ABSTRACT
As evidenced by the remarkable success of small rural industries in developing countries such as China as well as other East and South Asian countries including Sri Lanka, the discourse on development in India has acknowledged that the rural non-farm sector (RNFS) can play a critical role in the reduction of rural poverty. This sector generates employment and provides increased levels of income for the large and growing rural workforce. There is now growing recognition among policy makers that RNFS deserves to be given more importance in development planning and policies, particularly with regards to the policy framework directed towards the betterment of weaker sections of society, such as the Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), women and agricultural labour. As a result, measures geared towards educational development and access to institutional credit are viewed as major instruments for enabling weaker sections of society to have access to rural non-farm employment (RNFE). In addition, schemes such as the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme are seen to be facilitators for the engagement of weaker sections of society in non-farm activities, particularly in areas without proper and adequate development of RNFS.
