Composition of Working Population elaborates the different kinds of occupational activities in India and their factors. The composition of the working population in India operates under various categories that have been explained below in detail. It is necessary to understand what defines a country’s socio-economic status. Also, this topic talks about improvement strategies of a country or region’s economic status.

Composition of Working Population

Primary occupations

• Hunting and gathering: This is known as one of the first means of survival for humans. Some tribes still depend on hunting animals for flesh and gathering edible plants from forests. This needs meagre capital investment, and the yield per person is also scarce. Nowadays, the gathering has become commercial as plants and barks are sold in the market after processing
• Pastoralism: Also known as animal rearing, pastoralism is another primary activity that involves domesticating animals at commercial levels. This may be further classified into nomadic herding and commercial livestock rearing
• Agriculture: This activity forms most rural India, where many people are cultivators and agricultural labourers. Agriculture may be performed depending on the type of weather, region, irrigation, and crops. Agriculture can be primitive and intensive. Other types involve plantation agriculture, extensive commercial grain cultivation, mixed farming, dairy farming, Mediterranean agriculture, viticulture, horticulture, cooperative farming, and collective farming
• Mining: This refers to discovering minerals and their use in manufacturing tools, utensils, etc. Mining is affected by terrain, economy, and weather. Mining can be underground or surface

Secondary occupations

• Manufacturing: Manufacturing is a vast process that includes procuring raw materials, designing, assembling, finishing, and much more. It can be small-scale or large-scale. It may also need significant capital investment and proper planning. Manufacturing depends on mechanisation, technological innovation, uneven geographic distribution, access to market/raw material/labour supply/transportation, government policies, and links between industries
• Cottage manufacturing: This is a small-scale manufacturing unit. Families run these small businesses in their residential areas. The products are sold in local markets later. Many new small businesses are coming up as people in India are supporting ‘vocal for local
• Industries based on raw materials: These include agro, food processing, mineral, chemical, animal, and forest-based industries
• Industries based on product: These include iron, steel, and textile industries
• Industries based on ownership: These include public sector units (Government-owned), private sector industries (Individual owned), joint sector industries (owned by private-public sector together)
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Tertiary occupations

• Trade and commerce: This includes buying and selling from rural or urban market areas. Trading can be retail or wholesale
• Transport: Transport is a service that satisfies an individual’s basic need for mobility. The factors affecting transport are demand, population size, location, climate, and funds
• Communication: These services include a vast network of radio, television, mobiles, newspapers, and the internet. Communication is directly linked to the modern technological growth of a country. A large working population is engaged in this sector

Quaternary activities

• Quaternary activities are specialized tertiary activities in the ‘Knowledge Sector’.Personnel working in office buildings, elementary schools and university classrooms, hospitals and doctors’ offices, theatres, accounting and brokerage firms etc. belong to this category of services. Like some of the tertiary functions, quaternary activities can also be outsourced
• Quinary activities: Quinary activities include services that emphasise creating and interpreting new or old data. The highest level of decision-makers performs quinary activities
• The digital divide: Technological development is highly uneven due to the difference in resource distribution throughout India. Although India has been making a lot of progress in the IT sector, most of its rural population still remains unaware of such advancements. The occupational trend needs uniformity throughout the country. Better resource distribution and connectivity can help decrease this digital divide
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Conclusion

A country’s socio-economic status depends on the population of people doing all sorts of jobs and producing income. The activities of the active people may be primary, secondary, or tertiary.