to be people who can meet the liquidity
52 India: Science and Technology
Figure 04.02.26: Operational–holding pattern in some
districts where mentha is grown and at the all–India level9
Operational–holdings pattern
Figure 04.02.26: Operational–holding pattern in some districts where
mentha is grown and at the All–India level10
Source:
requirements for moving the commodity. Their capital
volume ranges from 1 lakh to people who work with
several crores as working capital. A striking feature of
mentha oil trading centres such Koonch, Masoli, Sambhal,
Chandausi or Rampur is the direct presence of agencies
belonging to exporters and manufacturers who procure on
their behalf.
Level IV actors (manufacturers and exporters) need large
volumes of circulating capital because the normal time
period for producing crystals is close to a month. Secondly
long-term international commitments also require
accumulation of large inventories of raw material oil, so as
to guard against price fluctuations or non-availability of raw
material in required quantities. The capital requirements
for the smallest players at this level begin at a few billion
rupees. Among mentha crystal manufacturers in the world,
Jindal Drugs Ltd. is the biggest.
A defining feature of mentha trade, export and
manufacturing infrastructure is the existence of an
elaborate system of product quality testing before every
sale-purchase transaction.
This elaborate system of testing samples of mentha oil has
evolved with the evolution of the mentha market. Starting
with frontline purchasers of the extracted oil – who conduct
simple inference tests such as water test, congealing point
test, caustic test, and pressure test etc. – to large volume
purchasers, there are tests for every level. Large volume
purchasers conduct quantitative tests, which apart from
indicating adulteration, help define the Levo-Menthol
content of the aggregated oil. The market standard is 68
per cent of L–Menthol. Quoted/payment price is linearly
increased or decreased depending upon deviation from
this standard. The Gas Liquid Chromatography (GLC)
Test is the most common test for aggregated purchases.
Today, trading centres like Sambhal have street-corner
GLC testing laboratories.
The existence of trade at various levels/layers, each dealing
with transactions of different ‘lot size’ – from sales as small
as one kg by a farmer to a village trader to sales at major
markets where the minimum lot size is bundles of 180 kg
drums – leads to adoption of different testing procedures
at different layers.
Volatility, Speculation and Futures Trading
Mentha markets are marked by spatio-temporal price
variations. In a single marketplace prices fluctuate over the
course of a day, and the same day may be witness to different
prices in different markets in the country. Coexisting with
this dynamic price scenario is the fact that people at all
levels (farmer to manufacturer/exporter) stock mentha oil
– a non-perishable crop – which they release or withhold
according to their individualized reading of the price
movements and requirements of cash. Price fluctuations
provide the basis for speculation on price movements.
Chandausi evolved into a for an informal satta market
transactions in mentha oil.
Figure 04.02.27: Market prices of mentha oil at Chandausi (2006–
12), as reported by multi commodity Exchange (MCX)11
Source:

Demutualized electronic exchanges facilitating futures
trading in agricultural commodities got introduced in the
early 2000s. These exchanges operate under the regulatory
framework provided by the Forwards Market Commission.
In terms of organization and governance, these exchanges
are demutualized with separation between broker/trader
member and exchange ownership and management
control.
Multi Commodity Exchange of India Ltd (MCX), a
state-of-the-art electronic commodity futures exchange,
offers an online platform for futures trading in mentha oil.
Deliveries are only a very small part – just around 0.5 per
cent – of the total futures trade for mentha oil on the MCX.
Despite this field investigations reveal that most exporters
and manufacturers have exposure in MCX and often use
it as a procurement channel (taking delivery through
the exchange). In other words, despite heavy usage of
the exchange for speculative activities, many of these big
players do use the exchange as part of their transactions in
the physical commodity.
Concluding Remarks
Mentha is a ‘low volume high value’ crop. Secondly it has a
long shelf–life. If packed properly it can be stored for three-
four years. Mentha’s long shelf–life creates unexpected
fluctuations in the trading system. Market releases are based
on current production and inventory of past production
that has been held back at various levels. Decentralized
storage creates an active market in the commodity. On
the final demand side the menthol market is said to be
inelastic. A 1,000 ton shortage or over supply of menthol
in the world market can make prices double or fall by as
much as 50 per cent – this can happen in the most stable
harvest conditions (in 1996 international menthol prices
shot up to $100/kg!).
Figure 04.02.28: Average prices of mentha oil in the world (1960–
2006)12
Source:
Rural India: S&T for Skills and Employment 53
The authors’ data shows that farmers and traders
participate in the post-harvest trading of the commodity
and take the risks of price fluctuation. Risks are managed
in several ways – very small farmers break sale transactions
and sell at different time points – both to gain bargaining
power as well as to observe and act on intertemporal
price movements. Low cost decentralized storage and
wide spatial dispersion of small petty traders enable such
practices to exist. The large manufacturers use the futures
platform to manage exposures to price and quantity risks
that long–term export contracts expose them to. The rise
of the futures exchange has in fact coincided with the shift
of India into manufactured (crystals) exports. Dispersed
small scale processing, decentralized control over storage
and an attractive global commodity price have enabled
the mentha ecosystem to be profitable enabling rapid
diffusion of a public sector innovation. It is known as ‘the
golden crop’ in areas that grow it. India’s success in mentha
production has added skills and incomes to rural areas.
Small Producers, Knowledge and Markets
Introduction
Organizational formats that enable scale effects and
bargaining capacities for small producers are many. The
cooperative form of organization has been perceived and
seen as a means to achieving reduction in poverty and
increase in wellbeing of local people (Birchall, 2003) in
the presence of other structural constraints like small
holdings, lack of bargaining power of small sellers of
produce or services and competition from other forms
of organizations. But, cooperatives across the developing
world have been more of a failure than success and are
alleged to have led to exclusion of really poor and even
differentiation instead of equity in rural communities like
in case of sugar cooperatives in Gujarat (Ebrahim, 2000).
In India, the only exceptions to the failure have been
sugar and milk co–operatives in some states especially in
Maharashtra and Gujarat. But, even in Gujarat, there are as
many cases of failure as are of success of cooperation and
failures include chicory, tobacco, cotton, vegetables, grains
and canal irrigation cooperatives (Shah, 1996). In this
context, there has been a constant search for alternative
forms of collectivization or cooperation to achieve the
objectives of development of poor people.
In India, a producer company (henceforth PC) is a legal
entity, since 2003, of the primary producers of any kind,
viz., agricultural/forest/artisanal/any other local produce,
54 India: Science and Technology
as members, as per Section IXA of the Indian Companies
Act 1956. While each member in a PC can have only one
vote, he/she can contribute different amounts of share
capital to the PC. The shares of the PC are not transferable
outside the membership. A PC should have a minimum of
10 individual producer members or two producer entities
or a combination thereof. The objective of a PC can be
production, harvesting, procurement, grading, pooling,
handling, marketing, selling and export of primary
produce of the members or import of goods or services for
their benefit. It is deemed to be a private limited company
by shares but there is no limit on membership, which is
voluntary and open. It retains the one member one vote
principle irrespective of shares or patronage, except during
the first year when it can be based on shares. Like traditional
cooperatives, it provides a limited return on capital but
can give bonus/bonus shares based on patronage. It is
free to buy other PCs’ shares and to form subsidiary/joint
venture/collaboration/new organizations. It can have
five to 15 directors, a chairperson, and an ex officio chief
executive but multi-state cooperative societies (MSCSs)
converting into a PC can have more than 15 directors
for one year. It can co-opt expert or additional directors
without voting rights. It lays emphasis on member
education and cooperation among PCs. If it fails to start
business within a year, registration can be cancelled. The
audit has to be conducted by a chartered accountant. Thus,
a PC is a New Generation Co-operative (NGC). It enjoys
the same liberalized regulatory environment as available to
other business enterprises but it has unique characteristics
of cooperatives (Singh, 2008).
Some of the salient features that provide the PC a competitive
edge are: First, the PC format provides more legitimacy
and credibility in the immediate business environment,
Table 04.02.27: Differences between a cooperative and a PC in India
Feature Cooperative under Co-op Societies Act
Membership Open to any individual or co–operative
Professionals on board Not provided
Area of operation Restricted
Relation with other entities Only transaction based
Shares Not tradable
Member stakes No linkage with no. of shares held
Voting rights One person one vote but registrar of
cooperatives and government have veto power
than for a co-operative. Second, it allows registered/non-
registered groups, such as SHGs/user groups to become
equity holders in a PC, unlike cooperative law, which
allows only individual producers to be members. Third,
only primary producers can participate in the ownership of
PCs, i.e., persons/entities engaged in an activity connected
with or related to primary produce which restricts outsider
control of the PC (Table 04.02.27). PCs can also co-opt
professionals in the governance structure, mitigating
professional capability asymmetry between private and
cooperative organizations. Finally, unlike the cooperatives,
PCs have stronger regulation making statutory demands
on the organization for better disclosure and reporting
(Pradan, 2007).
Status of PCs in India
As of mid-2011, there were over 156 PCs in India. Of these,
the PCs of District Poverty Initiative Project-Madhya
Pradesh (DPIP-MP) of the World Bank, are the most cited
(Singh, 2008). In India too, like in Sri Lanka, these were
the first set of PCs were promoted and supported by the
state from 2005 with a one-time grant of 25 lakh to each
PC as fixed deposit revolving fund for obtaining bank loan
against it and also another annual grant of maximum 7
lakh per year in a reducing manner, totaling 24.45 lakh over
five years. Further, interest subsidy up to a limit of 2 lakh
was provided on any term loan taken by the PC and a grant
of up to 75 per cent of the cost up to a maximum of 2 lakh
was given for any certification expenses like Food Products
Order (FPO) and Global Good Agricultural Practices
(Globalgap) etc. (NABCONS, 2011). Later, many NGOs,
farmers’ organizations and some private corporate agencies
also promoted and organized PCs across India.
PC under Companies Act, 2003
Open only to producer members and their
agencies
Can be co-opted
Throughout India
Can form joint ventures and alliances
Tradable within membership only
Articles of association can provide for linking
shares and delivery rights
Only one member one vote and non-producer
can’t vote
 Rural India: S&T for Skills and Employment 55

Feature Cooperative under Co-op Societies Act PC under Companies Act, 2003
Reserves Can be created if made profit Mandatory to create reserves
Profit sharing Limited dividend on capital Based on patronage but reserves must and limit
on dividend
Role of government Significant Minimal
Disclosure and audit Annual report to regulator Very strict as per the Companies Act
requirements
Administrative control Excessive None
Borrowing power Restricted Many options
Dispute settlement Through co-op system Through arbitration

Source: Mondal 2009; and NABARD Consultancy Services (NABCONS) , 2011.

There were only 25 PCs in India which were registered
before March 2008, but 60 per cent were more than
two year old by the end of 2011. Further, 34 per cent of
all PCs were in western India, 24 per cent each in south
and east India and 17 per cent in north India. More of the
PCs during 2008–11 were registered in western, southern
and eastern India. 74 per cent of all the PCs (139) were
in agriculture or allied sectors which included animal
husbandry and fisheries and 64 per cent in agriculture alone
which included crop agriculture, horticulture, organic and
herbal and medicinal plants. Another 10 per cent were into
non–farm business, 4 per cent in power and 12 per cent in
various other businesses (NABCONS, 2011).
The membership/shareholding of PCs in India ranges from
individual producers to informal SHGs and individual
producers, registered SHGs and individual members, and
only institutional members. The DPIP promoted PCs,
mostly registered in 2006, have small equity capital ranging
from 1–10 lakh and shareholders ranging from 10–3000.
The farmer members are really small holders and run into
thousands each, and PCs mostly have member based
businesses (Table 04.02.28). PCs in India, in general,
appear to be product focused rather than producer/farmer
focused (Singh and Singh, 2012).

Table 04.02.28: Basic profile of Some MPDPIP PCs

Sagar
Khujner Samrath
Producer Co.> Khajurao Nowgaon Agri Samridhi Ramraja Crop
Agiculture Kissan
Parameters (Chattarpur) (Tikamgarh) Crop (Reori, (Tikamgarh)
(Rajgarh) (Shajjapur)
Sagar)
Authorized capital ( lakh) 5 3 5 5 15 25
Share capital ( lakh) 4.6 1 1 1.8 9.5 1.67
Shareholders 12 10 200 450 3000 650
initial – – – – – –
individual
group 4625 1000 1203 1860 6500 1647
now 140 (23 % of all)
individual
groups
Share range 10 10 10 10 12–22 100

Education profile of farmer P.G. HSS Illiterate Graduate Tenth

promoter
FBG/SHG/Cooperatives 140 No No 200 No No
associated
56 India: Science and Technology

Sagar
Khujner Samrath
Producer Co.> Khajurao Nowgaon Agri Samridhi Ramraja Crop
Agiculture Kissan
Parameters (Chattarpur) (Tikamgarh) Crop (Reori, (Tikamgarh)
(Rajgarh) (Shajjapur)
Sagar)
Number of directors 12 5 11 5 14 7

Number of professional 3 (DPIP and PC) 1 (DPIP) 1 (DPIP and 3 (PC and 2 (DPIP 2 (DPIP and
managers (paid by) PC) DPIP) and PC) PC)

Number of employees 3 1 1 4 2 2
professional/managerial
7 2 3 5 3 2
other/technical
Total 10 3 4 9 5 4

Total users 6600 5000 3000 2460 8000 3000

member
4600 1000 1200 1860 6500 1647
non–member
2000 4000 1800(inputs 600 1500 1353
only)

% of total business from 15 30 20 20 20 50

non-members

Average size of holding of 1 (0.2–3.4) 0.8 (1–10) 0.8 (0.4–4) 1 (0.25–10) 1.5 (0.3– 7) 1(0.4–1.6)
member (range) in Ha

Source: Singh and Singh, 2012.

Performance, Issues and Way Forward
Most of the PCs did benefit the members in some way or
the other like employment generation, increase in income,
higher market price, dividends and fair and prompt
payments and self respect and identity for small producers
(NABCONS, 2011). Many of them are into contract
farming of seed and others into value added activities like
better cotton or responsible soya bean. But, a significant
proportion of them are still making losses and others only
breaking even, with only a few making profits (Singh and
Singh, 2012). Major policy issues for PCs are poor working
capital support, professional management, marketing
and value addition expertise, and poor business plans
besides lack of union/state government recognition for
any incentive or support; and bank refusal to lend to PCs
due to the lack of state/government guarantees. Further,
PCs also suffer from tax on income (30.2 per cent) unlike
cooperatives.
The PCs can also be supported by cooperative apex bodies
like National Co-operative Development Corporation
(NCDC). Recently, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has
permitted priority sector lending up to 5 crore to PCs. In
India, banks give collateral free loans to small and medium
enterprises (SMEs) which can also cover PCs. Similarly,
a PC can be treated as non-banking financial company
(NBFC) to provide loans to farmer members. The union
government has already made provision for PCs in 2013-
14 budget for matching grants up to 10 lakh for a PC and
a credit guarantee fund for PCs through the Small Farmer
Agribusiness Consortium (SFAC).
A working group on PCs, chaired by Nitin Desai, suggested
a mechanism to assess the value of shares held by the
farmers and to declare a fair value periodically to incentivize
members to acquire more shares. Issuance of preference
shares, bonds and debentures were also recommended for
raising external capital.
There could also be special windows for PCs like SFAC,
National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development
(NABARD), Small Industry Development Bank of India
(SIDBI) and National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM)
and approved NGOs to route foreign funding to PCs.
There is also need for central agency to promote PCs with
grants and disseminate awareness about the concept and
practices of PCs among farmer producers. Both the state

and the union governments in India should recognize
PCs as cooperatives and extend all support as extended
to traditional cooperatives in terms of credit (investment
and working capital), licenses for inputs and output sale
and purchase. PCs practicing organic farming can be
designated as certifying agencies for third parties and
individual growers by the union government agencies like
the Agricultural and Processed Foods Products Export
Development Authority (APEDA). The promotional
agencies and NGOs supporting PCs should be given project
based grants by the state agencies like what NABARD
does by giving loans to PCs and capacity building grants to
promoting agencies.
Trade-offs in the Development of a
Ceramic Cluster
Clustering of SMEs is a particular form of revolution of
industrial organization and these encompass an array
of linked industries and other entities important for the
sustainable growth of SMEs. Clustering approach of
SMEs provides an effective dynamic path for inducing
competitiveness by ensuring inter-firm cooperation through
networking and trust. It aims at a holistic development
covering areas like infrastructure, common facility, testing,
technology and skill upgradation, marketing, export
promotion etc. This chapter deals with the other facet of
the development of a cluster illustrating it by taking a case
of Khurja pottery cluster. It reveals that cluster grew many
folds over the period but very small units vanished in the
process. Clustering and scale effects that come with it thus
seem to lead to loss of expertise of traditional handicraft
inherited and vested in by many such small producers.
Khurja Ceramic Cluster
The Khurja pottery cluster is one of the oldest pottery
clusters in the country and produces white ware. It is
located about 100 kilometers from Delhi in the state of
Uttar Pradesh. This is well known for its grandeur in pottery.
The history of Khurja pottery goes back to about 600 years
ago. The fourteenth century pottery of Khurja has gone
through numerous phases of its evolution in terms of types
of ceramic items being made and the technologies used
for large scale production. The revival and more modern
phase of pottery manufacture began in the 1940s with the
establishment of a pottery factory by the Uttar Pradesh
(state) government in 1942.
The pottery of Khurja is an art for both utility and
Rural India: S&T for Skills and Employment 57
decoration. The specialty of this cluster is the themes
such as Madhubani painting, tribal painting, Mughal art
and other historical paintings are applied on the pottery
to match the moods of interiors. The number of pottery
units in the cluster has grown from a meagre eight units in
1946–47 to 515 units in 1999–2000 but surprisingly, there
is fall in the number of units thereafter and decreased to less
than 150 units by 2007–08 (Figure 04.02.28). It provides
employment to more than 25,000 workers. However, there
are no women workers in ceramic pottery making.
Due to state and central government interventions towards
development of the cluster, the turnover increased from an
estimate of 1500 million during 1999–2000 to 2300
million during 2007–08 (Figure 04.02.29). The installed
capacity of the unorganized sector in the small scale
manufacturing of different ceramic items is estimated to be
around 0.3 million MT with an estimated production of
0.18 million. The estimated growth rate is 10–12 per cent
per annum (see Mehra, 2012).
The Khurja cluster comprises dependent and independent
pottery units. The independent pottery manufacturers
have integrated production facilities ranging from raw
material processing to latest technology based firing. Over
the period, ceramic cluster experienced gradual evolution
on the following lines.
Raw Materials
The raw materials required in the making of pottery are clay
and different types of stones. Raw materials are acquired
locally as well as from other state in the country. Not all
the units at Khurja use superior quality raw materials and
scientific methods for processing and fabrication. There
is cognizance regarding the use of lead free materials and
firing at high degree for health safety reasons.
Designing
There are different sources for learning changes in designing
either through private exhibitions or the catalogues from
abroad to copy the design and to meet big export orders.
Some remain in touch with the private designers to meet
the bulk orders for designed goods.
Technology Up-gradation –  Types of Kilns Used For
Firing
Firing of the green wares is considered to constitute 35–50
per cent of the total cost of the product. Firing of green
wares (baking) is done at a temperature of about 1200
to 1250C. Usage of different types of kilns for firing has
58 India: Science and Technology
evolved over time to upgrade the quality and efficiency of
manufacturing of products.
Downdraft Kilns
These are traditional kilns used in the Khurja pottery
cluster. These are batch type kilns using natural draft (i.e.,
they do not require blowers for their operation). A typical
operation cycle from cool to cool takes approximately five
to seven days. Coal is the major fuel used in downdraft
kilns along with some quantity of wood. Until early 1990s
all production was carried out using these kilns and there
were more than 200 coal fired down draft kilns in Khurja.
Downward draft kilns have higher production costs, high
rejection rate, higher fuel consumption and obviously
lower profit margins and higher level of pollution.
Shuttle Kilns
These are particularly suited to the firing of specialized
items like bone china and stoneware decorative items and
crockery. Shuttle kilns are diesel/electricity operated and
more energy efficient than coal-based downdraft kilns but
not as efficient as tunnel kilns. Combined with loading
and unloading shuttle kilns have a total cycle time of two
to three days, compared to five to seven days for coal fired
downdraft kilns. The first shuttle kiln was introduced into
the Khurja pottery cluster during 1988.
Tunnel Kilns
The first tunnel kiln in Khurja was introduced during 1992
but large scale adoption took place late 1990s onwards.
Tunnel kilns are steady state continuous kilns; on average
about 22 to 23 trolleys travel through the kiln in 24 hours.
Tunnel kilns are diesel/electricity fired have high energy
efficiency and a low rejection rate of finished products.
Tunnel kilns do require a significant capital outlay and
also more land space than either shuttle or downdraft
kilns. During early 1990s when the cluster was going
through an adverse phase, one of the support agencies of
the government became instrumental in switching over
to tunnel kilns by some Khurja manufacturers. Only
those who were able to invest a sizeable amount replaced
downdraft kilns by tunnel kilns. The adoption of shuttle
and tunnel kilns was motivated by competitive pressure
from other pottery clusters in India and also due to fears of
globalization. Production costs of Khurja units with tunnel
kilns have fallen by about 10–15 per cent as compared to
units using coal–based down draft kilns.
Gas Fired Kilns:
This is the latest technological introduction in Khurja
cluster in the recent past. At present there are few gas fired
roller hearths in Khurja acquired by large firms/institute.
One such institute is the Central Glass and Ceramic
Research Institute (CGCRI, CSIR) in Khurja. Gas firing
reduces cost and makes the product more competitive.
Many units believe that gas firing will enable them to
manufacture porcelain tableware also, for which there is a
greater market and is still not manufactured on a large scale
in India.
Findings from the Case Study
Existence and Growth of Cluster
It can be attributed to the enabling environment through
technical and various other kinds of support provided by
state and central governments from time to time (Mehra
2012). Intervention were ranging from keeping the
cluster alive (during late 1940s) by providing all kinds
of technological support, training, subsidized energy
supplies, infrastructure, marketing assistance and common
facilities, etc. A large part of the cluster got organized,
and networking among the stakeholders was apparent.
Technological changes in the processing of raw materials
and firing of green wares through evolution of various
kilns with fuel efficiency is greatly responsible for quality
improvements and increased volumes of production. The
volume of production in cluster is increasing due to more
production by big units with improved technologies and
design and increased sales in global market or complying
customized domestic orders. However, only the rich
potters in Khurja were found to be flourishing. Successful
entrepreneurs exploited the opportunities came across to
overcome competition from other cluster in the country
and to meet the regional, national and global demand.
Successful enterprises acted truly innovative in response to
diminishing profits and changes in policy regulations (e.g.
no subsidy on coal or pollution control).
Trade-offs in Development of Cluster
The small producers in Khurja cluster missed the race of
developments at various stages and were left to perish due
to intrinsic competition. They faced many problems like not
having access to soft infrastructure. The change required
large work areas and sizeable amount of working capital.
It was impossible to continue with downdraft kilns due to
non availability of subsidized coal (government withdrew
subsidy) and the quality of products from such kilns was low
as well. Small manufacturers had to face the competition

with larger ones in producing quality goods. Modernization
in firing requires heavy capital investment in setting tunnel
kilns or gas fired hearths. All these major constraints have
brought down the number of pottery functional unit to
150 out of 500 in the past five to six years due to the closure
of smaller units. These small manufacturers got engaged in
skilled jobs – became either farmers or rickshaw pullers
or selling fruits or dealing in property business. Some of
them still have many things to reveal from their glorious
past in terms of manufacturing crockery or other ceramic
items and received chance to display in prestigious national
and international events held. A manufacturer supplied his
crockery(as recognition) for an international meet – Simla
Agreement signed between India and Pakistan during July
1972 in India – but that unit is now no more in business
as it could not withstand competition with bigger units
in the cluster. In another example, a joint family of many
national awardees (honoured by Government of India) is
apprehensive of its younger generation continuing with the
profession due to various constraints.
The policy solution for traditional craft based rural
industrialization seems to be the creation and facilitation
of clusters. But the development of a cluster needs to be
inclusive. Small units should not be left out during the
development process. It could be achieved by creating
policy mechanisms for availing advanced raw materials/
designs/marketing opportunities and setting up common
technologically advanced firing facilities on the paid basis
Figure 04.02.30: Number of manufacturing units in cluster
Source: Mehra, 2012
Rural India: S&T for Skills and Employment 59
Figure 04.02.31: Growth in financial turnover in the cluster
Source: Mehra, 2012
for marginal units. Thereby facilitating the master and other
artisans and their families to remain engaged in traditional
crafts and preserving and advancing the traditional art of
artisanal communities.
Endnote:
1 This section draws from Rajeswari (1992) and Raina (2011).
2 This section draws partly from Raina (2011) and Biggs and
Farrington (2000).
3 See Raina, 1999 for tensions discussed within the system about
career advancement problems, experimental design, content of
science, etc. during this phase (mid-1960s to mid-1970s).
4 Peste des Petits Ruminants – Also known as goat plague, PPR is
caused by a virus closely related to the rinderpest virus, canine
distemper virus, and the human measles virus. Morbidity up to
100 per cent and mortality rates between 20 and 90 per cent are
common, except in endemic areas or when mild disease occurs.
5 Impact of Futures Markets of Potato and Mentha Oil on Commodity
Ecosystems.
6 Ibid.
7 Clark, G.S., Aroma Chemical Profile: Menthol, Perfumer &
Flavorist, 32(12), (2007): 38 -47.
8 Ibid.
9 http://commerce.nic.in/eidb/ecomq.asp accessed on October 5th,
2012.
10 http://agcensus.dacnet.nic.in/districtsummarytype.aspx, accessed
November 4, 2012.
11 http://www.mcxindia.com/sitepages/HistoricalDataForVolume.
aspx accessed 20 December, 2012.
12 Recontructed from Clark, G. S., Aroma Chemical Profile: Menthol,
Perfumer & Flavorist, 32(12), (2007): 38 -47.
60 India: Science and Technology

S&T Applications: Governance and Management of Rural

Services
Services like health care, drinking water supply and
education in rural areas offer many non-farm job
opportunities to the rural workforce. The creation of
non-farm rural employment opportunities in India has
led to a rich debate about skills, infrastructure, finance/
capital, markets and other allied services like healthcare
and education. But many key questions of governance
and support for these S&T based services are often left
unaddressed. There are fundamental questions about
what the state invests in general services for rural India,
and how S&T contributes to these services. There are
also major concerns about the disparity in skill levels
between the service providers and the customers or
beneficiaries. In the provision of general services, rural
India is till date a beneficiary, located at the tail end of a
delivery system, with little voice or capacity to articulate
the demands for services or their preferred designs,
protocols or prices.
S&T Applications in the Context of
Service Sector Expenditure
Over the past few decades, India has witnessed a steady
decline in social sector spending by the state (Nagaraj,
2010). This signals policy incoherence in the context of all
Table 04.03.01: State-wise rural development expenditure as a share of total expenditure and development expenditure
the recent skill development initiatives and employment
generation schemes. Since many general services like
vocational education, drinking water supply, health care,
etc., form a continuum with the overall social sector
investments of the state, it becomes difficult to evaluate the
development impact of individual investments in any of
the general services.
For instance, literacy rate as an important indicator of a
qualified workforce in the states, is difficult to attribute to
education expenditure alone by the state, and may hold
limited significance for employment and income generation
– especially for the rural educated. Kerala ranks highest in
literacy rate with 95.6 per cent literates. Achievements in
literacy and education in Kerala, which has implications for
overall service sector employment (education and health
care) as well as employment in rural crafts and manufacturing
sector, has limited impact or causal relationship with
industrial investments or employment (Subrahmanian and
Pillai, 1989). The fact that following Kerala, it is a group
of northeastern states and some small states like Himachal
Pradesh and Goa that rank way above in literacy rate, does
indicate a certain relationship between service sector growth
and employment in less industrialized states.

State Item 1990– 1994– 1999– 2000– 2001– 2002– 2003– 2004– 2005– 2006– 2007– 2008– 2009–
91 95 2000 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10
(RE) (BE)
Andhra Share as 7.2 4.8 4.7 4.6 5.3 3.8 1.3 1.0 1.0 1.8 1.5 3.5 1.8
Pradesh percentage
of total
expenditure.
  Share as 9.9 6.6 7.1 7.1 8.3 6.7 8.0 7.3 6.8 6.7 5.9 5.9 3.2
percentage of
developmental
expenditure.
Arunachal Share as 3.6 2.8 1.6 2.1 2.0 1.9 0.5 1.0 0.7 0.3 0.2 0.5 0.5
Pradesh percentage
of total
expenditure.
  Share as 4.7 3.5 2.2 3.1 2.8 2.8 2.8 4.1 3.6 1.8 1.7 2.7 3.0
percentage of
developmental
expenditure.
 Rural India: S&T for Skills and Employment 61

State Item 1990– 1994– 1999– 2000– 2001– 2002– 2003– 2004– 2005– 2006– 2007– 2008– 2009–
91 95 2000 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10
(RE) (BE)
Assam Share as 3.0 2.9 1.8 1.3 3.2 2.5 1.3 1.7 1.1 0.6 0.7 0.9 0.8
percentage
of total
expenditure.
  Share as 4.7 4.7 3.2 2.2 6.1 4.7 4.7 4.5 5.0 6.5 8.2 5.6 4.7
percentage of
developmental
expenditure.
Bihar Share as 5.4 6.9 9.3 7.4 8.0 8.5 5.7 1.8 1.3 2.3 2.7 9.0 8.0
percentage
of total
expenditure.
  Share as 8.0 11.7 15.1 12.5 15.1 16.2 14.6 12.9 11.3 15.1 15.4 13.8 12.7
percentage
of total
expenditure.
Chhattisgarh Share as   8.9 6.5 4.9 1.1 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.7 2.2 2.1
percentage
of total
expenditure.
  Share as       13.3 10.2 7.6 6.0 8.3 9.3 9.3 9.4 8.3 7.4
percentage of
developmental
expenditure.
Goa Share as 1.4 1.0 0.7 0.5 0.7 1.1 0.4 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.3 1.0 0.9
percentage
of total
expenditure.
  Share as 1.8 1.4 1.2 0.9 1.4 2.1 1.9 2.0 2.2 2.0 1.6 2.2 1.9
percentage of
developmental
expenditure.
Gujarat Share as 5.0 3.2 2.6 2.8 1.5 2.2 0.9 0.8 0.6 0.6 0.6 1.2 1.4
percentage
of total
expenditure.
  Share as 6.7 4.5 3.8 3.9 2.2 3.7 3.3 4.3 3.6 3.8 4.1 3.6 4.2
percentage of
developmental
expenditure.
Haryana Share as 2.9 0.9 1.4 1.0 1.3 1.3 0.4 0.3 0.3 0.2 0.7 1.3 1.2
percentage
of total
expenditure.
  Share as 4.1 1.9 2.3 1.6 2.0 2.2 1.7 2.2 3.0 2.4 3.8 5.1 4.4
percentage of
developmental
expenditure.
62 India: Science and Technology

State Item 1990– 1994– 1999– 2000– 2001– 2002– 2003– 2004– 2005– 2006– 2007– 2008– 2009–
91 95 2000 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10
(RE) (BE)
Himachal Share as 2.8 2.2 1.8 2.6 1.4 1.4 0.6 0.6 0.4 0.5 0.5 1.7 1.9
Pradesh percentage
of total
expenditure.
  Share as 3.9 3.2 2.8 4.3 2.5 2.4 2.4 2.7 2.5 2.8 3.0 3.3 3.7
percentage of
developmental
expenditure.
Jammu and Share as 1.4 2.2 1.4 1.2 2.3 1.2 1.2 1.7 1.6 3.2 1.5 1.4 1.6
Kashmir percentage
of total
expenditure.
  Share as 2.1 3.7 2.3 1.8 4.4 2.2 2.6 2.9 2.7 5.6 2.7 2.4 2.7
percentage of
developmental
expenditure.
Jharkhand Share as   11.9 14.6 11.6 10.5 9.7 9.4 6.6 6.1 4.9
percentage
of total
expenditure..
  Share as         17.6 21.3 23.1 19.6 16.5 15.0 11.4 11.1 10.0
percentage of
developmental
expenditure.
Karnataka Share as 5.1 4.8 2.5 2.3 2.2 2.2 0.6 0.8 0.6 0.6 0.6 1.5 1.5
percentage
of total
expenditure.
  Share as 7.2 6.8 3.9 3.5 3.3 3.6 2.9 3.6 3.4 3.6 3.3 2.9 3.0
percentage of
developmental
expenditure.
Kerala Share as 3.7 2.8 6.7 6.1 5.2 6.4 1.4 2.0 1.9 0.3 0.2 0.4 0.4
percentage
of total
expenditure.
  Share as 5.8 4.5 11.7 11.2 10.3 12.1 7.7 12.9 12.5 2.4 1.7 2.3 2.2
percentage of
developmental
expenditure.
Madhya Share as 6.8 6.5 4.4 5.7 4.5 4.5 1.5 1.6 1.8 1.6 1.4 2.0 2.2
Pradesh percentage
of total
expenditure..
  Share as 9.6 9.5 6.8 9.2 7.0 7.4 5.8 5.7 7.8 10.5 11.5 10.7 10.7
percentage of
developmental
expenditure.
 Rural India: S&T for Skills and Employment 63

State Item 1990– 1994– 1999– 2000– 2001– 2002– 2003– 2004– 2005– 2006– 2007– 2008– 2009–
91 95 2000 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10
(RE) (BE)
Maharashtra Share as 4.6 5.7 1.6 1.2 1.2 1.9 2.0 1.9 1.5 1.8 0.8 1.1 13.2
percentage
of total
expenditure.
  Share as 6.4 7.9 2.8 1.9 2.1 3.3 6.5 5.8 5.7 6.5 2.9 4.0 35.2
percentage of
developmental
expenditure.
Manipur Share as 1.3 1.6 1.4 0.9 2.3 1.0 0.8 0.9 0.8 0.4 0.4 0.5 0.3
percentage
of total
expenditure.
  Share as 1.8 2.4 2.2 1.6 5.1 2.3 3.2 4.3 3.3 2.1 3.1 2.9 2.7
percentage of
developmental
expenditure.
Meghalaya Share as 4.6 2.9 3.5 3.7 3.8 3.8 0.5 1.3 0.7 1.4 1.2 1.3 1.2
percentage
of total
expenditure.
  Share as 6.2 4.2 5.1 5.4 5.8 6.3 5.7 5.3 7.5 8.7 7.1 6.8 6.2
percentage of
developmental
expenditure.
Mizoram Share as 5.0 6.3 3.3 2.3 1.8 2.1 0.8 0.7 0.5 0.8 0.5 0.9 0.7
percentage
of total
expenditure.
  Share as 9.0 8.3 4.5 3.3 2.7 3.2 2.5 2.4 2.1 3.3 3.0 3.6 2.8
percentage of
developmental
expenditure.
Nagaland Share as 4.4 4.8 3.7 1.9 1.2 1.3 1.0 1.0 1.2 0.9 1.0 1.4 1.0
percentage
of total
expenditure.
  Share as 6.6 7.8 6.6 3.3 2.1 2.4 5.2 4.5 5.6 3.8 4.3 4.7 3.6
percentage of
developmental
expenditure.
Orissa Share as 6.4 5.1 5.0 3.7 3.7 3.5 1.5 1.4 0.9 0.7 0.8 2.3 1.9
percentage
of total
expenditure.
  Share as 9.3 7.7 7.7 6.8 7.5 7.3 5.9 6.8 6.7 6.4 6.5 6.8 5.7
percentage of
developmental
expenditure.
64 India: Science and Technology

State Item 1990– 1994– 1999– 2000– 2001– 2002– 2003– 2004– 2005– 2006– 2007– 2008– 2009–
91 95 2000 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10
(RE) (BE)
Punjab Share as 0.8 0.2 0.4 0.5 0.4 0.4 0.1 0.5 0.2 0.1 0.3 0.3 0.2
percentage
of total
expenditure.
  Share as 1.1 0.6 0.9 1.0 0.9 1.2 0.8 2.3 1.1 1.8 1.4 2.7 1.6
percentage of
developmental
expenditure.
Rajasthan Share as 5.0 4.5 2.4 2.3 3.1 2.9 0.9 1.3 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.2 1.7
percentage
of total
expenditure.
  Share as 6.1 6.0 3.6 3.5 4.9 4.4 3.7 5.5 6.3 5.7 6.1 7.8 8.0
percentage of
developmental
expenditure.
Sikkim Share as 1.3 0.4 0.6 1.2 0.6 0.9 1.2 0.7 0.9 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.5
percentage
of total
expenditure.
  Share as 1.6 1.2 2.0 2.2 1.9 2.7 5.2 3.0 4.2 6.5 6.8 5.0 4.5
percentage of
developmental
expenditure.
Tamil Nadu Share as 4.9 2.8 2.5 3.5 2.0 2.0 1.0 0.8 0.7 0.7 0.9 1.0 1.0
percentage
of total
expenditure.
  Share as 6.9 3.9 4.3 6.0 3.6 3.7 5.2 4.7 5.5 5.5 5.6 4.9 4.7
percentage of
developmental
expenditure.
Tripura Share as 4.1 6.3 5.1 4.6 4.0 3.2 1.0 1.4 0.6 0.5 0.6 0.6 0.6
percentage
of total
expenditure.
  Share as 5.6 8.8 7.8 7.0 6.2 5.4 4.3 5.5 4.2 5.1 5.0 4.3 3.9
percentage of
developmental
expenditure.
Uttar Share as 7.8 5.0 5.6 5.1 4.8 4.8 0.9 1.0 0.8 0.4 0.7 1.6 1.7
Pradesh percentage
of total
expenditure.
  Share as 11.5 9.0 10.5 9.8 9.8 10.0 5.1 8.5 9.0 5.8 6.9 7.0 7.9
percentage of
developmental
expenditure.
 Rural India: S&T for Skills and Employment 65

State Item 1990– 1994– 1999– 2000– 2001– 2002– 2003– 2004– 2005– 2006– 2007– 2008– 2009–
91 95 2000 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10
(RE) (BE)
Uttarakhand Share as   2.1 4.8 3.4 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.8 0.8 2.2 1.9
percentage
of total
expenditure.
  Share as       2.9 7.5 5.9 6.2 5.2 5.8 6.6 6.4 7.1 5.7
percentage of
developmental
expenditure.
West Bengal Share as 6.1 6.0 3.3 2.9 3.3 2.2 0.6 0.7 0.9 0.6 0.9 0.9 0.9
percentage
of total
expenditure.
  Share as 9.0 9.2 5.5 4.9 6.1 4.9 4.9 5.6 7.1 6.5 7.8 5.4 6.2
percentage of
developmental
expenditure.

Source: Computed based on the data from Handbook of Statistics on State Government Finances, RBI 2010–11.

The small states with relatively high human development
index scores are also states that record higher state level
S&T expenditure, focused mainly on specific S&T based
development concerns or historical advantages at the state
level (Raina, 2012). The difference between expenditure
on knowledge (formal S&T) and services on the one hand
and development expenditure on the other is evident in
the state level expenditure on rural development (Table
04.03.01 above). The larger states like Uttar Pradesh,
Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan spend a relatively
higher percentage of their total state expenditure and total
development expenditure on rural development compared
to the smaller states (which do invest much more on S&T)
like Himachal Pradesh and Goa.
Rural development expenditure has been used as
Table 04.03.02: Sector-wise revenue expenditure-union government (2010–11)
an indicator of the commitment of different state
governments and to rural employment and income
generation. Unlike state level expenditure on S&T, state
level expenditure on rural development in the larger states
like Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal,
Rajashtan, Chattisgarh and Jharkhand is much higher (and
consistently so over the past decade and a half) as a share
of overall state spending and total development spending,
compared to the smaller states.
The nature of service sector support can also be understood
by comparing the revenue expenditure on different kinds
of services in different states. Data for the latest year
available (2010–11), is used here, as a guide to understand
the overall public support to service sector and potential
employment opportunities in rural India.

Union government Percentage of total Percentage of expenditure Per capita expenditure

Sector
( crores) expenditure to GDP ( )
General 454561 38.32 5.93 3757

Social 121965 10.28 1.59 1008

Economic 449838 37.93 5.86 3718
Others
159751 13.47 2.08 1320
(Grants–in–Aid)
Total 1186115 100.00 15.46 9803

Source: CAG 2012 report, Page no 13

66 India: Science and Technology

Table 04.03.03: Sector-wise revenue expenditure – state governments (2010–11)

Percentage of
State government Percentage of total Per capita expenditure
Sector expenditure
( crores) expenditure ( )
to GSDP
General 354778 37.41 5.28 2936

Social 375618 39.6 5.58 3109

Economic 193771 20.43 2.88 1604

Others
24310 2.56 0.36 201
(Grants–in–Aid)

Total 948477 100.00 14.10 7850

Source: CAG 2012 report, page number 13

Overall, the union government spends a massive amount The scale of expenditure (in per capita) reveals how some
of resources on general and economic services – the states – the entire north-central Indian states in geographic
production services (Tables 04.03.02 and 04.03.03 above). terms ranging from Rajasthan to Assam including Delhi
That the union government spends more on total service along with Orissa and Karnataka show expenditures below
sector and on general and economic services than the state the average per capita expenditure by state governments on
governments put together, does indicate an overarching general services (Table 04.03.04). These are states where
centralization of service sector decision making. It also the union government spends more on general services
converges with the observations in a later chapter, about like public administration and police which is not reflected
overall centralization of several production services and in these per capita figures.
S&T based services in particular for economic activities in
rural India. The list of states that spend way below the average per capita
revenue expenditure by all state governments
Table 04.03.04: Revenue expenditure of general services and social services
(2010–11)
on social services like healthcare, drinking
(All states per capita general services: 2937) water supply and sanitation, and education,
(All states per capita social services: 3109) are also the same as the states that spend the
least on general services. The only difference
General services per Social services per is that Punjab and West Bengal replace
capita capita
State/union territory Karnataka and the NCT of Delhi, with both
expenditure in expenditure in
(state /UT rank) (state/UT rank) Assam and Chhattisgarh spending more than
the average state per capita expenditure. It
Bihar 1473 (30) 1454 (30) might be surprising that state governments
like Kerala, which ranks highest in literacy
Madhya Pradesh 2017 (29) 2389 (27)
rate, spend less than a third of the per capita
NCR (National Capital social services expenditure by states like
2020 (28) 3259 (21) Himachal Pradesh or Goa or the northeastern
Region) Delhi
states like Mizoram and Sikkim. There are
Chhattisgarh 2058 (27) 2033 (28) several non-economic drivers of literacy
Jharkhand 2118 (26) 5190 (9) levels and education in Kerala state despite
social services expenditure per capita being
Karnataka 2300 (25) 3618 (20)
far lower than many other states with literacy
Orissa 2372 (24) 2845 (24) levels lower than the national average.
Uttar Pradesh 2406 (23) 1982 (29) Expenditure by the state governments on
 Rural India: S&T for Skills and Employment 67

General services per Social services per

Compared to education, the expenditure
capita capita by state governments on health and family
State/union territory welfare – stated as one of the key drivers
expenditure in expenditure in
(state /UT rank) (state/UT rank) of education and skill development, is
extremely poor, with an average of 392
Rajasthan 2440 (22) 2609 (26)
per capita, against the 1,593 per capita
Assam 2489 (21) 3256 (22) for education (CAG, 2012). Here, as in
West Bengal 3141 (20) 2995 (23) general services and overall social services
expenditures, Bihar and Jharkhand spend (
Andhra Pradesh 3153 (19) 3815 (18) 145 and 204) less than half the average
Gujarat 3285 (18) 3924 (17) per capita expenditure on health and family
welfare by the state governments. While West
Maharashtra 3354 (17) 4296 (13)
Bengal, Karnataka and Maharashtra come in
Tamil Nadu 3595 (16) 4010 (16) the list of states with abysmally low per capita
Haryana 3672 (15) 4293 (14) expenditure on health and family welfare,
states like Andhra Pradesh and Punjab move
Uttarakhand 4139 (14) 5118 (8)
into the list of states that are marginally better
Meghalaya 4390 (13) 4587 (10) than the average. Again, it is the smaller states
Kerala 4616 (12) 3626 (19) – Goa, Pondicherry (spending 2,213 and
2,342 per capita), and northeastern states
Tripura 5168 (11) 4505 (12) like Sikkim, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh
Manipur 6085 (10) 4585 (11) that top the list in per capita expenditure on
health and family welfare.
Jammu and Kashmir 6222 (9) 4171 (15)
Punjab 6714 (8) 2621 (25)
In the authors’ quest to understand
the knowledge inputs into services and
Puducherry 7209 (7) 11487 (3) the creation of skills and employment
Himachal Pradesh 7651 (6) 7216 (5) opportunities, the provision of economic
services for production and productivity is
Arunachal Pradesh 9036 (5) 7100 (6)
an important indicator.
Mizoram 9190 (4) 11245 (4)
When it comes to revenue expenditure on
Nagaland 9215 (3) 5630 (7) economic services, states like Bihar, Uttar
Goa 9920 (2) 11829 (2) Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and
Jharkhand remain below the average per
Sikkim 26350 (1) 13607 (1)
capita expenditure by state governments
Total ( crores) 354778 375618 (Table 04.03.05). The difference between
social and economic expenditure lists is that
Source: CAG 2012 report, page number 13
state governments like Kerala, West Bengal
and NCT of Delhi have moved into the list of
social services – especially education and healthcare reveal
states whose per capita expenditure on economic services
a distinct pattern. In education the per capita expenditure
is way below the average, with Assam moving back into this
ranges from 780 (in Bihar) to 5,840 (in Goa) and
category too. Here, as in other lists above, it is the smaller
9,233 (in Sikkim) (CAG, 2012). The same states maintain
states and almost all the northeastern states that lead in per
their position as states with per capita expenditure on
capita revenue resources devoted to economic services by
education way below the average of all states. The only
the state governments. Unlike the social sector spending,
difference is that Andhra Pradesh joins this list along with
the Indian union government dominates the expenditure
otherwise rich states like Punjab. Here again, states like
on economic services, not only in terms of amount of
Himachal Pradesh, Goa and some northeastern states like
resources expended (See Table 04.03.02 and 04.03.03),
Mizoram and Sikkim show a very high investment by the
but more importantly by setting the agenda for economic
state governments in education.
68 India: Science and Technology

Table 04.03.05: Revenue expenditure on economic services and agriculture sector within economic services
(All states per capita, economic services: 1604)
(All states per capita, agriculture services: 430)

State per capita to Per capita State per capita to

Per capita
State/union territory all states per capita State/union territory expenditure all states per capita
expenditure ( )
(number of times) ( ) (number of times)
Economic services Agriculture services
Bihar 755 0.5 NCR Delhi 39 0.1
Uttar Pradesh 788 0.5 Uttar Pradesh 179 0.4
NCT Delhi 829 0.5 Bihar 194 0.5
West Bengal 886 0.6 West Bengal 214 0.5
Kerala 1304 0.8 Jharkhand 249 0.6
Jharkhand 1287 0.8 Andhra Pradesh 352 0.8
Madhya Pradesh 1389 0.9 Rajasthan 404 0.9
Rajasthan 1490 0.9 Tamil Nadu 419 1.0
Assam 1496 0.9 Punjab 435 1.0
Orissa 1689 1.1 Gujarat 453 1.1
Tamil Nadu 1695 1.1 Maharashtra 501 1.2
Maharashtra 1716 1.1 Assam 522 1.2
Tripura 1835 1.1 Haryana 536 1.2
Uttarakhand 1846 1.2 Madhya Pradesh 550 1.3
Chhattisgarh 1996 1.2 Kerala 618 1.4
Gujarat 2270 1.4 Orissa 663 1.5
Andhra Pradesh 2284 1.4 Karnataka 782 1.8
Punjab 2310 1.4 Jammu and Kashmir 806 1.9
Karnataka 2437 1.5 Uttarakhand 881 2.0
Haryana 3148 2.0 Tripura 892 2.1
Manipur 4015 2.5 Goa 953 2.2
Jammu and Kashmir 4380 2.7 Chhattisgarh 1016 2.4
Meghalaya 4400 2.7 Manipur 1422 3.3
Himachal Pradesh 5336 3.3 Himachal Pradesh 1548 3.6
Nagaland 6095 3.8 Nagaland 1630 3.8
Sikkim 8300 5.2 Puducherry 1667 3.9
Mizoram 9164 5.7 Meghalaya 1840 4.3
Goa 10147 6.3 Arunachal Pradesh 2907 6.8
Arunachal Pradesh 10607 6.6 Sikkim 3433 8.0
Puducherry 10768 6.7 Mizoram 4564 10.6

Source: CAG 2012 report


services provided by the state governments as shown in
some later chapters.
Economic services as in production services for the
agriculture sector are predominantly rural services in their
location in each state, and the usual list of states (Uttar
Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and Rajasthan) figure as states
providing minimal investments, way below the per capita
average of state government spending on agricultural
services. The NCR Delhi region has little demand for
agricultural services. That states like Madhya Pradesh and
Orissa have moved into a higher magnitude of expenditure,
that states like West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh (in the
category of states deriving over 30 per cent of their average
state GDP from agriculture) have moved into the list of states
with low per capita spending on agricultural services, and
that states like Tamil Nadu and Punjab (and even Gujarat)
spend just about the average per capita state expenditure
on agricultural services is surprising. The latter, with Tamil
Nadu (where agriculture accounts for 9 per cent of total
state GDP) and Punjab (where agriculture accounts for 61
per cent of total state GDP) in 2012, spending just about
the average per capita expenditure by state governments
reveals the extremely high centralization of agricultural
services in India (as seen in some later chapters) both in
expenditure and in the content of agricultural services
provided.
Despite rural development expenditure by the union
government and several state governments increasing
rapidly over the Eleventh Five Year Plan period, this
category of services remains one of the poorest even lower
than the national average of per capita state government
spending for health and family welfare. Unlike other
service sector expenditure lists, the states like Bihar and
Uttar Pradesh though still among states that spend way
below the average per capita expenditure, rank better than
states like Punjab, Kerala and Tamil Nadu (partly evident
from Table 04.03.01 in this section too). But, among the
latter, Kerala and Tamil Nadu have been referred to in the
literature, as states with minimal rural-urban differences or
existence of rural-urban continuum. Lack of uniformity
in accounting (the specific entries in the state’s audited
accounts) formats and practices make the estimation of
rural development services somewhat limited in relevance.
But overall, the range of per capita expenditure in this
category is much narrower than the range of expenditure in
all other economic, general and social service expenditures.
There seems to be an overarching convergence among state
governments in their decision to spend minimal amounts
Rural India: S&T for Skills and Employment 69
on rural development partly because many of the erstwhile
rural development (community development) spending is
now located in other parent departments, and continues
to remain so despite increasing criticism about the silos of
public spending on rural development. Here again, a major
question is about the convergence efforts at the central or
state government levels. Given the diversity of demands
and contexts, specificities of rural production systems
(agriculture and 17 major groups of non-farm occupations),
it is unlikely that the union or state government levels of
convergence will help alter the existing silos of service
delivery at the block or district levels. There is a clear need
for decentralized service demand articulation and delivery
mechanisms.
In the provision of transport services, states like Bihar,
Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh do figure in the list of
eleven states with less than average per capita expenditure
on transport services by state governments. While it is
recognized that transport services and rural infrastructure
remain the most important services for production
services and employment generation in rural areas, the
average spending by the state governments in this service
is minimal (at 188 per capita). That Tamil Nadu, Andhra
Pradesh and West Bengal with high private sector transport
services join the list of states with low per capita spending
on transport is not surprising. Jammu and Kashmir has a
high share of central roads and transport services support.
Hilly and remote states like Himachal Pradesh, Arunachal
Pradesh, do invest a significantly high per capita investment
in transport services. There is a positive relationship
between public investment by state governments in
transport services in several northeastern states, Himachal
Pradesh and Goa, and their overall economic and social
services expenditure. A clear policy message that emerges
from this data on service sector spending is for the state
governments to ensure more state level spending in these
services with increased local R&D on the questions of
local relevance for these services (especially production
services for the rural economy) and far more decentralized
governance of these resources expended on general, social
and economic services.
Healthcare Services and Capacity
Development for Rural India under
Globalization and Privatization
India launched the National Rural Health Mission
(NRHM) in 2005 to improve rural healthcare services
in India through PPP as a way to achieve its goal. It’s an
70 India: Science and Technology
integrated approach to improve health of the people by
improving determinants of health like nutrition, sanitation,
hygiene and safe drinking water. It’s objective is to provide
quality healthcare to rural population by strengthening
infrastructure (health centres, hospitals, beds, instruments,
equipment etc.) manpower (doctors, surgeons, nurses,
paramedical staff, pharmacists, epidemiologists),
transport, improving health information system, access to
diagnostic facilities/services, medicines and immunization
through good governance (decentralization and district
management of health programmes, community
participation and ownership of assets etc.). It subsumes
all the existing programmes under Ministry of Health
and Family Welfare such as Reproductive and Child
Health Programme (RCH II), National Disease Control
Programme for malaria, TB, kala azar, filaria, blindness
and iodine deficiency, and Integrated Disease Surveillance
Project (IDSP). The NRHM has special focus on 18
states that have poor public health indicators. NRHM
goals are to (1) reduce infant and maternal mortality
rate (IMR); (2) universal access to public health services
(women’s health, child health, water, sanitation and
hygiene, immunization and Nutrition); (3) prevention
and control of communicable and non-communicable
diseases, including locally endemic diseases; (4) access
to integrated and comprehensive primary healthcare; (5)
population stabilization, gender and demographic balance;
(6) revitalize local health traditions and mainstream
ayurveda, yoga and naturopathy, unani, siddha and
homeopathy (AYUSH); and (7) promotion of healthy life
styles (http://www.mohfw.nic.in/NRHM/Documents/
Mission_Document.pdf).
Rural Healthcare Structure and System in India.
The rural healthcare system is three-tiered with sub centres
(SC), primary health centres (PHC) and community
health centres (CHC). The sub-centre is the most
peripheral and first contact point between the primary
health care system and the village community. Each
s-centre is managed by a three member staff consisting of
one Auxiliary Nurse Midwife (ANM) (female), one Male
Health Worker and one voluntary worker (paid 100/–per
month as honorarium. One Lady Health Visitor (LHV)
would supervise six sub-centres. Sub-centres are assigned
to bring awareness among community relating to services
in relation to maternal and child health, family welfare,
nutrition, immunization, diarrhea control and control of
communicable diseases programmes. The Department of
Family Welfare is providing 100 per cent central assistance
to all the sub-centres in the country since April 2002
including salaries (salary of ANMs and LHVs, rent at the
rate of 3,000 per annum and contingency at the rate of
3,200 per annum), in addition to providing basic drugs
and equipment kits. However, the salary of the male
workers is borne by the state governments. The salaries of
ANMs and LHVs are not a sufficient incentive to sustain
the health personnel, considering the current inflation
rates.
PHC is the first contact point between village community
and the Medical Officer, acts as a referral unit for six sub-
centres. PHC provides integrated curative, preventive
healthcare and family welfare services to the rural
population. The PHCs are established and maintained
by the state governments under the Minimum Needs
Programme (MNP)/Basic Minimum Services Programme
(BMS). At present, a PHC has a total staff of 15 with one
medical officer supported by 14 paramedical and other
staff [one pharmacist, one nurse mid-wife (staff nurse), one
health worker (female)/ANM, one health educator, one
health assistant (male), one health assistant (female)/LHV,
one upper division clerk, one lower division clerk, one
laboratory technician, one driver (subject to availability of
vehicle) and four Class IV employees. It has four to six beds
for patients.
CHC serves s a referral centre for four PHCs, with
specialized services with 30 bedded hospital. CHC has
total staff of 25 with four medical officers (either qualified
or specially trained to work as surgeon, obstetrician,
physician and pediatrician.), seven staff nurses, one
pharmacist, one dresser, one technician, one radiographer,
two ward boys, one dhobi, three sweepers and an aya, a
peon and a chowkidaar.
Human resource development is the one of the main
thrusts of NRHM. One of the best things that NRHM
contributed to is the compilation and documentation
of rural health statistics in terms of its infrastructure and
human resource, available on the website of Ministry
of health and family welfare (nrhm–mis.nic.in/UI/
RHS/RHS%202011/RHS%202011%20Webpage.htm).
From the rural health statistics it is evident that there is
inadequate infrastructure, skilled health personnel, support
staff, telephone connection, electric supply and water
supply in far flung areas of PHCs even after seven years of
launching NRHM, coupled with systemic failures despite
launching a one year postgraduate diploma in public health
management to sustain capacity development of in-service
health personnel and their post training duties in the public

health system (Negandhi et al., 2012).
Skill, Employment and Growth to Meet Health
Services in Rural India
Selection Criteria of ASHAs:
Accredited social health activist (ASHA) is the first contact
health personnel in the village mobilizing people as an
activist and facilitating access to healthcare services as their
right. Since ASHA’s are from the village community who are
supposed to function as health activists, critiques argued
that the selection criteria and the incentives provided for
skill development and employment growth for ASHA is
not lucrative and sustainable to meet its objectives. National
guidelines for implementing ASHA programme indicate
that a middle school education as a compulsory criteria
for ASHA may act as barrier against less advantageous
communities from poor economic and educational
background in the hierarchial and caste ridden villages.
Instead of middle school criteria, women with strongest
social motivation representing from disadvantaged groups
with appropriate training would facilitate the healthcare
services to rural interiors (Shukla, 2010).
Salaries as Incentive:
To sustain dedicated functioning of ASHAs and other
health personnel in rural India, the amount of salaries/
remuneration paid can be an incentive. ASHAs are paid
on the basis of amount of work done and there is no fixed
salary. Only Mamata Banerjee, chief minister of West
Bengal announced fixed salaries of 1,300/pm for ASHAs
in February 2013 (http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.
com/2013–02–28/kolkata/37351316_1_health–
workers–new–nurses–mamata–banerjee). Rajasthan pays
1,067 per month if ASHA completes all her tasks. The
current minimum daily wage of a labourer is 115 www.
paycheck.in/ main /salary /minimumwages). 75 per cent
of their salary is borne by the centre and 25 per cent from
the state, which may delay their pay due to administrative
procedural delays. ASHA is paid 83 per month and 1,000
per annum, which is equivalent to less than two days’ wages
of an organized labourer (Shukla, 2009), which is a little
incentive to work with multi tasks at hand that includes,
immunization, visiting households, creating awareness
to mothers and community, weighing newborns, treating
patients etc. Moreover, ASHA”s compensation authority is
ANM and since CHC, PHC, and SC are not adequately
equipped enough to perform their functions. Therefore
ASHA’s cannot play activist role as there is a chance that
Rural India: S&T for Skills and Employment 71
they can be viewed as replacement to ANM, anganwadi
workers and other health functionaries.
Performance of ASHA:
Performance of multitasking of ASHA is dependent on
her knowledge and awareness of dealing with various
health problems, and her ability to treat simple illness with
relevant and appropriate diagnostic kit and replenishing
essential medicines. However, her ability to meet people’s
needs for first contact care becomes extremely limited as
ASHA is provided with the essential drug list of about 50
only for month which is very scarce. Also adequate, relevant
and regular training for ASHA is extremely important to
handle multiple and demanding role at her hand for over
a period of few years to enable her to relate and apply her
trained knowledge on field.
Monitoring Health Personnel:
Involvement of village health committees and gram
panchayats to monitor ASHA’s activities and remuneration
should ensure health workers performance, Also local
communities representatives of NGOs and women’s
organizations should be part of accountability committees
along with gram panchayats.
Adequate Budget and Planning for Required Budget:
Adequate and sufficient health budgets to sustain ASHA’s
activities in all respects including providing diagnostic kits,
essential drugs and medicines, regular training activities,
implementing nutrition and sanitation services must be
provided. A rational drug policy at national level would be
complimentary to provide essential drugs at PHCs. Co-
ordination of national policies with local needs is a must for
achieving ‘inclusive growth’ in rural health. It is pointed out
that lack of personnel and planners for proper accounting
and budgeting activities within the villages, SCs, PHCs are
not available and it has become a limiting factor to facilitate
health services in villages. Also lack of proper guidelines on
the utilization of funds led to over or unnecessary spending
was reported from some states.
Up-gradation of Health Centres:
PHCs and CHC should be substantially and adequately
equipped and upgraded to provide services including basic
emergency care, institutional deliveries, referrel transport
services, regular drug supply, adequate and multi-skilled
paramedical and medical personnel with regular time
bound postings in the interior rural areas with necessary
72 India: Science and Technology
incentives (may be equivalent to incentives given to army
and military service staff). In Madhya Pradesh, nearly 50
per cent the PHCs surveyed were being managed by non–
medical staff, in Bihar 30 per cent, in Rajasthan 25 per cent
and in Jharkhand 12 per cent. The main problems plaguing
PHCs related to improper drug supply and shortage of staff.
Last year, the JSA initiated a people’s rural health watch
survey, which included interviews with 250 ASHAs, in
around 80 districts. The preliminary findings revealed that
most of the ASHAs had yet to start work; the Anganwadi
worker (AWW) or the ANM allocated them work. Under
the NRHM, the ASHA was required to be accountable to
the community and not subservient to the ANM or the
AWW.
Did PPPs Deliver Healthcare Services to Rural
India?
The application and success of PPP to deliver quality
healthcare in rural India varied from state to state and largely
it meant outsourcing public health services. The core of
the public health system stayed within the public domain
and only some of the ancillary services were contracted
out. In Tamil Nadu, PPP with several NGOs and contract
organizations was a great success in providing services to
emergency obstetric cases and road traffic accidents.
District hospitals, CHCs and PHCs outsourced cleaning,
maintenance and generators facilities in Bihar. People
expressed satisfaction as there is no user fee for APHC or
UHC services. Sterilization services are free of cost and
the beneficiary is paid the compensation as per the GoI
norms. The generic drug store has to sell the 188 drugs (as
per list given by GoB) at 50 per cent of the maximum retail
price (MRP) printed on the generic drugs. The advanced
diagnostic centers and the dental clinics charge rates which
are below the existing market rates. The structure of the
State Health Society (SHS) created to implement NRHM
facilitated faster decision making with hardly two to three
levels compared to government’s six to seven levels. The
public is enthusiastic about the recent changes and expects
more from the government and PSPs (Mona Gupta, 2011).
The PPP between Arunachal Pradesh government and
NGOs was not successful due to unequal partnership
where the public sector is both the judge and the authority
and the NGO’s who have taken over the PHCs do not have
much say in decision making. The posting of medical and
paramedical staff at the PHCs and SCs were often not based
on the established norms but on the other influencing
factors or political pressure or nepotism and accountability
is an issue.
Introducing user fee in the name of PPP is main barrier
to access medical care to lower and middle class. The
experiences also reveal that wherever there is no user fee or
it is nominal, when availing out sourced services people are
satisfied, however, partners of the PPP felt that sustaining it
for long time with nominal rates may be difficult. Chiranjeevi
Programme private clinics are reimbursed at fixed rates
for institutional deliveries and emergency obstetric care
services. The Rogi Kalyan Samitis that were started with
the intent of greater public participation in the healthcare
system degenerated into a system of cost recovery with the
introduction of user fees for many services in government
hospitals. Public funding for private medical sector should
be strongly questioned (Shukla, 2005).
Some of the private health insurance schemes supported
by state governments had failed. In 2005, Wadia hospital in
Mumbai was blocked by high court following widespread
public protest against steep rise in user fee. The Qureshi
Committee which investigated major private hospitals
in Delhi who were beneficiaries of large public subsidies
found major non-compliance to provide services to poor
patients. Public health standards should be applied to
private sector and should be regulated to meet health
needs of the people. The obligations of private sector
must be emphasized in terms of support to surveillance,
disease notification and national health programmes. The
overriding role of public health system in defining public
interest needs to be stressed while enforcing consequent
responsibility of private medical providers (Shukla,
2005).
Since its launch, the NRHM budget has tripled from
10,040 crore in 2005–06 to 30,456 crore in 2011–
12. However, increased allocations have done little to
improve the average Indian’s chances of receiving quality
healthcare. This is exacerbated by the fact that the private
sector provides a lucrative alternative for public doctors.
It is no secret that many public doctors run private clinics
and often use public facilities as referrals for their private
practice. This affects doctor behaviour in unexpected
ways. Medical officers often discourage other doctors from
practicing in public health facilities in the area for they see
them as competition in the local market. In such a scenario,
simply hiring more medical officers may not ensure results
(Radhika Pandeya, 2012). A serious engagement with the
private sector in delivering health care services is needed,
but not by compromising the public provisioning for
health care (DA, 2007).

There is also the problem of monitoring the representatives
from the government rarely visit the facility to monitor the
services. Accounts, log book and patient records are poorly
maintained.
Disproportionate Attention to Various Health
Goals under NRHM
Though NRHM meant to meet all health problems of
rural people, due to large funding from external agencies
for RCH programmes, priority was given to reproductive
health and few disease control programmes compared to
other objectives such as nutrition and sanitation is evident
from the goals and targets that are set in government
documents including planning commission reports to
national health guidelines etc. For instance, the office of
the registrar general releases a second bulletin in 2011 only
the levels of maternal mortality for the period 2007–09,
note that the number of states that have realized MDG
target in 2007–09 has gone up to three against one, Kerala
which was the sole state with this distinction in 2004–06.
Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra are the new entrants. Andhra
Pradesh, West Bengal, Gujarat and Haryana are in closer
proximity to the MDG target. (Office of the Registrar
General, India, 2011)
Similarly, deep concern was also expressed over the
skewed priorities given to two vaccination initiatives
– pulse polio and universal Hepatitis B vaccination.
The JSA argued that more than 1,000 crore was spent
annually on the pulse polio programme alone for the
eradication of polio, ‘while the budget for other vaccines
in the National Immunization Programme in 2005–06
was only 327 crore. The UPA government’s intent
in bringing changes to the health care system may be
good but their implementation seems to be directed by
donor–dictated priorities’ (http://www.hindu.com/
thehindu/thscrip/print.pl?file=20070420001304800.
htm&date=fl2407/&prd=fline&).
Reduction of Malnutrition and Achieving
Sanitation in Rural Population
Efforts to meet achieve nutrition and sanitation targets
under NRHM are still in nascent stage with problem at
structure and operational level. A study in rural areas of
Wardha district indicated four major groups of operational
constraints in reducing malnutrition, like poor cooperation
from villagers and parents, irregular and poor health check
up activity, failure to follow medical and dietary advice as
they remained busy in their seasonal agricultural work,
Rural India: S&T for Skills and Employment 73
poor quality of supplementary food, poverty and poor
sanitation and various social and financial problems related
to beneficiaries (Dongre et al., 2008). However, it was
noted that the success of community based Tamil Nadu
Integrated Nutrition Project (TINP) was in their focused
approach on nutrition intervention including growth
monitoring and selective nutritional supplementation
(Rohde, Chatterjee and Morley, 1993).
The Village Health and Sanitation Committee (VHSC)
comprising village health workers, panchayat raj institution
representatives and members of community based
organizations and special marginalized groups to take care
of sanitation and hygiene couldn’t achieve much. People
involvement ensured drastic improvement in their health
status was clearly seen in Keerapalayam experiment. A
study in Uttar Pradesh showed that in majority of the cases
the decision regarding the utilization of untied fund was
taken by the ANM herself instead of VHSC meeting that
led to discontinuity of the latter. (Ganesh et al., 2013)
Achievements of NRHM
A central objective of the NRHM is also to improve
government spending on health from 0.9 per cent to 2.3
per cent of GDP (http://www.mohfw.nic.in/NRHM/
Documents/Mission_Document.pdf). While public
expenditure on health has increased in states and centre it
is not enough to reach 2–3 per cent of India GDP. Overall
public spending on health (including all ministries in
centre and states) was 1.4 per cent of India’s GDP in FY
2009–10, which is lower than many developing countries.
NRHM constituted 61per cent of total budget allocations
for health during the FY 2011–12. Since the launch of
NRHM (in FY 2005–06 its outlay was 6,700 crores)
its outlays have tripled with the allocation of 20,885
crores during the FY 2012–13. The flow of funds from
centre to state is on Programme Implementation Plan
(PIP), based on state’s ability to spend but not based on
needs. There is significant variation in spending capacity
across states. CAG cited flaws in implementing NRHM
ranging from lack of decentralized planning, poor fund
management, inappropriate maintenance of accounts,
unnecessary delays in fund transfers from one level of the
bureaucracy to another, and non-achievement of targets.
An examination of supporting vouchers revealed that
payments had been made to contractors without obtaining
technical completion reports, while funds had been spent
on training of Accredited Social Health Activists without
any record of attendance. There were also few receipts
74 India: Science and Technology

against payment of honorarium to these community The contributions of the water sector to rural incomes, food
healthcare workers. Lack of clear guidelines to utilize security and the wider economy from irrigation; meeting
these funds can often lead to their not being used at all, basic human needs, livelihoods of water use for productive
or being used for unnecessary activities. In Chhattisgarh, activities at the household level to ‘informal’ village-
non-formulation of recruitment guidelines has led to based enterprises are now widely recognized. Morever,
non-appointment. Other services that require sustained environmental constraints around climate, energy, water
availability of skilled manpower (such as treatment of and other resources will increase demands for more
sick children) were also affected adversely by frequent prudent models of production and consumption. This is
transfers of doctors and an acute shortage of paramedical evident from the fact that the sector in India is currently
staff like pharmacists and male health workers. Besides going through a period of changes and reforms. This has
medical staff, non–availability of managerial staff made profound implications for both water management and
management messy. In Rajnandgaon, for instance, the water services in rural areas. The National Water Mission is
chief medical officer of health had been transferred one of the eight National Missions which form the core of
several times (between July 2006 and 2008) causing the National Action Plan for Climate Change. The objective
discontinuity in reporting and monitoring. of National Water Mission is ‘conservation of water,
minimizing wastage and ensuring its equitable distribution
Critiques argued that the hierarchical structure of rural
both across and within States through integrated water
healthcare (PHC, SC and CHC) may not deliver the
resources development and management’.  The National
objectives of NRHM. With major funding from World
Water Policy  being formulated by the  Ministry of Water
Bank and international agencies (UNICEF, DFID,
Resources,  Government of India  to govern the planning
USAID, UNFPA and GTZ.), NRHM is influenced by
and development of water resources and their optimum
international agendas with emphasis on privatization
utilization and the draft is on board. The main emphasis
and PPPs. Moreover, since a large share of funding is for
in the Draft of National Water Policy 2012 is to treat
Reproductive and Child Health Programme (RCH), it
water as economic good. This provision intended for the
appears as if NRHM’s main goal is to improve maternal
privatization of water delivery services is being criticized
and child health. While it is important to meet these goals
from various quarters. The draft therefore signals the
it may distort the objective of integrated strengthening of
government’s intention to withdraw from its role as a
rural health system with better nutrition and sanitation.
service provider and instead encouraging communities
They argue that PHC’s in the villages should transform
into self-sustainable model with all the necessary facilities
that any health centre in posh city would cater to. It is the
skilled health personnel trained to deliver becomes the key
determinants of healthcare providers ( JSA).
Above all, the NRHM does not adequately take into
account the complexities of Indian rural societies,
characterized by gender disparities, and divided on the
lines of caste, micro-politics and economic class. In its
focus on architectural modification of the health system
and introducing modern managerial concepts, the
NRHM does not pay sufficient attention to the socio-
cultural context in which the health system is situated and
which ultimately determines the success of policies and
measures, including decentralization. This is perhaps the
most important factor limiting the success of the NRHM
(Zakir Hussian, 2011).

Figure 04.03.01: Progress of work in domestic water use in

Provisioning of Water Services in Rural MGNREGA
India Source: Author’s compilation from Report to the People – MNREGA
2011–12, 2012–13

and the private sector to take active participation. One
of the major recommendation of the policy is thus to
give statutory powers to Water Users Associations, (as
because of their success in states like Andhra Pradesh and
Maharashtra) to maintain the distribution system. Against
this backdrop, it is prudent to take an account of the S&T
content and investments that enable or establish these
S&T and skill sets to work for rural/agricultural services
in the sector. A listing of major schemes and programs
aiming to deliver water related services embodying S&T in
Table 04.03.06. Additionally the respective ministries also
have separate R&D schemes. Besides, MGNREGA and
Integrated Watershed Management Programme (IWMP)
are executed by the Ministry of Rural development which
also has significant component of water services. Figure
04.03.01 gives a glimpse of the type of activity in the sector
in MGNREGA but the S&T component is low as the
program relates to unskilled manual work.
Studies commissioned to various IIMs have revealed that
the share of major and medium irrigation systems in the
total irrigation potential created has declined marginally
between 1951 and 2002, whereas that of minor irrigation
schemes increased. Shares of major and medium as well
as the same for minor surface irrigation seem to be lower
when compared to irrigation potential utilized (IPU) rather
than irrigation potential created (IPC), thus apparently
signalling agency problem in use of surface water. On the
other hand a comparison of shares of minor irrigation in
general or minor groundwater irrigation in IPU to their
counterparts in IPC, displays an opposite pattern – that is,
better performance in terms of potential utilized, probably
reflecting lesser agency problem between supplier and
user of irrigation water, especially with respect to ground
water sources. The technical factors responsible for this
gap are (1) low pump efficiency; (2) incomplete water
distribution channels; (3) earthen distribution channels;
(4) irregular de-silting of distribution channels; (5) non-
availability of continuous and proper electric power;
and (6) faulty design of irrigation project. Management
of water resources poses increasingly difficult challenges
that will require attention in the coming days. Depleting
ground water table and deteriorating ground water quality
are threatening the sustainability of rural water supply in
many parts of India. There is some scope for increasing
water availability. Large-scale watershed programmes have
evidenced recovery of groundwater levels. While these
opportunities must be fully exploited, the real solution
has to come from greater efficiency in water use. This
requires better management of water in areas of large and
Rural India: S&T for Skills and Employment 75
medium irrigation projects. It also requires putting in place
more holistic aquifer management strategies. India has
over a million water bodies comprising lakes, reservoirs
and tanks. Their storage capacity has been eroded by
poor maintenance and siltation, as well as other forms
of degradation, including invasion of alien water flora.
Concerted efforts are needed to engage in the process of
de-siltation and restitution of these water bodies through
treatment of their catchment areas so that they can play the
fruitful purpose of providing capacity to store rainwater,
water for drinking and other purposes and lend themselves
to fisheries. Since groundwater is the main source of
water in India, special emphasis is needed on obtaining
an accurate picture of groundwater resources, including a
comprehensive mapping of India’s aquifers at a watershed
scale, with their storage and transmission characteristics.
India’s current network of around 60,000 observation
wells is completely inadequate given the explosive rise
in groundwater use in recent years through nearly 30
million groundwater structures. The approach paper of
the Twelfth Plan mentions a need to move from a ratio of
1: 500 at present towards a ratio of at least 1:100 between
observation wells and groundwater use structures so that
one gains a more accurate idea of actual groundwater use.
Drinking water supply and sanitation in India continue to
be inadequate, despite longstanding efforts by the various
levels of government and communities at improving
coverage. A number of innovative approaches to improve
water supply and sanitation have been tested since the
early 2000s. These include demand-driven approaches
in rural water supply since 1999,  community-led total
sanitation, public-private partnerships to improve the
continuity of water supply and the use of micro-credit to
women in order to improve access to water. Most rural
water supply schemes in India uses a centralized, supply-
driven approach, i.e. a government institution designs a
project and has it built with little community consultation
and no capacity building for the community. Since 2002
the program,  Swajaldhara, decentralizes service delivery
responsibility to rural local governments and user
groups. Under the new approach communities are being
consulted and trained, and users agree up-front to pay a
tariff to cover operation and maintenance costs. Water
supply and sanitation being a state subject often give the
responsibility to the  PRIs in rural areas. States generally
plan, design and execute water supply schemes (and often
operate them) through their state departments (of Public
Health Engineering or Rural Development Engineering)
or state water boards. Highly centralized decision-making
76 India: Science and Technology

and approvals at the state level affect the management of

services. In some states, responsibility for service provision
is in the process of being partially transferred from State
Water Boards and  district  governments to  Panchayati
Raj Institutions (PRI) at the block or village level. But often
local government institutions in charge of operating and
maintaining the infrastructure are weak and lack financial
resources to carry out their functions. Despite their
professed role, PRI play only a limited role in provision of
rural water supply and sanitation. There has been limited
success in implementing decentralization, partly due to
low priority by state governments. Efficient and effective
operation depends upon sound village water supply
strategies, which include (1) Water Source Sustainability
Plan (implementation that provides sufficient quantity of
good quality drinking water to meet demand throughout
Figure 04.03.02: Data mismatch on sanitation coverage
the year, water harvesting and groundwater recharge
Source:
measures for the drinking water sources); (2) Water Safety
Plan that describes how water quality will be managed
from source to mouth; (3) Operating and Maintenance
Plan; and (4) Service Improvement Plan summarizing
provisions for new infrastructure, replacement, expansion
and optimization of production cost. The responsibility for
providing drinking water to households in rural society is
traditionally on the womenfolk in the family, including the
girl child. It is the women who have to travel long distances
and spend long time to fetch water. Besides the question
of availability, the time taken in fetching water travelling
long distances impacts the life style and employment Figure 04.03.03: The challenge ahead – population vs. sanitation
earning capacity of the women. The quality of water being Source: Authors’s compilation and Twelfth Five Year Plan – 2012–
consumed is also an issue significantly confronting the rural 2017 Report of the Working Group on Rural Domestic Water and
population impacting health. Often, the villagers are not Sanitation
even aware of the adverse impact of poor water quality and Data mismatch in the various surveys related to sanitation
keep suffering from its consequences. Around 37.7 million services itself indicates the necessity of strengthening the
Indians are affected by waterborne diseases annually, 1.5 data collection system. With respect to the rise in population
million children are estimated to die of diarrhoea alone vs. the toilet coverage, the task ahead is surely challenging!
and 73 million working days are lost due to waterborne
In order to provide reliable, continuous and sustainable
disease each year. The number of ‘slipped back’ habitations
water services to rural India capacity building in the sector
has increased every year because the same aquifer is also
needs to be geared up. In this regard, the Report of the
being tapped for irrigation. This has also led to wetlands
Working Group on Rural Domestic Water and Sanitation
and rivers drying up due to reduction in base flows, which
seems to give the total prescription in the Conceptual
had earlier sustained them. The lowering of water tables
HR Framework-WSS sector. Planning for key resource
has also caused, in many cases, contamination with arsenic,
centres, district and block level resource centres have been
fluoride and other harmful substances. While ‘traditional
done but given the amount of work to be done effective
diseases’ such as diarrhoea continue to take a heavy toll, 66
implementation shall remain a problem. There are a host
million Indians are at risk due to excess fluoride, 2 and 10
of institutions who are already working for the sector and
million due to excess arsenic in groundwater.
giving various trainings. Figures 04.03.04, 04.03.05 and
In case of sanitation, it is dismal to note that 41per cent of 04.03.06 give a idea of the target groups of such training
the rural population does not own a toilet due to poverty. programmes. Most of the trainings remain centralized
 Rural India: S&T for Skills and Employment 77

around government officials at the center and state level

which rarely percolates to the local level where the job is to
be done. However, little changes in this trend are observed
in the rural domestic water supply (Figure 04.03.05).
The water resource planning also varies as per basin or region.
So, separate kind of arrangement is required accordingly.
Often, the kind of knowledge that is required to tackle or
solve a problem is present at local level. The case studies in the
boxes shows how local level planning and implementation is
effective when the required skill set is present. In this context,

Figure 04.03.06: Types of courses vs target group

Source: Author’s compilationTwelfth Five Year Plan – 2012–2017.
Report of the Working Group on Rural Domestic Water and Sanitation

Figure 04.03.04: The challenge ahead – population vs. sanitation

Source: Author’s compilation from http://cgwb.gov.in/training.html

Figure 04.03.05: State wise training programmes in drinking water and

sanitation at different levels Figure 04.03.07: Percentage of households by type of use of drinking
Source: http://indiawater.gov.in/IMISReports/Reports/ water facility by MPCE quintile class
WaterQuality/WQ/rpt_WQ_TrainingConducted_S. Source: Author’s compilationTwelfth Five Year Plan – 2012–2017.
aspx?Rep=0&RP=Y Report of the Working Group on Rural Domestic Water and Sanitation
78 India: Science and Technology

it is important to mention that community use

of drinking water facility had prevailed (Figure
04.03.07) in rural India, which makes use of
local knowledge and capacity building essential.
The huge task of accomplishing water
services provisioning could be achievable
by convergence of existing programmes in
the sector, e.g. MGNREGA with Integrated
Watershed Management Programme or DST
war for water etc. The skills part is missing at
present in MGNREGA which if reframed in a
scientific approach could be helpful. Provision
of upgraded technical training by creating a
cadre of ‘bare foot engineers’/technicians to
build locally resident skills for design, execution
and maintenance of rural water infrastructure
for rural youth by the polytechnics/ITIs/
vocational educational institutes can also
enhance the capacity building process that
is required. Table 04.03.06 is an indicative of
wide range of skill set that would be required
in the coming days for water management and
water service delivery in rural areas which is
completed absent in the present structure.
Thus, the sector which is undergoing a
paradigm changes requires serious attention
Figure 04.03.08: Water quality testing laboratories across states
on these issues and thrust should be given on
Source: Author’s compilation from India water portal http://indiawater.gov.in/
IMISReports/Reports/WaterQuality/rpt_WQM_LaboratoryInformation_S. how S&T investments can help in enhancing
aspx?Rep=0&RP=Y the capacity building process and the required
skill sets.
Table 04.03.06: Emerging occupations in the water sector that require S&T skill set

Broad area Sub areas Occupations based on S&T input

Management of water resources
Aquifer management Aquifer mapping, modelling, groundwater abstraction Para hydro geologists, GIS specialists,
database managers
Rain water harvesting Design, areas, methods Ecologists, service engineers, hydro
geologists
(Gully Plug, Contour Bund, Gabion Structure,
Percolation tank, Check Dam/ Cement Plug/Nala
Bund, Recharge shaft, Dugwell Recharge, Ground
Water Dams/Subsurface Dyke, Creation of rain–fed
small–sized reservoir/water bodies)
Maintenance of surface water De-siltation, treatment of catchment areas Surface maintenance mechanics,
bodies maintenance repairer, surface plant
operator, water resource engineer,
surface water scientists
 Rural India: S&T for Skills and Employment 79

Watershed management
Ground water recharge
Water service delivery for domestic purpose
Installation of drinking water
supply system
and
operation and maintenance the of
water supply system
Water quality testing
Treatment
Reclying of waste water
Sanitary wares
Rainwater harvesting, land and water conservation
practices
Integrated pest and nutrient management
Recharge structures, integrated farming systems, laser
levelling/improved irrigation systems, renovation of
ponds and abandoned wells, mapping rise in water
table/reduction in groundwater salinity
Cooling, disinfection with UV-disinfectors, ultra-
filtration techniques.
chemical content, physical content, biological content,
monitoring water quality, sampling and measurement
Water sterilization, water purification, and sewage
treatment
Solid and liquid waste management
Design of toilets as per terrain, construction of eco
toilets, production of good quality sanitary wares using general operatives, plumbers, site
local material
Watershed manager
watershed/fisheries interns,
watershed field supervisors, watershed
maintainers
Hydro geologists, groundwater
recharge coordinators, operation and
maintenance assistants, IT specialists,
structural engineers
ITI/diplomas in civil engineering
Water resource engineers
Assets/GIS officers, water treatment
plant operators, maintenance/water
operators, technical officers
lab assistants, samplers
Engineers and diploma holders with
specialization in treatment technologies
Wastewater process engineers, lab
assistants, and samplers
Sanitary ware casters/mould makers/
managers, creative technicians, and
maintenance engineers

Source:

Box 04.03.01: Beneficiary groups executing and
maintaining schemes
Under the Jalanidhi Rural Water Supply Project in Kerala,
instead of engaging contractors to build the water supply
systems, Beneficiary Groups (BGs) directly procure
materials and construct the schemes on their own,
employing local workers – both skilled and unskilled.
Community contracting resulted in substantial reduction
in the construction costs (about 15 per cent less than the
approved estimates), ensuring good quality construction
and transparency. This approach also helped in mobilizing
local resources, especially manpower for construction,
and making the beneficiaries actively involved in the
entire process whereby their ownership and sustainability
of the schemes are enhanced. The water supply schemes
completed and commissioned are now being operated and
maintained (many of these now for more than five years) by
the BGs.
Box 04.03.02: Andhra Pradesh Farmer-Managed Ground
Water systems (APFAMGS)
The project commonly known as Andhra Model for water
resources management was implemented with an objective
to equip groundwater farmer users with the necessary data,
skills and knowledge to manage groundwater resources
available to them in a sustainable manner, mainly through
managing and monitoring their own demand and adopt
suitable agricultural practices. Thousands of farmers residing
in 638 habitations in seven drought prone districts have
voluntarily, under the guidance of local partner NGOs, taken
number of steps to tide over the problem of groundwater
depletion. Launched in July 2003, the APFAMGS project is
a partnership with farmers for implementing Demand Side
Groundwater Management concept.
The measures taken include participatory hydrological
monitoring, by engaging farmers in data collection
and analysis, and building their understanding of the
dynamics and status of groundwater in local aquifers. This
80 India: Science and Technology
complemented with crop water budgeting, whereby the
quantity of water required for dry crops is assessed at the
aquifer level and compared with the amount of groundwater
actually available. Crop water budgeting is conducted in
aquifer wise meetings at which the budget is produced with
thousands of farmers in attendance. This project demonstrates
an alternative model to the supply side approach which is
hugely capital intensive. The project experience revealed that
sustainable management of groundwater is feasible only if
users understand its occurrence, cycle and limited availability.
It was also observed that access to scientific data and
knowledge will enable farmers to make appropriate choices
and regarding the use of groundwater resources, obviating
the need for any incentives in the form of cash or subsidies to
them for making these choices.
S&T and Skill Development – Rural
Universities and Research Institutes
The Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, had set a
unique goal for the people of India; development and
Figure 04.03.09: Map of rural S&T infrastructure under multiple
modes of governance
Source:
Table 04.03.07: Technology resource centres of CAPART
State Number of
centres
Andhra Pradesh 2 Tool and die making, low cost housing, energy efficient devices, dry land farming,
soil and water management, composting technology, nursery technique, tissue
culture and micro propagation, organic farming and integrated pest management
sustainable growth through comprehensive development
and growth of villages. In this brief overview, the authors
explore how S&T and skill sets in India work for rural/
agricultural services in the rural universities and research
institutes. They begin with a map of the S&T content and
investments that enable research and higher education in
rural India
S&T for rural India, encompassing research institutes
and programmes that are located in rural areas and urban
centres, focuses mainly on rural livelihoods or natural
resources issues. Besides the union government, there are
many state run institutes for rural development, which
also facilitate training of rural development officials and
field staff. A standing lament about these State Institutes
for Rural Development (SIRDs) is the limited interaction
between them and the S&T institutes in the respective
states.
Figure 04.03.10: State-wise distribution of S&T institutes working on
Rural India.
Source:
The distribution of S&T institutes that devote research
personnel, time and resources on rural India, across
different states, is not very uniform. Andhra Pradesh that
hosts the National Institute of Rural Development (of
the Union Ministry of Rural Development) has a limited
number of institutes working on rural India, compared to
Maharashtra or Karnataka.
Area of specialization
 Rural India: S&T for Skills and Employment 81

State Number of Area of specialization

centres
Jharkhand 2 Land and water management, aquaculture, integrated rural development, non-
formal technical training, sustainable agriculture, wood gasifier, food processing, bee
keeping, artisanal training, organic farming and cultivation of herbal medicines
Gujarat 1 Biogas plants, medicinal plants, food preservation, soil and water conservation bio-
fertilizer
Himachal Pradesh 2 Crematorium, rainwater harvesting, NADEP composting, handlooms, Angora rabbit
farming, leather tanning, leather products, bone utilization, fruit processing, nursery,
blacksmith, cold storage, pottery and construction
Karnataka 1 Bio-diversity, food processing, sustainable harvesting and composting techniques
Kerala 2 Artisanal crafts, sericulture, organic farming, nursery raising, sustainable agriculture,
animal husbandry, watershed development, medicinal plants conservation,
traditional system of healthcare, rural entrepreneurship development, rural
technology promoters, transfer and skill up-gradation
Maharashtra 3 Construction (mud base), non-formal technical training, non-conventional
energy devices, organic farming, rock-bee honey, construction, transportation,
animal husbandry, non-formal technical education, improved nursery technique,
rural energy, tissue culture and micro propagation, organic farming and bamboo
technology
Madhya Pradesh 1 Aquaculture, medicinal plants, carcass utilization, bamboo craft, fibre extraction,
organic farming, food, NTFP processing
Rajasthan 1 Drinking water, construction, communication, handicraft and solar lights
Tamil Nadu 4 Integrated nutrient management, integrated pest management, water harvesting,
ecological farming, bio-pesticides, biodiversity conservation, low cost housing,
NADEP composting, vermi composting, low cost sanitation, energy – biogas plant,
traditional health system, publication of manuals on various technologies, skill
training, water harvesting, handmade paper, natural dyes, algal cultivation, bio-
dynamic gardening, tree planting, organic farming, construction technology, fish
aggregating devices, solar stills, green houses, medicinal plants, brass vessel, food
processing and bio-pesticides
Tripura 1 Vegetable tanning, processing of fruits/vegetables, nursery raising, artisanal pottery,
artisanal blacksmith, mushroom cultivation, fish-seed hatchery, piggery, low cost
building material, rabbit-farming
Uttaranchal 1 Biomass utilization, low cost housing, gasifier, water mill, fruit processing, NADEP
composting and herbal medicines
West Bengal 1 Bio-fertilizer, economically useful plants, tissue culture, hybrid seeds, mushroom,
information technology, processing of produce and housing/construction
technology

Source:

Among the rural research facilities established by the union community or village level mobilization of people and
government, it is the TRCs of the Council for People’s location specific technology based interventions, CAPART
Action and Rural Technology (CAPART) that has centres has provided livelihoods and incomes for a wide range of
spread in almost every state. Based on the principles of rural producers, artisans and communities.
82 India: Science and Technology

Table 04.03.08: Sectoral presence of S&T based NGOs and capacity development for the same, from the STARD
scheme of DST, are lost on the central ministries and their
Health 58
line departments that support rural S&T based schemes
Watershed development 108 in the typical linear transfer of technology mode. (Raina,
Employment/vocational training 10
2009).

Women empowerment 14

Source: (and year—for this table...)

Much of the S&T based interventions mobilized and

supported by CAPART has been done with the help
of S&T based NGOs. The trend of establishing and
encouraging rural S&T based organizations, especially
NGOs, was initiated with DST’s Science and Society
Programme. In this programme, DST would identify and
select NGOs with personnel who have science education
and technology development and dissemination capacties.
These NGOs are then given a Core Support (under the
STARD Scheme) for a period of 5 years or 10 years, to
take up S&T based development activities. One of the
major achivements of the STARD scheme has been the
development of sustainable skills and capacities within
Figure 04.03.11: Structure of university system offering courses on
these Core Support Groups, and appropriate institutional
rural India
designs to support these NGOs, several of them who have Source:
successfully articulated and enabled rural technology
based interventions. The most significant intervention The skill and capacity development role of the University
for rural development has been the NGO led watershed systems in rural India is presented in Figure 04.03.11
development work, where the creation and sustenance of above. Besides conventional rural development course,
durable assets in different parts and aspects of a watershed there are universities dedicated to main rural livelihoods
was translated into the acclaimed Parthasarathy Committee like agriculture, and centres of excellence and specific
report and guidelines on water shed development. But programmes that conduct research on social and economic
many of the lessons of location specific rural innovation issues be it caste, gender, or markets.

Table 04.03.09: Courses/subjects taught in rural universities/colleges

Discipline area Subjects

S&T Food science and quality control, biotechnology, biological techniques and specimen
preparation, seed technology and seed production, fish and fisheries,still photography
and audio production, information technology, aromatic and medicinal plants, sericulture
management, plant biotechnology, aquaculture, fish production and management, ecology
and environment, dairy sciences, early childhood care and education, health / rural sanitary
programmes, rural health care, medical attendance, soil conservation and water management
Engineering and technology Electronic equipment maintenance, electrical equipment maintenance, environment and water
management, management of land, water and other resources, rural infrastructural engineering,
agricultural machinery and implements, post harvest technology and agro processing, non–
conventional energy management, rural water treatment, irrigation engineering, agriculture
mechanization, integrated health, leather and animal based technology, and micro–level
planning
 Rural India: S&T for Skills and Employment 83

Discipline area Subjects

Arts, humanities and social
sciences
Commerce, economics and
management
Subjects relevant to agro-based,
rural, hilly and tribal areas
Rural handicraft, early childhood care and education, food and nutrition, rural sociology, tribal
development, women’s development, rural housing and sanitation, performing arts and rural
awareness, extension methods and techniques, transfer of technology and development, village
crafts, handlooms and textiles, printing, and commercial arts
Principles and practices of insurance, computer applications, management of delivery
systems, micro–level planning, panchayat raj administration, rural project management,
population studies, agro-industrial management, rural development, rural cooperatives and
marketing, rural financial services, planning and promotion of agro-based enterprises, project
planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of rural development programmes,
legal procedures and practices, family law, arbitration, empowerment of rural women,
management of micro enterprises for rural women, planning and management of self –
employment projects, participatory micro-level planning, community–level disaster mitigation
and preparedness, social development and human rights, social equity and social justice in
rural areas, gender strategy for sustainable livelihoods, social development in rural areas,
strategies and programmes, rural informatics management, rural water supply and healthcare
management
Agro services, domestic animal farming, forestry and wildlife management, hill agriculture,
non-conventional energy sources, dry land agriculture, silvipasture, sericulture, integrated
development of rain fed/ irrigated, watershed areas, waterland utilization and management,
anti-water logging and drainage of soils, land reclamation farmers participation, horticulture
techniques, floriculture, landscaping and bee keeping, poultry farming, plant protection,
processing of agro-forest produce, mushroom cultivation, fish processing technology, sheep
and goat husbandry

Source:

The course work for rural S&T based development covers In addition, vocational education in rural India also
a wide range of inter- and multidisciplinary courses (Table supports education that leads to some occupational
04.03.09). Some of these courses and curriculum revision advantage or new livelihoods options (Table 04.03.10).
exercises are also supported by S&T capable NGOs, Here, it is worth noting the limited courses available for
as evident in the Mahatma Gandhi Rural University in engineering and technology development.
Dindigul in Tamil Nadu.
Table 04.03.10: Vocational courses covered under Recent Initiatives
Apprentices Act 1961 In 2006 setting up of the Mahatma Gandhi Institute for
Courses covered Number Rural Industrialization (MGIRI) Wardha as an autonomous
body registered under societies registration act under
Agriculture area of vocation 26 Ministry of MSME was approved. The objective behind
Business and commerce area of establishment of this institute is to undertake research
14
vocation and development, extension, training and education in the
Engineering and technology area of area of rural industrialization. This institute is required to
14 focus on the technology need of artisans engaged in KVI
vocation
Sector and to upgrade their technology in order to increase
Health and paramedical 19 productivity level and in turn their wage. The institute
Home science area of vocation 12 started functioning under project mode in collaboration
Humanities science and education
with IIT Delhi and is. MGIRI has established following six
9 R&D divisions in which the R&D activity pertaining to the
area of vocation
KVI sector is being undertaken.
Source: 1. Khadi and textile division
84 India: Science and Technology
2. Bio-processing and biochemical division
3. Chemical and analytical division
4. Energy and infrastructure division
5. Craft and engineering division
6. Management information systems division
The MGIRI is acting as nodal agency and monitors and
coordinates the national level institutes viz., IITs and
NITs who are functioning as technical interfaces for KVIC
and are implementing R&D projects. MGIRI also has a
vital role in the process of dissemination of technology
developed by MGIRI as well as technical interfaces.
In addition to all the above, an inter university center
on rural development for rural higher education is
being considered by the UGC to integrate, network and
coordinate all the programmes in the existing and old rural
colleges for improving their effectiveness and optimization
of resource utilization as well as to develop programmes
and extend these programmes to other rural colleges in
different parts of the country. It plans a two-tier structure
at national and regional levels based on the agro-climatic
regions of the country.
The present structure which has evolved over a period
of time is not adequate given the fact that the lifeline
of Indian democracy and economy is in rural India. As
noted by the University Education Commission, way
back in the 1960s, a rural university can legitimately
overcome the built-in barriers of conservative education
system. Its areas of operation are not confined to class
rooms or lab-based studies and researches. Research and
documentation for understanding the ground realities,
facilitating involvement of real-time beneficiaries, is now
considered necessary. But this demands that the local
skills and other resources be systematically identified
and properly documented, creatively analysed, and
pragmatically classified. Wherever possible, these
may be scientifically codified by experts, with a view
to ensuring enrichment of villages, with a healthy co-
existence between the formal S&T system and the rural
communities and their local knowledge.
Ideally, the rural university or research institutes should
impart knowledge and training so as to pave the way
for having certified skills at different levels, which can
enhance value-added per worker. While certification
or appropriate credentials for rural artisans and other
occupations may help, it is important to enable research
programmes that can lead to a better understanding of
context specific resources, occupations and skills, markets
and livelihoods opportunities.
A key concern of the rural university is also to conserve and
document the unique customs and practices of the rural
people in specific regions; for instance, the different species
of plants, herbs, wild life, birds and insects, as well as rich
natural resources. Strengthening of the support system in
the rural universities and research institutes, bringing them
closer to the grassroots realities and requirements can pave
the way for transformation of skills and employment in
rural India.
Vocational Education and Training in
India
Vocational education and training (VET) system in
India has, for the most part, been unable to improve the
employment prospects of the young men and women it was
designed to benefit. The system does not always meet the
demands of the current labour market or the aspirations
of the trainees themselves. The problem is compounded
by lack of proper infrastructure and facilities as well as the
general negative perception regarding VET.
There is a need to redefine the critical elements of VET
in order to make it relevant to the contemporary global
environment, flexible in the choices it provides to the
students and attractive in terms of being a space for learning
and growth.
Structure
There are two formal structural avenues for VET in the
country. The first – often termed as vocational education
– is offered through the secondary school system and is,
therefore, part of the mainstream educational system under
MHRD. It enrols less than 3 per cent of students in the
upper secondary stream (World Bank, 2006). Vocational
training, as offered by institutions like Industrial Training
Institutes (ITIs) and Vocational Training Providers (VTPs),
is governed by Directorate General of Employment
and Training (DGET) under Ministry of Labour and
Employment (MLE). It currently enrols over 1.2 million
students in the ITIs and about 1 million in the VTPs (MLE,
2010–11). It has a fragmented administrative structure
where policy matters and general accountability are handled
by DGET and standards setting and accreditation is the
responsibility of National Council on Vocational Training
(NCVT). This schizophrenic management system lacks an
effective coordination mechanism.

Additionally, the VET system has limited entry and exit
points and there is very little upward mobility. For example,
a well performing ITI graduate does not have the option
to join the higher education stream (although she can join
a polytechnic under certain conditions through a lateral
entry option). Thus by enrolling in an ITI a ‘late blooming’
student has to give up on the ‘education’ component of her
life and opt instead solely for training in a trade which may
be obsolete or which offers only limited career options. It is
interesting to note that the vocational education pass–outs
from schools prefer to join the higher education stream
over joining the labour market as the former is seen as
facilitating better economic and social progress. (World
Bank, 2006).
Current Scenario
As is seen in Figure 1, only 10 per cent of the age group 15–
29 years receives any VET and it is done largely through
the informal sector. Of this group only 2 per cent acquire
vocational skills formally through training institutions like
the ITIs or through the vocational education component of
secondary school system (NSS, 2004–05). In comparison,
the percentage of persons with VET skills in industrialized
countries is much higher and varies from 60–80 per cent.
(Planning Commision, 2006)
The labour market outcomes for VET are poor. Over 60 per
cent of the ITI graduates fail to find employment. Of the
remaining group, the employment is often not in the trade
they were trained in. Also, the relative wages of workers
with VET have decreased over the years. In comparison, the
relative wages of workers with secondary education have
been increasing. The demand for workers with secondary
education has also been growing while as the same does
not apply to workers with VET (World Bank, 2006). This is
not surprising given the current demand for a multi-skilled
workforce. Employers often prefer a worker with strong
basic educational skills who is regarded as a good candidate
for on-the-job training.
To compound the problem further, the proportion of
persons in the 15–29 age group, who have received formal
vocational training, is highest among the unemployed
(about 12 per cent). In comparison, the proportion
among the employed is only 2 per cent. For the rural
population, among the employed, less than 2 per cent
had received formal vocation training. This indicates that
the VET system fails to facilitate success in the labour
market thereby making VET a less attractive option for
the youth.
Rural India: S&T for Skills and Employment 85
Conceptual Fault Lines in VET
In addition to problems in the administrative set up, lack of
proper infrastructure and lack of upward mobility, there are
some fundamental conceptual failings in the envisioning of
VET that have ensured a second class status for both the
training institutions and their graduates. Some of these
include the following:
1. Social stigma: One of the biggest challenges facing VET
is that it has been unable to attract good teachers or
students. This lack of overall social recognition and
the secondary status accorded to VET is the result of
a policy that fails to make timely changes in a rigid and
outdated system and curriculum and has contributed
to VET becoming a dead end. It is only by instituting
policies that create opportunities for upward mobility
while understanding the career aspirations of the
students, by providing proper facilities and relevant
infrastructure that the social stigma regarding
vocational training can be reduced.
2. Lack of general education: The ITI model is designed
to provide the student training in a specific trade
and does not provide any basic education in science,
mathematics or humanities. Except for a ‘social studies’
course and a newly introduced IT course which are
mandatory for all trades, there is no general education
that would provide basic critical thinking and problem
solving skills necessary for a well–rounded vocational
education. The end result is that the system may
produce a plumber but not an educated plumber
who has the requisite skills to adapt to the changing
demands of the labor market.
3. Outdated curriculum: Many of the trades offered by
the ITIs are obsolete or have not been upgraded in a
long time. When a student enters the ITI system for a
year or two years the primary focus of the training is to
make her proficient in a particular skill. However, the
contemporary labour market demand is for a multi-
skilled worker. This mismatch of the training with the
employer expectations is one of the main reasons for
the low employment rate of VET graduates. Also, there
are not many trades offered in the high growth sector
e.g. none of the ITIs offer training in insurance so far.
The training is geared mainly towards the traditional
manufacturing sector which forms only a small
percentage of the total workforce. Also, the quality of
the training is low in many cases given the lack of good
teachers and other lacunae in the system. The training
86 India: Science and Technology
institutions have inadequate linkages with the industry,
and given their lack of autonomy, cannot upgrade their
training appropriately even if such linkages existed. .
Some New Initiatives
There are some new measures that have been taken up
by the government for improving VET. These measures,
however, address only some of the lacunae highlighted
above.
1. MES: This scheme is designed primarily for school
dropouts and existing workers and offers different
short-term courses of three to six months duration.
One especially positive component of the MES is
that it allows for existing skills, including those gained
from the informal sector, to be tested and certified.
Many of the MES courses have been designed
after consultation with the industry. This scheme is
particularly useful because there is a high drop-out
rate (90 per cent) between classes 1-12 resulting in
more than 180 million school dropouts with very little
or no education (Planning Commision, 2006). This
group cannot be trained in the traditional VET system
with its limited capacity of 2–3 million and so they
end up in the largest workforce of the country – the
unorganized sector which was 433 million strong in
2004–05. (MLE, 2009)
2. Up-gradation of ITIs: Several ITIs have been upgraded
under two different schemes with the purpose to
make their functioning more efficient and improve the
quality of their training programs. One such scheme
is funded by World Bank and through this 500 ITIs
are to be upgraded and transformed in ‘Centres of
Excellence’ and provided a grant of 35 million rupees
offering multi–skilled courses. The other scheme is
implemented through the PPP mode and 1,396 ITIs
are slated to be upgraded with an interest free loan of
25 million rupees.
3. National Policy on Skills Development: MLE came
out with a policy document in 2009 which gives an
ambitious target of training 500 million people by
2022. A key strategy outlined in this document is the
focus on the skills development of the unorganized
sector and expanding MES through various
training providers including public/private training
institutions, schools, civil society, NGOs etc. It also
envisions inclusivity to reduce the male/female and
rural/urban divides. This policy document has put
forth a bold and innovative plan. However, it is too
early to assess whether the different agencies involved
in the VET will be able to meet the challenges posed
by diversity of needs in a country as plural as India,
and put in place an implementation mechanism that
can overcome the fragmented administrative set up of
the VET in order to match the ambition outlined in
this policy document.
Conclusion
The new measures that have been introduced to overhaul
the VET system seem to be, for the most part, in the right
direction. However, two fundamental issues need to be
addressed if the current well–intentioned steps to update
and upgrade the existing system are to have full effect.
1. There is a need to address some of the major
drawbacks of the system. For example, the importance
of recognizing that the curriculum changes in the ITI
system are not sufficient to produce a multi-skilled
and educated trainee and that the system is still unable
to provide greater mobility to the students between
vocational training and general education. In other
words, there needs to be greater involvement of the
stakeholders in the design and implementation of
training programs so that they are demand driven,
in tune with local needs and with a flexible delivery
mechanism.
2. Special attention must be paid to the conceptual need to
create a seamless continuum between ‘basic education’
and ‘vocational training’ so that there is a solid
component in the curriculum aimed at habituating
people to recognize the ‘dignity of labour’, especially
given the socio-religious stigma that is attached to so-
called ‘menial tasks’ in India. To mitigate this tendency,
the syllabi of the current curriculum would be enhanced
greatly by introducing state-of-the-art equipment,
the practical highlighting of egalitarianism that is
embedded in the idea of democracy and marketing
concepts such as the importance of repeat clientele and
so on. In other words, a strong social science element
taught by students of philosophy, sociology, business
studies and other relevant academic disciplines.
It is the combination of these conceptual and practical
elements in vocational education that would go a long way
in strengthening the overall programme.
 Rural India: S&T for Skills and Employment 87

Gender Inclusive S&T and Agricultural and requirement of updated skill, resources, technologies,
and infrastructure facilities are often observed as reasons
Education in India
of the low economic share of agricultural sector in related
Farm women constitute a significant category of workers plan and policy documents. Given that women constitute
and gender inequality is a major development issue in nearly 30 per cent of the cultivators and almost half the
India. Globally, gender equality and women empowerment agricultural labour force, there is an obvious academic
are priority areas for the Millennium Development Goals bias evident, when no efforts made to correlate or assess
(MDG) and post MDG Phase plans towards the overall the impacts of the low GDP contribution of agriculture
goal of sustainable development. It is estimated that 43 per with the gender divide that exists in the sector. In fact the
cent of world’s farmers are women. The FAO during 2011 gender divide is an overbearing crucial factor, which affects
had reported as part of its global farm status study that, half of the rural population i.e., the women, engaged in
if women had the same access to productive resources as agriculture sector; the gender divide existing in the social
men, they could raise total agricultural output in developing and formal systems are keeping the farm women of the
countries by 20 to 30 per cent and reduce the number of country virtually as disempowered and low achievers. The
hungry persons in the world by 12–17 per cent! This holds 2011 census has reported that:
true for India as well.
out of 481.7 million total workers in the country, 118.7
Table 04.03.11: Workers engaged in agriculture based millions are cultivators and another 144.3 are agricultural
activities in India (Census 2011) labourers (i.e., nearly 55 per cent of the workers in the
*percentage to total workers country are engaged in agriculture) about one in two
males and two of every female workers in the country are
Cultivators Total Rural Urban engaged as cultivator or as agriculture labour.
118692640 114968498 3724142
Total According to the report, in the country there was a
(24.6*) (33.0*) (2.8*)
pronounced fall in the number of women cultivators
82706724 79839098 2867626 during 2001–11 (from 41.9 million in 2001 to 36.0 million
Male
(24.9*) (35.2*) (2.7*) in 2011 Census) compared to a lesser decline in the
35985916 35129400 856516 number of male cultivators (male cultivators decreased to
Female
(24.0*) (28.8*) (3.1*) 82.7 million from 85.4 million). This alarming fall in the
number of female cultivators warrants attention which in
Agricultural turn should persuade the related agencies of agricultural
Total Rural Urban
labourers development to retrospect and analyse the respective
144329833 136994451 7335382 agency’s policies and approaches for gender inclusiveness.
Total
(30.0*) (39.3*) (5.5*) India is a signatory to Millennium Development Compact
82740351 77930236 4810115 (MDC) and Convention on eliminating all forms of
Males
(24.9*) (34.4*) (4.6*) Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). The country’s
61589482 59064215 2525267 population keeps a persistent trend of adverse sex ratio
Females (943 in 2011 Census) though about 11 per cent of the
(41.1*) (48.5*) (9.0*)
households( 27 million) in the country are women headed
Source: Census 2011. (with regional variation going up to 23 per cent in Kerala
and 43.7 per cent in Lakshadweep). Not only to those
As per Census 2011, India has a population of 1210.6 women farmers of the women headed farm families, but for
million out of which 833.5 million is living in rural sector. the various other categories of women in the farming sector
It is of prime importance to note here that currently 14 per of the country also (paid women labour, unpaid family
cent only is the GDP contribution of agricultural sector women labour, farm women entrepreneurs, members of
in the country, though 49 per cent of total population and farm-based women SHGs), in the existing development
55 per cent of the working population (Census, 2011) are environment the livelihood efforts in agriculture virtually
engaged in agriculture based livelihoods in the country. struggle against male oriented systems with gender
Though the impacts of accelerated growth of industry and inequalities and extreme gender discriminatory practices
services, globalization, climate change, rural urban divides – lack of land rights/ownership; lack of access to farm
88 India: Science and Technology
information, inputs, credit, education, skill and training,
technologies, market; low wages and remuneration; non
inclusion in farmer institutions etc – which are still largely
being considered as normal societal and/or customary
practices (Geethakutty et al., 2011). At the same time,
the important fact that is being forgotten and neglected
by the decision makers of the scene is that, the extensive
contribution by women engaged in wide ranging tasks of
production and processing in agriculture, is detrimental for
household food security across the country and national
competitiveness in agro industry at large. The observation
made by SOFA (FAO, 2011) about the impacts that can be
brought in food production and hunger in the developing
countries by ensuring equal access to farm resources,
technologies and opportunities to women farmers as equal
to men farmers is gaining added momentum here.
It often stated that with appropriate S&T support (natural
and social sciences) India can fulfil its MDG and CEDAW
commitments. Little is known today about the extent to
which S&T products and services, and farmer support
institutions increase gender equity in farming sector. Much
work is needed to formulate and implement comprehensive
policies in research, education and extension, so as to equip
the human resource in S&T to engage and deliver women
inclusive R&D services in agriculture. Even with several
analyses of gender inclusive legal measures needed to ensure
the rights of women farmers which can enable them to
own and access farming resources and inputs, little of these
legal and institutional issues are discussed within formal
agricultural and rural research establishments. are getting a place in the agriculture S&T institutions of
Building the institutional capacities of the systems of
agricultural development in the country to provide gender
inclusive technologies and services is the need of the
hour. The current Indian realities of persisting inequalities
manifested as rural poverty, malnutrition of children, infant
mortality, migration and farmer suicides and the impacts of
globalization also demand extra attention to human capital
development in the country. Rightly, the Eleventh and
Twelfth Five year Plans of India, have initiated commendable
focus on skill development initiatives which are yet to create
the expected impacts. The R&D personnel of the country
should be made aware of, and be equipped and made
competent to undertake the challenge of enabling and
supporting the rural mass – men and women – with efficient
and women inclusive S&T products and service in this
context. The situation highlights and warrants emphasis on
building social system analytical abilities, specifically gender
analysis also as a basic set of abilities, in a systematic way for
equipping and molding the human resource of the present
and future, in the agricultural R&D. Naturally the national
challenge for gender equality is demanding the educational
system and HRD of agriculture to be responding and
reflective of the current grass root realities and to impart
necessary skills to the present and future human resource –
the students – of India.
In India, the ICAR as part of the NARS is responsible for
agricultural research and education. As per an estimate
made by Institute of Applied Manpower Research (IAMR),
the stock of agriculture graduates and postgraduates in
the country in the year 2000 in agriculture, veterinary and
allied subjects was 2,55,800 comprising 1,66,200 graduates,
78,200 postgraduates and 11,400 doctorates (IAMR, 2001).
The major source for supply of human resource to the NARS
and the various development departments of agriculture and
allied sectors (Table 04.03.12) in the country is constituted
by the above mentioned SAUs and other institutes. The
students who are joining the various undergraduate courses
in the above mentioned SAUs and other institutions are of
plus to levels and without much exposure to the rural grass
root level realities (Table 04.03.13) (Rao, et al., 2005). Hence,
the orientation and the content of education provided from
the SAUs are important in moulding and equipping the
mindset and capabilities of the graduates of agriculture and
allied sectors to be proactive and sensitive to address the
developmental issues and challenges of women and men in
the farming sector. Furthermore, the postgraduate courses
of these institutions should also equip those graduates who
the country, with advanced research mindset and skills and
as capable to evolve gender responsive S&T products and
services.
Table 04.03.12: Employment pattern among agricultural
graduates in the country
% employment
Employment sector Agricultural Veterinary
graduates graduates
Public 50 65
Private 20 03
Research and academics 12 11
Financial institutions/NGO 06 01
Self-employed 02 10
Inactive/migrated 10 10
All 100 100
Source: IAMR, 2001

Table 04.03.13: Bachelor’s Degrees awarded in agriculture
and allied sciences in India
Sl. Degree Eligibility
No. (discipline)
1 B.Sc. (Ag.) XII standard in science with
physics, chemistry, and
biology
2 B.Sc. (Hort.) XII standard in science with
physics, chemistry, and
biology
3 B.Sc. (AgC&B) XII standard in science with
physics, chemistry, and
biology
4 B.Sc. (Forestry) xii standard in science with
physics, chemistry, and
biology
5 B.Sc. (Seri.) XII standard in science with
physics, chemistry, and
biology
6 B.H.Sc. xii standard in science with
physics, chemistry, and
biology
7 B.F.Sc. XII standard in science
with physics, chemistry and
biology
8 B.V.Sc. and A.H. XII standard in science with
physics, chemistry, biology
and English
9 B. Tech. (Ag. XII standard in science
Engg.) with physics, chemistry and
mathematics
10 B.Tech. (D.Tech.) XII standard in science
with physics, chemistry and
mathematics
11 B.Tech. (Food XII standard in science
Sc.) with physics, chemistry and
mathematics or physics,
chemistry, mathematics and
biology
Source: IAMR, 2001
A perusal through the approved curriculum of the
undergraduate courses, e.g., B.Sc. (Ag) syllabus of the
ICAR (Deans Committee Report, 2006) reveals that
considerable focus for field orientation and topics of
market demand were introduced in the revised syllabus
through introducing rural work experience (20 credits) and
experiential learning sessions (20 credits). Unfortunately,
the syllabus, with 157 credits under 14 disciplines shows
Rural India: S&T for Skills and Employment 89
that there are no concerted efforts or focus for teaching and
capacity building on gender sensitivity among students. It
is noted that, there exists, a namesake mention of gender
equity as part of a first semester introductory course of
Agronomy with one credit, which otherwise indicate that
the topic may be covered in one class out of the potential 18
classroom sessions of that particular course. One may have
to wonder to what extent such a lone session conducted
in the classroom, in the first semester can lead the fresh
students from schools to imbibe any gender sensitivity
required for his or her future research, teaching or extension
job commitment. The corresponding requirement of
expertise building of the faculty for offering the course on
gender perspectives is also a concern here, which, in turn,
demands capacity building of the existing faculty to meet
the demand. A scan through the entire course contents
of the 157 credit based syllabus of the selected SAUs also
revealed that apart from the above mentioned course, there
are only two or three explicit references about farmwomen
in the entire B.Sc. (Ag) syllabus. A reading through the field
oriented courses of the RAWE and Experiential Learning
of the B.Sc. (Ag) Syllabus of selected SAUs also did not
reveal any specific focus on topics of for gender issues or
women empowerment.
A review of related studies and the works that had focused
on gender integration in agricultural curriculum, indicated
that there were a number of innovative and catalytic
interventions for integrating gender in the agriculture
syllabus of the bachelor degree courses in the country by M.
S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF, 2000), the
NAARM, 1996, Geethakutty et al. from Kerala Agricultural
University (KAU, 2004), and KAU and MSSRF (2004).
All of these agencies had formulated course modules and
resource materials and KAU had conducted trials and
model capacity building programmes to equip the teaching
and research faculty of selected SAUs and NRCWA on
gender perspectives in agricultural education, research and
extension as part of FAO supported courses (2002 and
2004) as well. The KAU-FAO Report (2004) had indicated
how gender mainstreaming and capacity for gender analysis
can be introduced in the syllabus of various undergraduate
courses with an integrated approach and illustrated with
a pilot model in the context of B.Sc. (Ag) in KAU. The
suggested model was inclusive of offering a full course on
gender perspectives in agriculture (with one credit course
of field sessions), integrating relevant portions of gender
topics as part of another 12 courses of selected disciplines
(plant breeding, entomology, agronomy, agricultural
extension, agricultural economics, agricultural engineering,
90 India: Science and Technology

food science and nutrition, horticulture etc) offered in B.Sc. technologies (Geethakutty, 2013). A quick scanning of the
(Ag) syllabus and including gender dimensions in RAWE topics covered for the postgraduate level research projects
and other co-curricular activities of community outreach of selected SAUs also reinforce this observation, that the
programmes e.g. National Service Scheme (NSS). The percentage of the studies, which are dealing with gender
model had also indicated the importance of conviction on related research topics in SAUs is very low, i.e., it remains
the part of the top-level decision makers of ICAR and SAUs in single digit.
to adopt the process of gender integration in curriculum.
Yet another means for introducing thrust for research on
Hence, it is also to be noted here that even though the
Centre for Gender Studies of KAU had proposed the gender integrated R&D in the agriculture systems is by
model, it could not be fully implemented in KAU because insisting on the practice of gender budgeting. A check on
the Board of Studies of the University has not approved the the percentage of budget allocation made for gender and
same and only the ICAR’s directives can bring the desired women related research and development projects and
changes ultimately. The unsuccessful trial of keeping an programmes in the related systems of agricultural education
optional course on gender and agriculture and leaving the and research can serve as a learning point for the decision
option of registering for the course under elective system makers about the gender bias that creep in consciously
to the students from the KAU had also revealed that such or unconsciously. The data on gender budgeting process
courses intended for changing participants’ mindset and initiated in the country from the period of Eleventh Five
sensitizing them to be proactive to societal issues in their Year Plan reveals the picture of bias existing in the context
profession, are to be offered as compulsory generic courses and gradually increasing positive trend as well (Table
and should not be left to the choice of the participants. 04.03.14.)
As an outcome of the series of consultations together Now about 56 ministries of India are participating gender
with National Women’s Commission and MSSRF, during
1996–98, the NAARM also had brought out a resource Table 04.03.14: Trend of gender budgeting in the union
book on gender issues in agriculture. The resource book budget of India
on Gender Issues in Agriculture and Rural Livelihoods
of KAU and MSSRF (2004) was another course module Year Number of Magnitude of gender
ministries/ budget ( crores)
developed and popularized to encourage the engendering
demand
of undergraduate courses of agriculture and allied sectors in
the country and the same had been submitted to the ICAR 2005–06 9 (10) 14378.68 (2.79 %)
for considering as generic course of the SAUs during 2005.
Despite all the above interventions, the undergraduate 2006–07 18 (24) 28736.53 (5.09 %)
syllabus of agricultural education in the country is 2007–08 27 (33) 31177.96 (4.5 %)
continuing without the needed focus for creating gender
sensitivity and gender analysis skill among its students – 2008–09 27 (33) 27661.67 (3.68 %)
the future researchers and development workers.
2009–10 27 (33) 56857.61 (5.57 %)
A perusal of the syllabus of the postgraduate courses of the
2010–11 29 (36) 67749.80 (6.11 %)
agriculture and allied sectors in the country also will reveal
that in general they too remain as devoid of any specific 2011–12 29 (36) 78251.02 (6.22 %)
emphasis on gender analysis skills as part of research
capacity building . Certain optional courses on gender and Source: (http://indiabudget.nic.in)
women related topics are found to be included under home
science and extension postgraduate programmes. But it is budgeting to take care of women’s development concerns.
important to recognize that the responsibility of gender The almost stagnant status of the low budget allotment for
responsive S&T in agriculture for women is not confined women focused research and technology generation from
with social scientists or home scientists. Constitution of the ICAR, DST and increasing focus through 30 per cent
teams with multidisciplinary scientists who are gender per cent quota target made for development programmes
aware and gender balanced is essential in S&T systems from the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) are also evident
of agriculture to address gender friendly technology from Table. 04.03.15.
needs and confront possible gender impacts of existing
 Rural India: S&T for Skills and Employment 91

Table 04.03.15: Gender budget of agricultural research and Rural Innovation Fund
education ( crores)
The NABARD was established in 1982 under special Act
Sl. Ministry/ Specific 2010– 2011– for the upliftment of rural economy in India. It was set up
No agency component/ 11 12 as an apex development bank for promoting integrated and
project sustainable development in rural areas through effective
1. Agricultural Directorate 12.63 14.32 credit support. It also helps in promoting support allied
research and of Research economic activities and secures prosperity in rural areas.
education on Women in The role of NABARD is to refinance the institution for
(100 %) Agriculture promoting institutional development as well as evaluating,
(DRWA) and monitoring and inspecting the projects financed by the
AICRP on home
client banks working in the field of rural development.
science
NABARD focuses its activities on
2. DST and Women 43.50 44.50
DBT (100 %) development 1. Credit function: Under this activity it facilitates
programmes the credit flow for rural innovation development for
3. Minstry of 30 per cent 658.16 728.10 strengthening the non-farm and farm sectors of rural
Agriculture women quota areas.
under central
2. Development function: This is concerned with
sector projects of
the reinforcement of the credit function and making
agriculture
credits more productive.
Source: (http://indiabudget.nic.in) 3. Supervisory function: This is to ensure proper
functioning of co-operative banks and regional rural
Overall, the NARS as an agency is responsible for agricultural banks
S&T in the country. It is yet to imbibe the mindset and
adopt comprehensive and system wide gender responsive Initiatives of NABARD: NABARD–SDC Rural
approaches in its mandates of research, education and Innovation Fund (RIF)
extension, to meet the global commitment of the country.
The ICAR has taken initiative to set up a very unique The NABARD, in association with Swiss Agency for
National Centre for Women in Agriculture (NRCWA and Development and Cooperation (SDC) set up the RIF during
presently named as the Directorate of Research on Women October 2005. These funds aim to support innovative, risk
in Agriculture in DRWA) during 1995–96 itself, with friendly, unconventional experiments in farm, non-farm
mandates of research on women in agriculture and gender and microfinance sectors that would have the potential
mainstreaming. But the S&T services and institutions in to promote livelihood and create opportunities which in
agriculture maintain status-quo mindset and approaches, turn generate employment in rural areas. The RIF provide
with little changes with respect to gender responsiveness, improved credit support for technology upgradation, input
denying the need for a comprehensive approach through supply, market support, infrastructure development for
educational and research efforts within the NARS. viable growth of enterprises in rural economy.

The system should not delay any further, in recognizing
that what the women in agriculture demand is a speedy
and pronounced gender mainstreaming effort and
empowerment of farm women. If agriculture and allied
sectors are indeed the engine of growth in rural India,
there must be S&T to transform the women workforce
in agriculture as competent partners having access to
production resources, knowledge and skills and human
rights, and to correct the existing gender imbalances.
1. The RIF structure comprises three components:
a. Component–1: innovative project
b. Component–2: ongoing promotional
programmes in the farm and non-farm sectors
c. Component–3: action research projects
2. Measuring the impact of rural innovation projects
implemented by NABARD:
The impact of the project is measured in terms of: 
 92 India: Science and Technology
a. the number of people likely to be impacted by the
project;
b. the profitability to the ultimate beneficiaries; and
c. the strata/segment of society impacted (the
poorest to the upper segment of the society).
4. The social objectives served by the impact of the
project could be in terms of:
a. reducing poverty;
b. improving literacy/awareness levels;
c. enhancing life expectancy;
d. reduction in the drudgery levels; and
e. better environment and better rural habitat.
5. A profile of activities through projects supported by
RIF is shown in Table 04.03.16. The list is quite diverse
for the development of rural areas.
Table 04.03.16: A profile of project categories supported
through RIF
Sl. No. Activities
1 Diversification of farm activities – agro-forestry,
silvipasture, agro-horticulture and animal
husbandry etc.
2 Development of location specific crops and
agronomic practices.
3 Extension of technology – agri-clinics, agro services
centres, e-service centres, including the feasibility of
commodity trading/village knowledge centres.
4 Community farming and contract farming.
5 Banking through SHGs, VWCs and user teams, and
joint liability groups, etc.
6 Development of small hand operated/power
operated tools/implements.
7 Support for design, development, plan and adoption
of traditional efficient water harvesting systems.
8 Support for documentation of farmers' innovations/
indigenous technological knowledge.
9 Innovative rainwater harvesting for rural dwellings
10 Rural energy from biomass, agri-waste.
Techniques for increasing value of crop residues and
non-crop biomass.
11 Community regulation of distribution and use of
waste and energy.
Sl. No. Activities
12 Storage devices for agricultural and rural products.
13 Innovative methods of managing common property
resources.
14 Materials and designs for rural roads.
15 Rural sanitation and waste disposal.
16 Biological and engineering measures/techniques that
improve productivity of water.
17 Design of economic and efficient water harvesting
structures.
18 Efficient water use systems: low cost micro-irrigation
technology/micro tube irrigation technology, etc.
Source:
6. Projects Sanctioned and Funds Disbursement:
NABARD under RIF disbursed 56.96 crore from 2006
to 2012 for 455 projects (Table 04.03.17) covering area
such as rural health, rural road, water harvesting technique,
use of agri waste in biomass production, water scheme,
diversification of farm activities etc.
Table 04.03.18 shows the projects sanctioned during
2007–08 under innovative component with new ideas of
innovation under Rural Innovation Fund. The amount is
sanctioned in either form: grant or venture capital fund
or loan. The financial assistance provided under RIF is
varied from developing new products/practices to pilot
testing/demonstration of innovative projects and even
commercialization of innovations already pilot tested
and patented product for the development of better rural
environment and reduce the drudgery of rural population.
For up scaling the programme under RIF a proposal is
proposed for investing 5 crore in a micro venture capital
fund (Aavishkaar Micro Venture Capital Fund Ltd.) was
also sanctioned with focus on investing in micro ventures
mainly in agriculture and rural development projects.
Table 04.03.17: Year-wise projects sanctioned and
amount disbursed under RIF
Number of projects Amount disbursed
Year
sanctioned in crores
2006–07 3 0.423
2007–08 29 8.0
2008–09 38 12.48
2009–10 155 17.7
 Rural India: S&T for Skills and Employment 93

Number of projects Amount disbursed

List of projects supported by RIF are on pure product
Year innovation like a cotton plucking machine and an
sanctioned in crores
innovative jute retting process to popularization of
2010–11 122 10.42 practices, demonstration and setting up of technology
2011–12 108 7.94 based facilities and providing services to farmers such
as soil health cards. These promotional funds are meant
Total 455 56.96
towards promoting innovations like production of bio-
mass energy through SHGs of the poor, promoting cost
effective water harvesting structures in the north east,
production and marketing of integrated natural dye based
Source: NABARD Annual Reports fabric through weavers’ organization.

Table 04.03.18: Projects sanctioned under the innovative component of RIF during 2007–08 ( lakh)

Sl. Amount sanctioned

Project Champion of the project State
No. (grant/loan)
1 Converting mango peel waste into organic SHARAZ Farm Academy, Tamil Nadu 8.91 (Grant)
manure Hosur
2 Arecanut leaf plate making in Barpetta DHRITI, Guwahati Assam 10.24 (Grant)
district
3 Integrated neem development in Bolangir Agency for Social Action Orissa 23.22 (Grant)
District (ASA), Bhubaneswar
4 Contribution to Aavishkaar India Micro Aavishkaar India Micro All India 500.00 (Venture
Venture Capital Fund Venture Capital Fund, Capital Contribution)
Mumbai
5 Low cost rain water harvesting structures ICAR Research Centre, Meghalaya, Tripura, 10.00 (Grant)
Umiam, Meghalaya Nagaland, Manipur
6 Stevia Tea Cottage Industry Essomi Foundation Trust, Arunachal Pradesh 17.64 (Grant)
Arunachal Pradesh
7 Cultivation, processing and marketing of Om Shree Sai Kalyan Uttar Pradesh 11.47 (Grant)
medicinal and aromatic plants Samiti, Barabanki, Uttar
Pradesh
8 Soil health cards to farmers club members ICAR Research Centre, Tripura 13.37 (Grant)
Agartala
9 Innovative jute retting project Manosri Tarun Bani West Bengal 6.098 (Grant)
Mandal, Kolkata
10 Rooftop rain water harvesting structure Action for Rural Manipur 12.25 (Grant)
Development (AFORD),
Manipur
11 Household water harvesting Adarsh Mahila Mandal, Chattisgarh 1.418 (Grant)
Bilaspur
12 Establishment of manufacturing unit for Mr. VV Bilonikar, Maharashtra 15.00 (Loan)
new cotton plucking machines Aurangabad
13 Developing rural haats into rural business MART, New Delhi pan India 16.56 (Grant)
hubs
94 India: Science and Technology

Sl. Amount sanctioned

Project Champion of the project State
No. (grant/loan)
14 Preparation of smoking sticks from coir Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Kerala 5.50 (Grant)
pith. ICAR, Panniyur
15 Bio-mass gasifier using sarpat grass Ramanand Saraswathi Uttar Pradesh 6.705 (Grant)
Pustakalaya, Azamgarh
16 Production of fly ash bricks Technology & Action Maharashtra 43.74 (Grant)
for Rural Advancement
(TARA), 
New Delhi
17 Low cost storage technology for table/ Central Potato Research Meghalaya 4.33 (Grant)
seed potatoes. Station, ICAR, Shillong
18 Systematic Rice Intensification (SRI) – 5% Centre for Action Chattisgarh 1.20 (Grant)
model for Water harvesting. Research & Management
in Developing Attitudes
Knowledge & Skills in
Human Resources (CARM-
DAKSH), Bilaspur
19 Developing cost effective process for Charaka Women’s Multi- Karnataka 6.00 (Grant)
naturally dyed cotton yarn and integration purpose Industrial
of production of yarn, weaving and Cooperative Society,
marketing of fabrics Shimoga, Karnataka

20 Pilot marketing of innovative fuel saving Bio-Activated Energy Karnataka 4.25 (Grant)
cooking stove Mission (BAE), Bangalore

21 Promoting low cost spawn production unit Social Welfare Society Karnataka 3.40 (Grant)
and home based cultivation of mushroom
through SHGs
22 Setting up five solar College of Dairy and Food Rajasthan 7.60 (Grant)
tunnel dryers (STDs) in Rajasthan Science Technology,
Maharana Pratap University
of Agriculture and
Technology, Udaipur
23 Setting up natural cold storage units for Shri Arvindbhai R Patel, Gujarat 5.91 (Grant)
vegetables and potatoes
24 Product innovation involving Ahmedabad Textile Gujarat 4.80 (Grant)
modifications in the mechanism/design Industry’s Research
of the conventional cotton de-podding Association, (ATIRA)
machine to improve the quality of the deshi Ahmedabad
variety of kapas (cotton) by reduction of
trash content and separation of fragments
of the pod thereby ensuring better colour,
productivity and purity.
 Rural India: S&T for Skills and Employment 95

Sl. Amount sanctioned

Project Champion of the project State
No. (grant/loan)
25 Setting up demonstration units for TERI, Bangalore Karnataka 4.26 (Grant)
promotion of biomass gas stoves for small
commercial applications in two villages
in Gouribidanur taluk of Kolar district,
Karnataka
26 Demonstration, manufacture, installation M/s. Nishant Bioenergy Punjab Venture–like support
and scaling up of bio-mass based ‘Earth’ Consultancy (P) Ltd of 12.75 lakh + grant
Stoves (Sanjha Chulha) in Mohali, assistance amounting
Chandigarh, Punjab state. to 11.08 lakh
27 Organic production of seeds and seedlings Society for Advancement of Orissa 6.64 (Grant)
for vegetable growers in 15 villages in Pipli Rural Poor (SARP)
block of Puri district of Orissa.
28 Development and preparation of bio Society for Participatory Uttar Pradesh 8.76 (Grant)
pesticides through Self Help Groups in Research and Development
Kanpur District, Uttar Pradesh State. Action (SPREDA)
29 Popularization and refinement of IARI, Regional Station, Himachal Pradesh 9.14 (Grant)
integrated disease management practices in Shimla
apple nurseries in Himachal Pradesh
30 Pilot project for rainwater harvesting to Beliachandi Aastha West Bengal 5.925 ( Grant)
improve sub-surface water quality and Narikalayan Kendra
BG algae culture in rainwater harvesting (BANK)
structures, South 24 Paraganas Dist., West
Bengal

Source: www.nabard.org./function–department/nfs.asp

Distribution of Funds across Regions and Sl. 2006– 2007– 2008–

Institutions State Total
No. 07 08 09
Rural innovative funds are distributed through various 5 Bangalore 2 1 3
projects in several states of India for rural promotion.
6 Bihar 1 1
Table. 04.03.19 shows the number of projects sanctioned
in different state of India between the years 2006–09. 7 Chandigarh 1 1
Among these state listed in the table, maximum number
8 Chhattisgarh 1 1 2
of projects (five) were sanctioned for Manipur, Uttar
Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu. 9 Chennai 1 1
Table 04.03.19: State-wise distribution of the innovative projects
sanctioned (compiled from NABARD Annual Reports) 10 Delhi 3 3
Himachal
Sl. 2006– 2007– 2008– 12 1 2 3
State Total Pradesh
No. 07 08 09
13 Jharkhand 1 1
1 Gujarat 2 1 3
14 Karnataka 2 1 3
2 Andhra Pradesh 1 1
15 Kerala 1 1
Arunachal
3 1 1 2 Madhya
Pradesh 16
Pradesh
4 Assam 1 2 3
96 India: Science and Technology

Sl. 2006– 2007– 2008– Amount

State Total Projects sanctioned
No. 07 08 09
(Lakh)
17 Maharashtra 1 2 3
Marketing and Research Team (MART), New
18 Manipur 1 4 5 15.68
Delhi
19 Meghalaya 2 2 Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Panniyur, in Kannur
5.5
district of Kerala
20 Nagaland 3 3
Ramanand Saraswathi Pustakalaya, Azamargh
21 Orissa 1 1 1 3 6.705
district, Uttar Pradesh
22 Pune 1 1 TARA, New Delhi 43.74
23 Punjab Central Potato Research Station, Shillong 4.33
CARM–DAKSH, Bilaspur, Chattisgarh 1.2
24 Rajasthan 1 3 4
Charaka Women’s Multi–purpose Industrial
25 Tamil Nadu 1 1 3 5 6
Co-operative Society, karnataka
26 Tripura 1 1 BAE, Bangalore 4.25
27 Uttarakhand 2 2 Social Welfare Society (SWS), Chikamagalur
3.4
district, Karnataka
28 Uttar Pradesh 3 2 5
College of Dairy and Food Science
29 West Bengal 3 1 4 7.6
Technology, Udaipur, Rajasthan
Source: www.nabard.org./function–department/nfs.asp and Annual Shri Arvindbhai R Patel, Ahmedabad 5.91
reports
ATIRA, Ahemdabad 4.8
Under RIF, projects were sanctioned to various government TERI, Bangalore 6.9
and non-government institution (Table 04.03.20). These M/s. Nishant Bioenergy Consultancy
23.83
institutions provide innovative training on rural farm and (P) Ltd
non-farm sector for improving the economy and generate SARP, Puri, Orissa 6.64
livelihood support to the rural poor people. SPREDA, Kanpur, Uttarpradesh 8.76
Table 04.03.20: Types of institutions funded during IARI, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh 9.14
2007–08 BANK, South 24 Paraganas, West Bengal 5.925
Amount Centre for Energy and Sustainable Resources,
2.1
Projects sanctioned Tamil Nadu
(Lakh) Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, West
19.71
ICAR Research Centre, Ummiam, Meghalaya 10 Bengal
Essomi Foundation Trust, Lower Dibang Source:
17.64
Valley, Arunachal Pradesh
Om Shree Sai Kalyan Samiti, Barabanki NABARD has number of developmental activities other
11.47
district,Uttar Pradesh than production/investment credit such as Watershed
ICAR Research Complex for North Eastern Development Fund, Farm Innovation and Promotion
13.37
Hilly Region, Tripura Fund, Farmers’ Technology Transfer Fund and Farmers’
Manosri Tarun Bani Mandir, Howrah district, Clubs. All these activities as well has focus to promote
6.098
West Bengal innovation in agriculture and allied sector activities or
AFORD, Ukhrul district, Manipur 12.25 is to bring the rural banker and borrower closer for the
Adarsh Mahila Mandal (AMM), Raipur innovative development in rural areas. It can be said that all
1.418 these programmes have some kind of overlapping mandate
district, Chhatisgarh
with a basic purpose of development of rural areas by
Shri.VV Bilonikar, Aurangabad, Maharashtra 15
encouraging agricultural innovations and disseminations
to maximum beneficiaries.
 Rural India: S&T for Skills and Employment 97

Rural Innovation Fund initiated by NABARD appears to initiatives, therefore, neither provide any substantive
be not very much different from the ongoing activities of critical appraisal/evaluation nor comparability of different
NABARD. Its operations are in the same project mode and initiatives. Many of them are anecdotes describing beneficial
governed at central level. It is suggested that RIF should impact of ICT on the welfare of the community or region.
have region based innovation focus with the involvement In this section, the authors present a broad overview of the
of local agencies so that it becomes more focused and Indian initiatives in this regard. The authors try to indicate
effective. a few desirable and undesirable features associated with the
initiatives.
ICT for Development: Indian Initiatives
A group of interrelated technologies (electronic
Profile of Indian Initiatives
devices) for accessing, processing and disseminating National Institute of Rural Development (NIRD),
information is called ICT. ICT is considered as an Hyderabad, maintains a comprehensive database on the
important technological means to extract the potential various ICTization programmes for rural development.
of information for the transformation of less developed The NIRD classification of the programmes is as follows:
economies (together they are called here as marginal
Table 04.03.21: Indian initiatives in ICT for development
economies). It is widely believed that ICT can be used
for addressing and redressing the issues like social and
economic discriminations and facilitating initiatives for ICT initiative for the Number of
poverty alleviation, access to education, health and hygiene development of programmes
facilities, skill and entrepreneurship development etc. In Agriculture 62
short, ICT is believed to have immense potentiality to Culture and tourism 39
contribute to the development of backward and marginal Disaster management 6
economies. Bridging the digital divide, universal access e-Governance 86
to ICT, reaching the unreached by ICT, connectivity
e-Governance with panchayati raj 69
with rural and remote areas etc. are different phrases used
for world-wide initiatives to establish connectivity for Education 75
everybody at every corner of the globe. The authors have Environment and natural resource 18
used the word ‘ICTization’ to capture the whole spectrum management
of the initiatives ranging from development of low cost Health and hygiene 49
technology solution for wider access to the rural poor, Livelihood 37
to development of contents to make connectivity access Rural water supply and sanitation 4
worthy. Women empowerment 35
The phrase ‘economic and social transformation’ presumes Total 480
that the economy requiring corrections or corrective
Source: NIRD website http://www.ict4rd.net.in/projects.aspx?cat_
measures to alleviate the present state characterized by low id=5 accessed on 9 January 2009
productivity, poverty, illiteracy, lack of health and education
infrastructure, lack of general infrastructure like roads, Further details of these programmes are available through
electricity and communication. Can ICT help fighting the links provided to the individual projects and the
structural anomalies that contribute to marginalization of executing agencies. There is no information on the volume
an economy or a segment of an economy? The answer to the of funding for the individual projects, although sources of
question is generally ‘yes’, notwithstanding the problem of funding are mentioned for each project.
clarity of the relationship between ICT and development. According the NIRD database there are 480 programmes
‘Digital Divide’ is the divide between information ‘haves’ or projects that can be called as part of the ICTization
and ‘have-nots’. In the UN Millennium Report, Kofi Annan initiatives. There is multiple counting of several projects.
proposes that ICT offers an unprecedented opportunity This is because a programme or project may have
for less developed countries to ‘leapfrog earlier stages of multiple objectives among the 11 categories mentioned
development’. The optimism, however, lacks theoretical in the Table 04.03.21. Out of these categories the authors
clarity. Large numbers of studies on ICT for development leave out programmes under ‘Culture and tourism’ and
98 India: Science and Technology

‘e-governance’ because most of the programmes under private and foreign sources, including funding through
these heads do not directly relate to the authors’ concerns. various foundations.
Again, if these two categories that the authors propose to
Sharp decrease in the number of projects after 2005 is
leave out have projects that relate to the rural development
an important issue for further investigation, but has not
or other social and economic issues of the authors’ present
been tried for the present study. A possible conjecture is
concern, those would be anyway counted under the other
the disillusionment of both the funding agencies as well as
heads. We, therefore, do not miss anything by leaving these
executing agencies and enthusiasts of the ICTization for
two categories out. They are, therefore, left with total 355
the causes of social and economic anomalies. The authors
programmes/projects. Many of these programmes were
shall try to throw some light on this issue when they take
time-bound and have been wound up after the projected
up cases studies of five Indian initiatives.
time period. The NIRD database also includes such
projects. Table 04.03.22 provides the details of source of As evident from Table 04.03.23, about half of the
funding and year of initiation of 355 initiatives. The projects programmes address the issues related to education,
Table 04.03.22: Source of funding of the programmes classified year of initiation-wise

Year Government Private Foreign Government Government Foundation Total

and private and foreign
1990–95 4 2 2 1 9
1996–2000 19 10 8 2 4 43
2001–05 130 70 44 8 17 10 279
2006–2008 13 3 5 21
NA 3 3
Total 169 85 57 10 23 11 355

Source: constructed from NIRD database ict4rd.

for ICT for development of the backward economies can
be traced from 1990–95. There is a sharp rise in number
of projects during 2001–05 (more than 50 per cent of
the total number of projects), followed by a sharp decline
during 2006–08. Also to be noted that about one-third of
the projects are funded by government (both state and
central government funded projects taken together). If one
counts the initiatives through collaborative funding with
private and foreign sources, total government involvement
will rise to about two-thirds of the total programmes. The
other one-third of the programmes is funded through
health and women empowerment. And among them
education has the highest number of projects, followed
by health. Programmes on agriculture and livelihood
are directly related to the developmental programmes,
whereas programmes under e-governance with panchayati
raj address the issues related to the governance of social
and economic development programmes. It is important
to note that private and foreign funding have substantial
presence in agriculture, health, education and women
empowerment. The number is higher than government
funded projects in women empowerment.

Table 04.03.23: Source of funding for programmes

Issues and sector Govt Private Foreign Government and Government Private and Total
private and foreign foreign
Agriculture 25 18 15 2 2 62
Disaster management 3 3 6
e-governance with 49 12 3 2 2 1 69
panchayati raj
 Rural India: S&T for Skills and Employment 99

Education 32 21 18 2 2 75
Environment and 15 2 1 18
natural resource
management
Health 23 18 2 4 2 49
Livelihood 12 9 8 4 4 37
Rural water supply 1 1 1 1 4
and sanitation
Women 7 13 9 6 35
empowerment
Total 167 94 57 9 21 7 355

Source: constructed from NIRD database ict4rd.

Table 04.03.24 provides information on coverage of the them are to be scaled up for wider coverage on the basis of
all 355 programmes. National level programmes are those the feedback from the pilot scale level.
which are either planned to be implemented nation-wide, or
As shown in Table 04.03.25, about 50 per cent of all the
implanted at least more than two or three states. Similarly,
programmes are implemented through either state or central
state level programes include state-wide initiatives, or
government agencies. Another 50 per cent is executed
more than two or three districts in a state. Likewise, when
through private agencies, NGOs and by foundations/
a programme is implanted district-wise, or in numbers of
trusts. It is to be noted that there are a few programmes
villages is categorized as district level programmes. About
that are executed through the involvement of educational
two-third of the total programmes are at district and state
institutes, mostly technical education institutes including
levels. It is to be noted that, irrespective of the categories
premier institutes like IITs, and IIITs. Cooperatives as
of the coverage, most of the programmes are actually pilot
mode of executions of economic and social developmental
scale experimental programmes, even though a few of
Table 04.03.24: Coverage of the programmes

Issues and sectors Coverage of the programme

Village District State National Total
Agriculture 5 24 20 13 62
Disaster management 1 3 2 6
E-governance with panchayati raj 3 28 30 8 69
Education 10 28 25 12 75
Environment and natural resource 10 4 4 18
management
Health 22 15 12 49
Livelihood 10 10 11 6 37
Rural water supply and sanitation 1 2 1 4
Women empowerment 11 13 7 4 35
Total 39 137 117 62 355

Source: constructed from NIRD database ict4rd.

100 India: Science and Technology

programmes are generally ignored. Only nine out of total
355 programmes have involvement of cooperatives. As
the authors shall discuss later in this chapter, so far rural
development programmes are concerned there are quite a
few glaring success stories. The same mode, however, does
not figure in ICT related programmes.
Table 04.03.26 gives a summary view of the types of
actions taken through these 355 programmes. The authors
have grouped the activities in four major groups, namely,
portal, network, cooperative, developmental programmes.
Portals are created with specific set of information (for
example commodity prices, on health issues like polio,
Table 04.03.25: Implementing agencies/organizations of the programmes
on education like reading materials for high school level
science students), and they are not specific to any target
group of users. Accessed is created through internet, and
anybody having access to internet can use the portal for
respective purposes.
Networks enable connectivity among different
complementary social and economic agents/actors. For
example, cotton farmers in distant Andhra villages can seek
various types of information from fellow cotton farmers in
other parts of the state and country regarding output and
input prices, seed varieties, yield, diseases, technologies,
etc.

NGO/
Issues and sectors Private Government Cooperatives Institutions Foreign Total
foundations
Agriculture 12 25 14 1 6 4 62
Disaster management 1 2 1 2 6
E-governance with
8 46 10 4 1 69
panchayati raj
Education 22 31 10 7 5 75
Environment and
natural resource 11 2 5 18
management
Health 16 23 8 2 49
Livelihood 12 7 8 2 5 3 37
Rural water supply
2 2 4
and sanitation
Women
2 7 13 4 6 3 35
empowerment
Total 73 154 67 9 34 18 355

Source: constructed from NIRD database ict4rd.

Table 04.03.26: Types of actions taken in the initiatives

Types of action
Issues and sector Development
Portal Network Cooperatives Total
programmes
Agriculture 9 30 4 19 62
Disaster management 6 6
E-governance with panchayati Raj 6 42 1 20 69
Education 11 28 36 75
Environment and natural resource mgt 3 12 DB 3 18

Issues and sector
Portal Network
Health 5 28
Livelihood 3 23
Rural water supply and sanitation
Women empowerment 17
Total 34 189
Source: constructed from NIRD database ict4rd.
Under the head ‘Cooperative’ the authors have kept
programmes where ICT has been used for functioning
of the activities of a cooperative. This different from
the category of the same name in Table 04.03.25, where
cooperative is the organizational mode to execute the ICT
related programme.
Developmental programmes are those where ICT is used
to augment developmental programmes. For example,
farmers in villages are given technology related advice on
the basis of studies on their problems. ICT is used for the
studies, solution and communication of the same.
Portals and Networks kind of applications of ICT constitute
about two-thirds of the total programmes, with the rest
being specifically developmental programmes. Most of
the networks are vertical connectivity and intended to
create links between the backward and modern segments
of the economy. The table essentially tells one that if there
are 35 programmes under the category called ‘women
empowerment’ 17 of them are networks types of action
and other 18 are developmental programmes.
Table 04.03.27 is constructed from the project document
that provides information on the project objectives,
target group and expected benefits. Wherever available
project related websites have been consulted for detailed
information. In terms of the objectives and expected
benefits, all 355 projects have been classified in following
10 different heads. It is to be noted that one project might
be providing more than one out of 10 services listed below.
1. Information: This is to capture the initiatives That
make availability of information on different aspects
of rural development easier. In other words to reduce
the information cost. For example, market prices for
products and inputs at regional and national markets
are available through computer networks. It is to help
Rural India: S&T for Skills and Employment 101
Types of action
Development
Cooperatives Total
programmes
16 49
11 37
4 4
18 35
5 127 355
farmers take decisions on crops sale, procurement,
and also on technological matters. Similarly, there are
dedicated initiatives for forecasting natural calamities
(like information village centres of MSSRF helping
fishermen planning sea fishing), education, and
various developmental schemes of the governments.
Some other initiatives are: a Aqua, Agmarknet, Digital
Mandi, ITC e-chaupal.
2. Finance related information: Although there are only
11 programmes providing information on different
financial and credit facilities from government and
private agencies. Some programmes are ICICI micro-
banking, online transaction processing, government.
of Andhra Pradesh (AP), Sayam Krishi Sangam
Microfinance.
3. Connectivity among government departments.
e-governance project of computerization of govt.
departments.
4. Application of ICT for providing services from the
government department with for transparency and
efficiency. Some examples are Crisp by NIC, e-Gram
Subidha, e-Seva, rural, Jana Mitra.
5. Expert advice on market, technology, remedies etc,
like, e-Sagu, Rural Knowledge Centre, Tata Kishan
Kendra.
6. Education and training including e-literacy, skill
development etc: Programmes like – Creating
Rural Employment through ICT enabled enterprise
development services, Vidya, content in school, e-class
room, Tara Gyan, Pratham, yuva.com IT training
programme and i-Shakti.
7. Mapping and management of the local resources,
e-gram subidha and swajaldhara.
102 India: Science and Technology

8. Property records for transparency on rights and
transactions, Bhoomi, bhu rekha and bhu bharati.
9. Application of ICT in production system, dairy
information system kiosk, online integrated
computerized system, SUMUL.
10. Awareness building of the target population on social
issues, rights and dues: community radio, gender
resource centre, i-Shakti, Tamil Nadu women in
agriculture, Disha, e-health.
that impart training on tiny cottage industry products for
self-employment and supplementary income generation of
poor rural families. Computer training is an integral part of
many such programmes.
Awareness development and communication of
information are other thrust areas of the ICTization
programmes. The former is arguably the first step towards
empowerment, whereas the latter reduces information cost
for coordination and decision about economic actions.

Table 04.03.27: Transaction and information cost

Resource
Expert ICT
Issues and Govt. Govt. to Education/ manage- Property
IT Finance advice/ applica- Aware
sector department citizen trg ment record
services tions

Agriculture 28 4 2 11 26 18 6 11 4
Disaster 1 3 2 1 2
management
E-governance 17 2 40 10 14 3 5 23 6
with
panchayati raj
Education 14 2 6 46 1 21
Environment 1 2 2 4 1 9 2 3
and natural
resource mgt
Health 2 7 32 2 2 4 26
Livelihood 17 4 2 18 17 2 2
Rural water 4 4
supply and
sanitation
Women 2 1 1 21 23 1 17
empowerment
Total 81 11 5 68 119 121 25 5 44 85

Source: Constructed from ict4rd (NIRD), and from the respective

websites of the programmes.

Large number of projects are associated with actions
related to expert advice and services, and also education
and training. There are substantial overlaps of programmes
between the two actions. Online queries are answered
for solutions of agriculture related problems marketing of
products from rural artisans, health related advice, and also
for opportunities for rural youths and women. Education
and training are mainly on computer and IT related skill
development and services. There are some programmes
Again, programmes of e-governance for efficient services
of the government department to the citizen in general
are important particularly when most of the development
programmes are funded and run by government. There are,
however, inadequate initiatives on application of ICT in
the production system. Computerization of land records is
again another landmark achievement that will substantially
reduce the transaction cost in land related deals.

General observations
Table 04.03.27 is about the issues that are addressed through
these programmes. The table requires a careful reading.
Let one read Tables 04.03.26 and 04.03.27 from the above
perspective. The programmes addresses the problem of
information and transaction costs of various nature, broadly
captured in 10 different categories in Table 04.03.27. There
are large number of initiatives to provide expert advice
for best practices. Updated market information is made
available in real time. Market information through these
networks is the information created through the dynamics
of the global commodity circuit. Such initiatives, therefore,
are instruments for linking the rural economy with the
global market. Thus enter Pepsi, Frito Lays, and ITC to
give expert advice on best practices for potato cultivation,
or Monsanto for motivating farmers to shift to BT Cotton.
Adequate care and measure required to be taken so that
rural economies do not become victim of undesirable
intrusions.
It is also to be noted that ‘cooperative’ as an organizational
mode for ICTization and ICT enabled economic activities
in rural areas has not found any place in the programmes
examined above. This is when India has the most successful
example in Amul cooperative of endogenous growth
through innovative application of ICT, both in production
and management.
One of the major hindrances of ICTization of the
remote and rural areas is the e-literate manpower. The
programmes for IT and computer training will help
quicker invasion. Similarly, programmes for e-governance,
for intra-government departments or for government to
citizen services augment the process invisible structural
transformation of the rural economy. The flip side is,
however, could be slippery. In the case of computerization
of land records it has been observed, ‘Land registration
can be completed in a few hours, whereas earlier it took
7–15 days’ (Parks, T., 2005, A Few Misconceptions about
e-Government, http://www.asiafoundation.org/pdf/ICT_
eGov.pdf). But then Benjamin found that it has resulted
in dramatic changes in land markets (Benjamin, S., 2005,
Analogue to Digital: Reliving Big Business’ Nightmare in
New Hydras, World Information City, http://www.static.
world–information.org/infopaper/wi_ipcityedition.pdf).
Butt et al. (2008) observed:
Gentrification becomes an issue and the rights of the poor
are made more tenuous when ICT enables companies and
politicians to collaborate on larger real estate development
projects, which may be good for a region’s overall economy
Rural India: S&T for Skills and Employment 103
but result in the transfer of security away from the poor to
the benefit of the wealthy. After all, it is unrealistic to think
that the poor will be trading on the ICT–enabled property
market (Butt, D; Srinivasan, R; Singh, A (2008), ICT4D
in Asia Pacific– An overview of emerging issues, in, Digital
Review Asia Pacific, 2007–2008, Orbicom–Sage, New
Delhi).
These observations reemphasizes the need for clear
perspective for rural development. Otherwise even an
apparently innocuous programme like computerization of
otherwise messy land records may make easier inroads for
land grab for that may replace food crops by frivolous but
iconic fashion products like potato chips.
Making ICT work for the backward segment of the
Indian economy faces a four dimensional problem,
namely: (1) accessibility of ICT based technologies;
(2) identification of the appropriate information and
transaction cost; (3) ensure education, empowerment and
economic opportunities; and (4) ascertaining endogenous
growth process that will help recovery from the status
of redundancy as well as save it from the flip side of the
ICTization. The following diagram presents the schematic
view of the transformation process and role of ICT.
Social and Content Access to
economic information
opportunity
Sense
Health and
making
education Changes in social
relations and
economic variables
Empowerment Bargain
Figure 04.03.12: Schematic view of the transformation process
Source:
The socio-economic dimensions are placed at the left hand
side of the diagram. These are the factors that require actions
for social and economic transformation. The results of these
actions lead to the right hand boxes through the causations
placed at the middle. While the access to information
itself is an action towards social and economic changes,
such actions fructify through the changes in existing social
and economic relations. Three boxes at the left side of the
diagram suggest three different sets of actions. Social and
economic opportunities are constituted of developmental
programmes. These programmes have to be designed
to ensure and encourage the endogenous process of
104 India: Science and Technology
economic activities and growth. These programmes also
constitute the contents and create the pool of information
to be accessed through the community accessed points
placed at the right side of the diagram. Actions on access to
health and education create human resources that would
be capable of making sense from the information provided
through the access points and subsequently lead to social
and economic actions resulting changes in social relations
and economic variables. Action on empowerment is
arguably the most important issue. It is constituted of
both economic and social empowerment. Economic
empowerment is to ensure relief from redundancy, where
as social empowerment is to ensure relief from cast, religion
and gender-based inequalities. In short, empowerment
strengthens bargaining position, and potentially can alter
the social relations and economic actions.
Epilogue
ICT provides connectivity and access to information in real
time, irrespective of the geographical locations of the source
of the information and access points. What does it have to
do with the issues related to development of the backward
economies of Africa, or backward segment of the Indian
economy? The answer to this question is not easy because
the faith (on the potentiality of ICT) is not backed by
rigorous understanding of the relationship between poverty
or discrimination and access to ICT. The theoretical clarity
of ICT for development is at its nascent stage. Importance of
theoretical clarity is to be understood to accommodate the
fact that access to information or ICT has different meanings
for privileged and underprivileged segments of a population.
The theoretical clarity is also important to foresee if there
is any undesirable fallout from the connectivity in case
connected wrong way. ICT creates access to information
easier. It is, however, unclear how such access can help the
process of elimination of causes of underdevelopment.
Poverty, discrimination, exploitation are various
symptoms of underdevelopment. These are perpetrated
through denial of rights and freedom, and exclusion
from the existing institutional set-ups to strengthen and
perpetuate the process of underdevelopment. On the
other hand, ICT, through easier access to information,
can reduce the transaction and information cost resulting
higher investment, productivity, efficiency etc. in
economic and social actions. To make the later work for
the cause of development of marginal economies, rigorous
understanding of the underdevelopment in terms of the
transaction and information cost that hinder the process of
development is essential. The present study makes an effort
in this direction.
S&T Support for Rural Roads
Infrastructure
Provisioning of rural roads infrastructure has remained an
indispensible service that enhances mobility, connectivity
and accessibility. Rural connectivity becomes a critical
component in the socio-economic development of rural
people by providing access to amenities like education,
health, marketing etc. It has been realized that the absence
of all weather road connectivity is a major impediment in
the development of rural areas, since lack of access results
in isolation and remoteness of rural masses and thereby
depriving them of opportunities of employment, health
care, education, etc. Rural accessibility therefore serves
as a means for poverty alleviation. Lack of connectivity
also increases the vulnerability of such communities
during events of natural disaster. To upgrade rural road
infrastructure, Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana
(PMGSY) was launched on 25 December 2000 as a
central scheme to provide all weather road connectivity
in rural areas of the country. The primary objective of the
programme was to provide connectivity by way of all-
weather roads to unconnected habitations with population
1,000 and above by 2003 and with population 500 and
above by 2007 in rural areas. For hilly/desert/tribal areas,
the habitations criteria were for population 250 and above.
Up-gradation of selected rural roads to provide full farm to
market connectivity was also an objective of the scheme.
Later the scheme was revised and the target set was for
population of 1,000 or more (500 and more in hill states,
tribal and desert areas) by 2012. At the time of launching
of PMGSY nearly 40 per cent of habitations were not
connected by all weather roads. Figures 04.03.13 and
04.03.14 give a snapshot of the investment and progress in
the sector since the launch of PMGSY.
Quality and maintenance of rural roads remains a concern
(Table 04.03.28). To ensure the desired high quality
standards, a three tier quality management mechanism is
in place. The first tier of this mechanism is in-house quality
control at Programme Implementation Unit (PIU) level.
Objective of this tier is process control through mandatory
tests on material and workmanship at field laboratory. The
second tier is a structured independent quality monitoring
at the state level in which provision of regular inspection of
works has been envisaged for product control. Under the
third tier, independent National Quality Monitors (NQMs)
 Rural India: S&T for Skills and Employment 105

Figure 04.03.14: State-wise allocation of funds vis–a–vis connectivity

Figure 04.03.13: Physical and financial progress of PMGSY established in PMGSY
Source: Source:

are deployed by the National Rural Roads Development not only to monitor quality but also to provide guidance of
Agency (NRRDA) for inspection of road works at random senior professionals to the field functionaries.
Table 04.03.28: State-wise unsatisfactory road quality in completed and ongoing projects

Data in
 
percentage
2010–11 2011–12 2012–13
State Completed Ongoing Completed Ongoing Completed Ongoing
works works works works works works
Andhra Pradesh 0.23 0.19 0.23 0.08 0.00 0.00
Arunachal Pradesh 0.00 0.43 0.05 0.21 0.38 0.25
Assam 0.60 0.21 0.28 0.19 0.37 0.34
Bihar 0.15 0.17 0.32 0.21 0.07 0.22
Chathisgarh 0.12 0.17 0.14 0.15 0.33 0.30
Gujarat 0.06 0.22 0.18 0.25 0.00 0.00
Himachal Pradesh 0.00 0.00 0.07 0.13 0.09 0.09
Jammu and Kashmir 0.25 0.00 0.44 0.14 0.40 0.12
Jharkand 0.40 0.56 0.36 0.20 0.03 0.25
Kerala 0.00 0.16 0.40 0.22 0.00 0.33
Madhya Pradesh 0.07 0.05 0.06 0.03 0.11 0.17
Maharashtra 0.06 0.08 0.11 0.08 0.10 0.27
Manipur 0.33 0.30 0.00 0.12 0.25 0.25
Meghalaya 0.00 0.00 0.25 0.36 1.00 0.23
Nagaland 1.00 0.00 0.67 0.00 0.00 0.75
Odisha 0.08 0.10 0.10 0.23 0.07 0.27
Punjab 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.24 0.00 0.00
Rajasthan 0.50 0.33 0.20 0.17 0.00 0.04
Sikkim 0.00 0.00 0.67 0.27 0.00 0.06
106 India: Science and Technology

Tamilnadu 0.15 0.27 0.26 0.67 0.33 0.00

Tripura 0.33 0.00 0.23 0.40 0.17 0.48
Uttar Pradesh 0.07 0.21 0.04 0.12 0.13 0.20
Uttarakand 0.00 0.08 0.00 0.17 0.09 0.23
West Bengal 0.07 0.15 0.18 0.14 0.36 0.31

Source: compiled from on http://pmgsyonline.nic.in/ASPNet/Citizens/QM/14NQMAB/SQMReportType.aspx

Principal Technical Agencies (PTA) (Table 04.03.29) to

S&T Agencies Involved in Rural Roads
Understanding the key role of S&T in the sector, the
NRRDA was established in 2002 to extend support to the
programme through advice on technical specifications,
project appraisal, quality monitoring and management
of monitoring systems. Accordingly NRRDA constituted
provide technical support and take up research projects,
study and evaluate different technologies and advise on
measures to improve the quality and cost norms of rural
roads and state technical agencies to scrutinize the project
proposals prepared by the state governments and provide
technical support to them.

Table 04.03.29: Principal technical agencies working for respective states

Name of the PTA States covered

Central Road Research Institute (CRRI), New Delhi Union Territories

Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee Uttranchal, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand

Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai Maharashtra, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh

National Institute of Technology, Warangal Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and Chattisgarh

Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh

College of Engineering, Bangalore University,

Karnataka, Tamilnadu, Kerala and Goa
Bangalore

North eastern states of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram,

Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur
Meghalaya, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura and West Bengal

Source: http://pmgsy.nic.in/ access dated 13May, 2013

Training and HRD
For capacity building, various training programmes have
been organized by NRRDA at National Level Institutes
such as CRRI, New Delhi, National Advisory Council
(NAC), Hyderabad and IIT Guwahati, Assam, NIRDs for
senior officers and at state level at various State Institutes
of Rural Development for other officers. During the year,
1,167 officers were provided training on the basis of
training modules developed by NRRDA for two, three and
six days by expert faculty (resource person) recommended
by NRRDA for respective topics.
Figures 04.03.15 and 04.03.16 show the nature of capacity
building taking place at present which is inadequate. The
quality of skilled or semi-skilled workers including operators
of equipments like dozers, pavers, heavy vehicles, dumper,
batching plants, laboratory equipment, etc. engaged on the
roadwork has been of greater concern for proper execution
of works. In order to enhance the proficiency of workers,
the proper training institutes with sufficient capacity needs
to be established in the country.
R&D and Rural Roads
The main thrust of R&D in the roads sector is to build a
sustainable road infrastructure comparable to the best
roads in the world. The various components of this strategy

Figure 04.03.15: Focus Areas of training conducted by S&T institutes
in 2011–12
Source: author’s compilation from http://www.pmgsy.nic.in/train.asp
Figure 04.03.16: State-wise spread of institutes imparting training on
rural roads in 2011–12
Source: author’s compilation from http://www.pmgsy.nic.in/train.asp
are improvement in design, modernization of construction
techniques, introduction of improved material conforming
to latest trends, evolving better and appropriate
specifications, encouraging development and use of new
technologies etc. The dissemination is done through the
publication of new guidelines, code of practices, circulars,
compilation of state-of-the-art reports and seminars.
Some of the R&D initiatives undertaken by NRRDA
include:
Rural India: S&T for Skills and Employment 107
Use of jute geo textiles: In order to prove the efficacy
at field level the use of jute geo textiles in rural roads
for the pilot project have been selected in five states.
Construction of a pilot project has been initiated
and the Jute Manufactures Development Council
( JMDC), an Agency of Ministry of Textiles was
identified as the nodal agency for the pilot project,
which, in turn, has retained CRRI, New Delhi as
Technical Consultant.
Rural roads pavement performance study: MoUs
were signed with NIT, Tiruchirapalli, Institute of
Engineering & Technology, Sitapur road, Luknow,
lIT, Roorkee, SGSITS, Indore (M.P.), NIT, Hamirpur,
BITS, Pilani, College of Engineering, Trivendrum,
Bangalore University, Bangalore, lIT, Guwahati,
SVNIT, Surat, Punjab Engineering College, College
of Engineering & Technology, Bhubaneswar, NIT,
Rourkela, VNIT, Nagpur, NIT, Kurukshetra, Bengal
Engineering and Science University, Shivpur, NIT,
Warangal, lIT, Powai, and lIT, Kharagpur. The data
collection has started at all the Institutes.
Use of modified bitumen: Modified bitumen of various
kinds including polymer modified bitumen and rubber
modified bitumen has been established as improving
road quality and thus has techno-economic advantages
in certain traffic, terrain and climatic conditions. The
Ministry of Rural Development has encouraged the
state governments to use modified bitumen in rural
road construction.
Traffic volume studies on completed PMGSY assessed
through traffic counts: In order to verify whether the
assumed base year traffic and/or the assumed growth
rate is reflected in the traffic plying on the road after its
completion, it is proposed to conduct traffic volume
surveys on representative roads taking one per block
in the set of roads completed before December,
2003, preferably of Phase-II. The task was assigned to
STAs, who selected the roads in consultation with the
respective State Rural Roads Development Agencies
(SRRDAs). Eighteen institutions have collected
the data and submitted, which is being analysed for
drawing conclusions.
The research schemes sponsored by the department are
generally ‘applied’ in nature, which, once completed, would
enable them to be adopted by user agencies/departments
in their work in the field. The areas covered are roads, road
transport, bridges, traffic and transportation techniques
108 India: Science and Technology
etc. Figure 04.03.17 gives the nature of S&T investment
for roads; it shows that training has gained importance
over years but R&D investments are not yet stable. In this
context, there is need to identify areas for further R&D for
modernization of execution of works, enhancing use of
local and marginal materials, pavement evaluation, cost-
effective maintenance treatments, low cost surface sealing,
dust control treatments.
Areas that Require S&T Intervention and Skills
The working group report mentions the need to interface the
practices at various stages in the rural sector with different
hubs like technology hub, interface hub, operational hub,
monitoring hub and maintenance hub. These hubs are
to be co-ordinated with the spatial display systems of
Figure 04.03.17: Trends of expenditure in S&T for rural roads
( lakh)
Source: Annual reports of various years NRRDA
every state and the R&D efforts will be generalized on
the basis of the study and approaches. Such hubs shall be
essential to operate at regional or central level for effective
communication and transparency in implementing the
rural roads planning, construction, maintenance and
operational activities.
R&D is an important process in planning, construction,
designing and maintaining the roads in rural sector.
Research studies which can formulate a matrix of various
jobs involved in construction and maintenance of rural
roads with the appropriate methods that can maximize use
of local skills and local materials with light machinery, and
restricting the heavy machinery to such items are necessary.
GIS in rural roads is having a multifaceted application
at various stages in planning, designing, construction,
maintenance and monitoring of the rural assets. There
is a need for generating a transparent approach which is
founded on topographic sheets, ground truth verifications,
cadastral maps and satellite enabled mapping either by
GPS or satellite.
Road safety is of the great concern on rural roads where
accidents are occurring due to multifaceted reasons.
Accidents are occurring in rural roads because of improper
treatment of junctions when connecting rural roads
to higher order roads; deficiency of road information
systems; improper driving skills; land use impacts on the
roads; geometric deficiencies; structural conditions of the
road; and composition of slow moving vehicles. There is a
need for the research enabled solutions through simulating
the spatial features of the road at the junctions, curves
and at mid blocks with different templates like braking
distance, sight distance, sight triangle, turning path, glare
recovery, perceptional reactions and peripheral visibilities
etc. Therefore, road accidents can be minimized by taking
adequate care at design stage, during construction/
maintenance operations and during the use of the road
by both pedestrians and vehicle drivers. At every stage the
R&D approach should be sensitively taken into account for
updating the conventional procedures. The R&D efforts
should always be bridged between field engineers and the
researchers with technology, concepts and approaches as
connectors.
S&T Supported Development
Interventions in Meghalaya
Meghalaya, a state carved out of Assam in 1972 has a
geographical area of 22, 429 sq.km and is inhabited by 2.96
million people (2011 census). Hydrologically, Meghalaya
comprises two basins, viz., the left bank of Brahmaputra
Basin (11220.11 km2) and the Brahmaputra Tributaries
Basin (11208.89 km2), three catchments viz., Kalang to
Dhansiri confluence (about 4499.61 km2), Bangladesh
Border to Kalang Confluence (About 6720.50 km2) and
south flowing drainage of Meghalaya (11208.89 km2).
Though the state is bestowed with water resources, the
hydrological units in the state are under stress as evident
from the drying of springs and water sources, declining
water storage capacities and reduced depth of flow of
streams and rivers due to excessive human use and
sedimentation.
Realizing the importance of science and technology in

the development sector, many initiatives are planned in
the state. The government of Meghalaya has earmarked
an amount of 10,680 lakhs for science, technology and
environment, which works out to 2.3 per cent of the total
budget allocation of 4,14,100 lakh for different sectors for
2013–14. The details are as below:
( In Lakhs)
1. Scientific research (including S& T) 600.00
2. Biotechnology 200.00
3. GIS/Geo spatial technology 200.00
4. Information Technology 255.00
5. Ecology and Environment 130.00
6. Forestry and Wildlife 7000.00
(includes TFC award of 42.02 crores for
maintenance of forests, Zoological Parks and
Botanical Gardens)
Total 10680.00
The government has launched a flagship programme
‘Integrated Basin Development & Livelihood Promotion
Programme (IBDLP)’, with the main objective of
promoting knowledge-centric development by building
human capacity and capability in the domains of natural
resources management and entrepreneurship. Induction
of technologies forms an important component. The
programme will be for five years covering the Twelfth Plan
period.
Water as a resource has attained more significance and since
the Twelfth Plan also gives more focus on water, water is
assigned the central focus in this programme. The thrust
areas of the IBDLP include integrated water resources
management, creation of Small Multipurpose Reservoirs
(SMRs), generating water centric livelihoods such as
fisheries, and aqua tourism, etc. The core of this strategy is
launching independent missions for the specific sectors and
organically merging them with the IBDLP. There are nine
missions under IBDLP – aquaculture, apiculture, energy,
forestry, horticulture, livestock, sericulture, tourism and
water.
The process of preparing the mission activities is highly
participatory, involving all the stakeholders dependent on
natural resources for their livelihood as also the officials,
professionals, experts and activists.
Knowledge management is considered critical in relation to
Rural India: S&T for Skills and Employment 109
different missions. Each mission will address the following:
1. Productivity/yield gap – to utilize knowledge on new
generation technologies
2. Sustainable resource use – knowledge on how to bring
about collective decisions on resource use
3. Marketing and quality management – knowledge on
organized and efficient marketing, value chain, etc
4. Climate change – knowledge for anticipation and
adaptation
5. Reform – knowledge on how to promote institutional
learning and creation of institutions that are current
and futuristic
Capacity building is considered a crucial component for
achieving the desired results. This would be a continuous
process enabling functionaries/stakeholders at different
levels to enhance their knowledge and skills and develop
correct orientation and perspectives, thereby becoming
more effective in performing the designed jobs and
undertaking roles and responsibilities.
Under the programme, promoting entrepreneurship
development aims at developing behavioural and
managerial qualities with necessary support for engaging in
natural resources management, knowledge management,
governance, business and enterprise. The entire spectrum
of activities such as knowledge development, incubation,
hand-holding, financial inclusion, market access,
infrastructure services such as storage facilities, transport
services, connectivity, water and energy security, cold chain
and organized market services will be facilitated along the
identified value-chains covered under the programme.
Water has been at the core of various developmental
schemes initiated by the different ministries of
Government of India. Consequently, there have been a
number of schemes initiated by different departments,
which have as their critical component, water conservation
and management issues. Watershed development
projects are being implemented in Meghalaya under
four programmes of Government of India viz., IWMP,
Integrated Wastelands Development Programme (IWDP),
Watershed Development Project in Shifting Cultivation
Areas (WDPSCA) and National Watershed Development
Project in Rain fed Areas (NWDPRA). A watershed project
in a village is considered as an immensely suitable focal
point for the various developmental activities for synergy
and convergence.
110 India: Science and Technology
Development of appropriate knowledge for effective
conservation and prudent utilization of natural resources
is an essential prerequisite for food/water/livelihood-
security, climate change management and sustainable
development. Since a sizeable portion of the population
of Meghalaya is dependent on the natural resources and
ecosystem for livelihood and overall well-being, it becomes
essential that adequate resources are produced for ensuring
effective and participation in practice of the stake holders
in the process of managing the framework of micro-
enterprise in line with sustainable development. The poor
can effectively participate in the process only if the agenda
of such development is squarely inclusive of their interests
in livelihood security, long-term prosperity and general
well-being.
The different missions also focus on green jobs that help
to protect ecosystem by reducing energy, materials and
water consumption through high efficiency strategies. A
green job is one that helps bringing about and maintaining
a transition to environmentally sustained forms of
production and consumption. enterprise facilitation
centres are proposed to be established designed as one
stop shop and a sensitive public interface by providing
an environment for enterprise development and hand-
holding support for fledgling microenterprises.
The Water Mission of Meghalaya is formulated to promote
IWRM and building of water based and water related
livelihood and enterprise opportunities in the state. SMRs
will be constructed to impound water along the cascades
and will be used for various productive purposes like
aquaculture, drinking water supply, mini-hydel (<100KW)
irrigation, aesthetic value, tourism and ecosystem
promotion, etc.
Of the nine missions, Aquaculture Mission is taken as a
case for detailed analysis as to how technological inputs
are given importance and technologies are inducted
for increased production, productivity, value addition,
marketing, etc.
The state has great potential for the development of fisheries.
The National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSA) data reveals
that a large extent of area is available for fish production.
But there are no firm estimates of the production of fish
in the state. The major reason is the absence of any reliable
study on the fish production in the state. The available data
with all its limitations show that the state produced about
4500 MT of fish during 2010–12. The trends indicate
stagnation in fish production since the beginning of 1990s.
Data on consumption is more reliable than production
data because the former is available from the National
Sample Surveys. According to the Sixty-first round of
the National Sample Survey pertaining to 2004–05, per
capita annual consumption of fish is 6.425 kg per capita
in Meghalaya as against 7.096 kg at the national level. If
the same level of consumption is considered for 2011,
the total consumption in the state is estimated at 19,000
MT. The gap between demand and supply will be about
14,500 MT. The Aquaculture Mission is designed to
bridge this gap, induct new technologies and address the
concerns of conservation, convergence, livelihood and
entrepreneurship development. The existing data shows
that per capita availability of fish declined from 201 kg to
105 kg during the last decade because of the stagnation in
production and high population growth. The sector has a
negligible contribution to the GSDP as well as agricultural
income. The demand projections indicate that there is
a need for the expansion of 5,000 hectares to meet the
additional demand in the Twelfth Plan period and 6,000
hectares to fill the existing gap between demand and supply.
Given the wide canvass of the Aquaculture Mission,
mini-missions and sub components are formed to narrow
down and focus on particular aspects of the Mission. Mini
Mission-I is ‘Area and Productivity Expansion’, which will
be achieved through four sub components.
Component-I is related to ‘Individual Pond Construction’.
All the persons who are interested to take up fishing and
have land of at least 0.10 hectare or 1,000 square meters
will be provided financial support in terms of assistance
and loan for the construction of pond and maintenance in
the first year.
Component II is the ‘Community Pond Construction’.
Economies of scale in fish production can be realized
in this component because each community pond will
have at least a size of two hectares. Component III is the
development of marshy and swampy areas and bheels.
Component IV is ‘Reservoir Fishery Development’. This
component is very efficient because it does not require any
capital investment.
Mini-Mission II is ‘Critical Infrastructure Development’
and precisely addresses the issues of fish seed production,
fish feed production, fish disease management and post
harvest management. The technologies developed by the
research system will be properly utilized to address the
various production constraints.

The production of fingerlings has also not shown any
growth except in the last three years. The number of
fingerlings produced in the state increased from 10.0
lakh in 2006–07 to 29.6 lakh in 2010–11. This threefold
increase in the production of fingerlings in just four years
is an indication that the sector is on the process of growth
and this has mainly happened due to the financial support
provided for the sector under the RKVY.
The poor quality of seed combined with low feed results in
low growth of fish. The average weight of fish is only 0.3 and
0.4 kg in the state as against 1 to 2 kg in other states. This
mini-mission is highly important as it can help in breaking
the vicious cycle of low inputs and low productivity. When
the fish seed is not available at close vicinity and even the
available feed is of is of poor quality, there will be high
mortality. This high mortality will lead to low and poor
quality feeding. The result of poor feeding is low growth
and low weight, not exceeding 0.4 kg per fish.
Establishment of sanctuaries and conservation of
indigenous and endemic species is the focus of Mini-
Mission III. Conservation is important at least for four
reasons.
1. The species indigenous to the state are the wealth of
the state and they require to be preserved for posterity.
2. They are also highly valuable food fish.
3. They form a source of livelihood for many fishers.
4. They offer a great potential as sport fish for promotion
of aqua-tourism.
The most important aspect for the success of the Mission
is capacity building of farmers as well as officials, multi-
service providers, co-operators etc. Mini-Mission IV,
known as ‘Capacity Building’, is intended for this.
Capacity building refers to the strengthening of the skills,
competencies and abilities of the stakeholders so they can
perform their tasks effectively. The successful execution of
the various components of the Aquaculture Mission will
call for systematic building of the competencies of various
stakeholders to the required degree. The fish farmers under
the Mission will be provided training on the technologies
to be adopted by them and they also will be exposed to
technologies developed by the national institutes through
exposure visits. Rural youth will be employed for providing
various services to the fish farmers, which is referred to as
Multiple Service Providers (MSPs). They will be given
intensive training by the Mission on selected technologies.
The MSPs will be utilized for providing various fishery
Rural India: S&T for Skills and Employment 111
related services to the farmers. They will be undertaking
green jobs in the fisheries sector.
Two aspects of the Mission are critical for its success –
awareness building among the masses and documentation
of the success stories. All these activities come under
the purview of Mini Mission–V, known as ‘Mass Media
Campaigns, Documentation and Outreach’.
Mission–VI, ‘Emerging Opportunities in the Fisheries
Sector’ will focus on the new opportunities that can
be availed by the sector. Several opportunities like
development of ornamental/aquarium fish, trout farming,
fresh water prawn/scampi culture are emerging in the
sector. Building up entrepreneurship in these areas is the
focus of this component.
A very important component from the point of maximizing
the productivity of water is development of fisheries on
reservoirs and lakes. This component is based on inter-
departmental convergence. The type of integration would
be to take up downstream activities after one department
completes one activity. For instance, when the Soil and Water
Conservation Department completes the construction of a
Small Multipurpose Reservoir, the Fisheries Department
will release the fingerlings in the Reservoir while at the
same time training and activating the community towards
fisheries sector. Likewise, the Community and Rural
Development (C&RD) Department will look into the
need for construction of a connecting road to the reservoir
and the Tourism Department will develop the requisite
tourism infrastructure.
The Aquaculture Mission will have functional convergence
with programmes like MGNREGS, RKVY and NRLM,
etc. and thematic convergence with line departments like
water resources department, soil and water conservation,
and tourism. The Mission proposes to develop an MIS
vested with the responsibility to collect all the relevant data
including details of water bodies, details of beneficiaries,
financial details, etc. Social audit will be employed to
monitor the progress of the Mission in the field. It is
proposed under the Mission to create a social audit team
involving beneficiaries of the programme, civil society
members, media personnel and reputed persons in the
society to ensure transparency and accountability of the
programme.
One NGO (Rombagre Natural Management Resource
Group) has been striving in conserving the indigenous
aquatic resources of the Simsang River (Garo hills)
located on the Tura-Williamnagar road. It has become a
112 India: Science and Technology
popular tourist spot as the visitors passing through this
place are fascinated with the fishes being conserved. In
the Rombagre Fish sanctuary, the view point platform
and approach footpath were constructed by the tourism
department, and the revenue generated by way of entry
fee is utilized for the maintenance of the reservoir. This is a
good case of convergence of tourism department with the
fisheries department in achieving the objective of mahseer
conservation.
The available data on the sector is quite scanty and there
is a need for strengthening the data base. An inventory of
existing water bodies and their condition has to be prepared
and sample survey has to be conducted for understanding
the problems. Geo Positioning System (GPS) will be
used in identifying the location of the water bodies and
calculating their size. The water bodies will be allotted a
registration number which is also tagged to the beneficiary.
In the later stages, the use of Geographical Information
System (GIS) and remote sensing will be made use of.
This would make available data i.e. Location, size, types
of water bodies and other important data, on a map which
can be displayed/viewed at any point of time. This would
require close coordination with remote sensing agencies
Summing Up: S&T for Skills and Employment in Rural India
Employment, or more specifically, more decent work and
more productive employment, is the declared goal of India’s
Twelfth Five Year Plan (2013–17). With rapid economic
growth during the past decade and limited growth in
industrial and service sector employment, agriculture
continues to host more than half the nation’s workforce.
This pain of structural unemployment is more acute given
the rapidly shrinking share of agriculture in national GDP.
While service sector growth has increased value-added
employment in urban India, the rural population involved
in service sector jobs accounts for a minimal share of
the value-added in the service sector, as is typical of un-
or low-skilled rural labour in India. With the informal
unorganized proportion of the workforce increasing to
92.8 per cent, there are questions of skills and capacities
for workforce participation and the changes necessary
in the formal organized sectors as well as the rules or
institutions and laws of employment. This chapter has
which have access to satellite data like North East Space
Application Centre (NeSAC), Umiam and the Geo Spatial
Technology Mission authorities in Delhi. The process has
already started.
Several meaningful interventions have been envisaged for
the civil society in terms of the specific activities that would
be broadly under the umbrella of mass awareness, mass
mobilization, specific campaigns for the conservation of the
native and endemic species of the state and social audit of
the implementation of the Mission. With the launching of
Aquaculture Mission, the Fisheries department considered
as a tiny department with a budgetary allocation of less than
10 crores per year has now emerged as a major player with
many activities and services for the fishing communities.
Innovations in governance, including mobilization of
funds from different sources such as RKVY under the
Ministry of Agriculture, NFDB, NEC, NCDC, SPA, state
plans and various schemes under the central ministries,
institutional credit support through the Meghalaya Co-
operative Bank, are being enabled. These decentralized
and location specific knowledge and administration offer
several lessons for rural development in other states.
explored, albeit in a very limited manner, the ways in
which formal S&T and other knowledge can contribute
to building these skills and employment opportunities
where possible, and creating appropriate governance
mechanisms where needed. Focusing on rural India, the
chapter presented information and brief relevant analyses
of the range of S&T contents and investments available
for rural India and how these S&T investments work to
create employment opportunities, skills and incomes for
the rural workforce. Following the Eichengreen and Gupta
(2010) classification, and the key questions posed about
S&T, skills and rural employment, the chapter reported
about S&T, skills and employment for rural India, in three
sections; on (1) the overall macro-economic contexts
of rural employment and S&T; (2) the magnitude and
nature of production services and knowledge/S&T
support available; and (3) the governance of knowledge
for services and employment opportunities.

An acknowledgement of limited data on the service
sector and its growth drivers in rural India, is also an
acknowledgment of the ways in which knowledge
generation for the service sector and skill development
therein, is often based on assumptions of central or
median norm and in some cases on existing models of
S&T that generate knowledge for the demand to generate
employment for the massive rural workforce has shaped
many government programme or schemes. While the
MGNREGA is the most renowned and most recent scheme,
there are many other schemes that focus on providing
skills and services for rural occupations, be it agricultural,
artisanal or rural industrial. The chapter on S&T for rural
India (Raina, 2012), in the India S&T Report highlighted
the schemes like MGNREGA which were articulating the
need for professional scientific and technological support.
In several sub-sections here (forestry, small ruminants,
vocational education, drinking water, health care, agriculture,
inland fisheries, etc.), the authors reflect on how centralized
and highly compartmentalized knowledge and technology
generation and delivery systems do not enable appropriate
technologies or job creation. India’s formal S&T system,
geared to publications and patents at best, and repetitive
and ritualistic research (as noted by several evaluations of its
scientific research councils), is yet to develop capacities to
work with and strengthen employment generation schemes
like MGNREGA which are meant to create durable assets
for rural production systems.
In agriculture, forestry, health care and education,
the hierarchical organization of the S&T and service
delivery system is evident. In rural India, the bio-physical
and social-economic complexities within which these
services operate, demand location specific knowledge
and governance mechanisms. The expenditure by
state governments on different services and the S&T
investments by state governments reveal how in sectors like
education and agriculture (social services and economic
services respectively), the services are delivered in a highly
skewed and centralized mode, with the S&T funding and
agenda setting role of the Union Government denying the
opportunity for decentralized, location specific knowledge
and skill development. A clear policy message that emerges
from this data on service sector spending is for the state
governments to ensure more state level spending in these
services with increased local R&D on the questions of
local relevance for these services (especially production
services for the rural economy) and far more decentralized
governance of these resources expended on general, social
and economic services.
Rural India: S&T for Skills and Employment 113
Besides the domination of the union government, the
picture of regional distribution of services and skills that
can be supported by the formal S&T system is one where
the smaller states and the south Indian states fare relatively
better than the larger states and the central and western
states. In agriculture, the southern states have not only
increased their growth rate of agricultural research and
education expenditure far more than the northern, western
or eastern states, they have also diversified into horticulture
and other allied sectors in agriculture. This overlaps with
the cumulative exclusion of some eight states from service
sector growth – states with a predominantly SC, ST, and
Muslim populations which have had consistently low
growth rates of GDP compared to the national GDP
growth rates. These are eight states with predominant
small ruminant livestock populations, marginal and small
farm holdings and high scope for growth of rain-fed
agriculture and inland fisheries. This is evident from the
sub-sections on production services available for these
rural production systems. But there is little scope for
state governments asserting their role (as assigned by the
Constitution of the Republic of India) to plan for, invest
in and enable the growth of agricultural, health, education
and rural industrial sectors. Overall, the relative weakness
of the state governments to take up decentralized location
specific knowledge generation and delivery of production
services is an important concern. Smaller states like Kerala
and Goa with relatively better devolution to the PRIs (both
functional devolution and overall provision of services)
and other small states spend more on service sector, unlike
the large central Indian or north Indian states.
The opportunities for non-farm or rural industrial skills
and jobs are most widely discussed in the food processing
sub-sector. Many of the major weaknesses of rural
industrialization, like poor infrastructure, inconsistent
central and state government decision making, poor
quality of manpower, and inappropriate regional matching
of resources and investments, affect food processing
industry. But most importantly, it is the massive informal
and unorganized sector in the food processing industry and
market fluctuations that subvert effective generation and
delivery of knowledge or support services for these sectors.
Many institutional innovations like the modern trading
practices in high value processed goods like Mentha, or the
new producer companies that seem more skill based and
market oriented than the traditional cooperatives, offer the
desired scale effects for small producers to access and use
quality production services and derive greater value-added
per worker. But there is limited social science research on
 114 India: Science and Technology
institutional innovations of these types that can increase
value-added per farm or per rural worker. Institutional
innovations are necessary in the artisanal production
systems too, where the capital intensive technological
upgradation often comes at the cost of thousands of small
artisans losing out on their occupations. That centralized
funding for rural innovation as provided by agencies like
NABARD does not include these crucial rural institutional
innovations is a major limitation in knowledge services for
rural development.
S&T inputs for improvement of rural and vocation
education, rural infrastructure services like roads, ICTs
and drinking water, are generally poor and minimal. The
fact that gender issues are relegated to union ministries
and their departments as a gender budgeting concern,
with limited enquiry into the reasons and nature of
female labour force participation, wage parity or working
conditions, is a revelation of how the systems of education
(in agricultural sciences as discussed here) as well as
administration of development prefer the convenient
count of women, instead of inclusion of substantive gender
concerns in their planning and investments. The state level
design of specific missions with set targets for development
of local level skills and capacities (as in the Meghalaya
and Uttarakhand cases here) is relatively new and is
absent in the larger states, even in the ones that pioneered
the participatory irrigation management or water user
association experiments. Communication technologies
and a rigorous understanding of contexts of information
need, information generation, access and use, are equally
important for the formal S&T system and for the producers
and workers in rural India. Ultimately, the use of knowledge
and formal S&T in particular for skills and employment in
or through the service sector in rural India, comes down
to a theoretical understanding of communication and what
access to information means for the underprivileged and
historically discriminated populations in rural India.
The major policy messages from this report of S&T for
skills and employment in rural India are:
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1. Initiation of opportunities for the formal S&T system
to work on and with context specific occupations and
skills therein; in other words increased capacities and
appropriate evaluation criteria for scientists to work
with participatory decentralized rural innovation
coalitions.
2. More funding and appropriate personnel for S&T
establishments at the state government level, with
specific focus on the agricultural and rural non-farm
production systems, especially the generation and
refinement of knowledge and technologies needed by
small farmers and artisans.
3. Increased S&T attention to the allied sectors in
agriculture, like livestock, inland fisheries and rural
artisanal jobs and production systems, with programme
level convergence across various ministries and
departments, private and civil society organizations to
achieve specific employment and income targets.
4. Increased research on and support for infrastructure,
communication, market development, gender
budgeting, innovative financial products, and
local governance systems, preferably at the lowest
administrative unit – say, a block or gram panchayat
level.
5. Massive increase in funding for rural education
and vocational training, with professional support
and scientific research commitment to major
rural development and employment generation
programmes.
It is important to note that India’s formal S&T establishment
and the universities, in both public and private sector, are
capable of conducting a significant amount of quality
research on several problems relevant to rural production
systems and skills needed therein. Today, the policy
and administrative frameworks within the formal S&T
system need reform – from recruitment and evaluation of
S&T personnel to setting a centralized agenda within the
sciences.