Informal sector and conditions of employment in india

Report No. 539 (66/10/2)
Informal Sector and Conditions of
Employment in India
NSS 66th ROUND
(July 2009 – June 2010)
National Sample Survey Office
National Statistical Organisation
Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation
Government of India
January 2012

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iv

Highlights
HIGHLIGHTS
This report is based on the eighth quinquennial survey on employment and unemployment
conducted in the 66th round of NSS during July 2009 to June 2010. The survey was spread over
7,402 villages and 5,252 urban blocks covering 1,00,957 households (59,129 in rural areas and
41,828 in urban areas) and enumerating 4,59,784 persons (2,81,327 in rural areas and 1,78,457
in urban areas).
In the NSS 66th round, particulars of the workers in the informal sector and conditions of
employment of the different categories of employees (viz., regular wage/ salaried workers and
casual labourers) were collected for the industry groups/ divisions 012, 014, 015, 02,05, 10-99 of
NIC-2004. Among these, the industry groups/divisions 012, 014, 015, 02, 05 (henceforth
referred to as AGEGC sector) were in the [ag]ricultural sector [e]xcluding only [g]rowing of
[c]rops, market gardening, horticulture (industry group 011) and growing of crops combined
with farming of animals (industry group 013). The industry groups 011 and 013 were kept out of
the coverage. This information was collected from those who were classified as workers
according to usual principal status (ps) including those engaged in subsidiary economic activity
(ss). The discussions on informal sector and conditions of employment, refer to the workers in
usual status (ps+ss) engaged in AGEGC and non-agriculture sectors.
In India, nearly 49 per cent of the workers were employed in the industry groups 011 and 013-
nearly 63 per cent in the rural areas and 6 per cent in the urban areas. The coverage of this report
has been mostly confined to AGEGC and the non-agriculture sectors for purpose of discussion
on informal sector and conditions of employment of the employees. However, the discussion on
the existence of union/ association pertains not only to employees but also to the self-employed
workers in all the industry divisions of NIC-2004, i.e., NIC –2004 codes 01 to 99.
Some of the key findings relating to workers in informal sector (defined to cover proprietary and
partnership enterprises), location of workplace of the workers, proportion of workers engaged in
enterprises that used electricity, size of the enterprise, wage and salary earnings of the
employees, and some of conditions of employment of the employees (regular wage/salaried
employees and casual labourers), viz., type of job contract, eligibility of paid leave, nature of
employment (temporary/permanent), availability of social security benefits, etc., are given
below:
1. Workers in Informal sector
(a) Share of workers (ps+ss) in AGEGC and non-agriculture sectors [para. 3.1.3 and 3.1.4]:
 In rural areas, AGEGC and non-agriculture sectors together shared 37 per cent (AGEGC: 5
per cent and non-agriculture: 32 per cent) of the all workers (ps+ss).
 In urban areas, AGEGC and non-agriculture sectors together shared 94 per cent (AGEGC:
1.6 per cent and non-agriculture: 92.5 per cent) of the workers.
 Among the workers in AGEGC and non-agriculture sectors, the AGEGC engaged nearly 8
per cent and the remaining 92 per cent of the workers were in non-agriculture sector.
NSS Report No. 539: Informal Sector and Conditions of Employment in India
i

Highlights
 In the distribution of the total workers in AGEGC and non-agriculture sectors, in the urban
areas the non-agriculture sector shared nearly 98 per cent of the workers compared to 87 per
cent in rural areas.
(b) Share of workers in informal sector [para.3.2.2 and 3.2.5]:
 Among all workers in AGEGC and non-agriculture sectors, nearly 71 per cent were engaged
in the informal sector (74 per cent in the rural areas and 67 per cent in the urban areas).
 More than 93 per cent of workers in both rural and urban areas engaged in AGEGC belonged
to the informal sector. In the non- agriculture sector, nearly 71 per cent of the workers in
rural areas and 67 in urban areas were engaged in the informal sector.
 Among self-employed in non-agriculture sector, about 92 per cent in the rural areas and 95
per cent in the urban areas worked in the informal sector.
 Among casual labourers engaged in works other than public works in the non-agriculture
sector, nearly 73 per cent in both the rural and urban areas worked in the informal sector.
 Among regular wage/salaried employees in non-agriculture sector, nearly 39 per cent in the
rural areas and 40 per cent in the urban areas worked in the informal sector.
(c) Informal sector workers in broad industry of work [para.3.2.7 and 3.2.8]:
 Construction, manufacturing and wholesale and retail trade activities together was the main
providers of employment for the informal sector enterprises and ‘all’ enterprises in both the
rural and urban areas.
 Out of all workers in the non-agriculture informal sector, 76 per cent in the rural areas and
72 per cent in urban areas belonged to construction, manufacturing and wholesale and retail
trade provided. The corresponding figures for all workers in non-agriculture sector in rural
and urban areas were nearly 69 per cent and 59 per cent, respectively.
 Proportions of informal sector workers in the activities which provided majority of
ii
employment in informal sector:
industry sections rural urban
manufacturing 86 78
construction 64 72
wholesale or retail trade, etc. 91 92
transport, storage and communication 82 68
 Among the female workers in informal sector, nearly 53 per cent in rural areas and 47 per
cent in urban areas were in manufacturing activity. In the manufacturing activity, a higher
proportion of female workers were employed in informal sector than males: 87 per cent of
female workers compared to 75 per cent of male workers in urban areas and 93 per cent of
female workers compared to 83 per cent of male workers in rural areas.

Highlights
(d) Location of workplace of informal sector workers [para. 3.2.10]:
 The proportion of rural female workers having workplace in rural areas was 93 per cent and
in the case of male it was nearly 83 per cent.
 The proportion of urban female workers having their workplace in urban areas was nearly
92 per cent and in the case of male it was nearly 85 per cent.
 Among the workers in informal sector residing in rural areas, nearly 95 per cent of females
and 86 per cent of males had their workplace in rural areas.
 Among the workers in informal sector residing in the urban areas, nearly 92 per cent of
females and 83 per cent of males had their workplace in urban areas.
 In rural areas, nearly 68 per cent of females and 21 per cent of males employed in informal
sector was working in any of the following types of workplaces: (i) own dwelling, (ii)
structure attached to own dwelling unit, (iii) open area adjacent to own dwelling unit and
(iv) detached structure adjacent to own dwelling unit. The corresponding proportions in
urban areas were nearly 52 per cent for females compared to 15 per cent of males.
(e) Informal sector workers in manufacturing enterprises that used electricity [para.3.2.11]:
 In the rural areas, 31 per cent of all workers engaged in manufacturing were employed in
enterprises that used electricity for production purposes and in the case of informal sector
manufacturing enterprises, the share was 27 per cent. In the urban areas, corresponding
proportions were 58 per cent and 52 per cent, respectively.
(f) Informal sector workers in smaller enterprises (i.e. enterprise with less than 6 workers)
iii
[para.3.2.12]:
 In rural areas, 77 per cent of the workers in informal sectors were engaged in smaller
enterprises compared to 64 per cent of ‘all’ workers, while the corresponding proportions in
urban areas were 69 per cent and 53 per cent, respectively.
(g) Wage/salary earning of the employees in informal sector enterprises [para. 3.2.13]:
 The regular wage/salaried employees engaged in the informal sector enterprises earned
nearly half the salary earnings (per day) of the employees considering all types of
enterprises- Rs. 321 for ‘all’ types of enterprises and Rs. 177 for informal sector enterprises.
In the case of casual labourers, it was Rs. 115 in the informal sector enterprises and Rs. 112
for ‘all’ enterprises.
2. Conditions of Employment
(a) Employees without written job contract [para. 3.3.2]:
 Among all the employees (regular wage/salaried employees and casual labourers) in the non-agriculture
sector, nearly 81 per cent in the rural areas and 74 per cent in urban areas had no
written job contract.
 Among the regular wage/salaried employees in the non-agriculture sector, nearly 60 per cent
in rural areas and 65 per cent in the urban areas had no written job contract.

Highlights
(b) Employees with temporary nature of employment [para. 3.3.3]:
 Among all the employees in the non-agriculture sector, nearly 52 per cent in the rural areas
and 42 per cent in the urban areas had temporary nature of employment.
(c) Employees without paid leave [para. 3.3.4]:
 Among all the employees in the non-agriculture sector, nearly 80 per cent in rural areas and
60 per cent in urban areas were not eligible for paid leave.
in rural areas and 46 per cent in urban areas were not eligible for paid leave.
(d) Employees without any social security benefit [para. 3.3.5]:
 Among all the employees in the non-agriculture sector, nearly 82 per cent in rural areas and
64 per cent in urban areas were not eligible for any social security benefit.
in rural areas and nearly 53 per cent in urban areas were not eligible for any social security
benefit.
(e) Employees without written job contract and paid leave [para. 3.3.6]:
 Among all the employees in the AGEGC and non-agriculture sector, nearly 75 per cent in
rural areas and 56 per cent in urban areas neither had written job contract and nor were
eligible for paid leave.
(f) Method of payment of employees [para. 3.3.7]:
 Among the regular wage/salaried employees in the AGEGC and non-agriculture sector,
nearly 90 per cent got regular monthly salary and among casual labourers, only 7 per cent
got regular monthly salary and 53 per cent got daily payment.
3. Existence of Union/ Association [para.3.4]
 Among all workers of age 15 years and above engaged in any of the industry divisions 01 to
99 of NIC-2004, nearly 79 per cent had no union/ association in their activity: it was nearly
85 per cent among casual labourers, nearly 81 per cent among the self-employed persons and
nearly 58 per cent among the regular wage/salaried employees.
iv

Contents
Contents
Page
Chapter One Introduction 1 - 7
Chapter Two Concepts and Definitions 8 - 32
Chapter Three Summary of Findings 33 - 153
Appendix A Detailed Tables: Table 1 to Table 12 (in CD) A-1 - A-681
Appendix B Sample Design and Estimation Procedure B-1 - B-8
Appendix C Population Projection C-1 - C-3
Appendix D Schedule on Employment and Unemployment (Sch. 10) D-1 - D-16
Appendix A
Detailed Tables
Table No. Title Page
Table (1) Distribution (per 1000) of usually working persons engaged in the industry
groups/ divisions 012, 014, 015, 02, 05 or 10-99 by type of enterprise for
each activity status
A-1 -A-54
groups/ divisions 012, 014, 015, 02, 05 or 10-99 by enterprise type for
each industry group/ section
A-55 - A-135
groups/ divisions 012, 014, 015, 02, 05 or 10-99 by location of workplace
for each enterprise type
A-136-A-243
Table (4) Distribution (per 1000) of usually employed persons engaged in the
industry groups/ divisions 012, 014, 015, 02, 05 or 10-99 by enterprise
size and use of electricity separately for each enterprise type
A-244-A-279
Table (5) Distribution (per 1000) of regular salaried/ wage employees and casual
labours by type of job contract for each industry group/ section
A-280-A-333
labours by eligibility of paid leave for each industry group/ section
A-334- A-387
labours by availability of social security benefit for each industry group/
section.
A-388- A-441

Contents
Table No. Title Page
labours by method of payment for each industry group/ section
A-442- A-495
labours working in the industry groups/ divisions 012, 014, 015, 02, 05 or
10-99 by availability of social security benefit separately for type of job
contract, eligibility for paid leave and method of payment
A-496- A-603
Table (10) Distribution (per 1000) of usually working (ps+ss) persons (age 15 years
& above) by existence of union/association in their activity and its
membership for each broad usual activity status
A-604- A-609
Table (11) Distribution (per 1000) of usually working persons engaged in the
industry groups/ divisions 012, 014, 015,02, 05 or 10-99 by type of job
contract and nature of employment for different broad industry groups
A-610- A-627
Table (12) Average wage/salary earnings (Rs. 0.00) per day received by wage
/salaried employees according to the usual status for different industry
group/ sections and enterprise type in which they were usually engaged
A-628- A-681
NOTES ON TABLES
1. Estimates are provided separately for rural and urban areas and for males and females.
2. The estimates presented in the report, in general, refer to the mid-point of the survey period (July
2009 – June 2010) of NSS 66th round, i.e., 01.01.2010.
3. It may be noted that as the tables are generally presented as ‘per 1000 distribution’ or ‘estimates
per 1000’, the figures are rounded off. Thus, while using the ratios from the survey results, it is to
be noted that the accuracy of these derived aggregates will be limited to the number of significant
digits available in the ratio or percentage estimates presented in the report. The estimated ag-gregates,
wherever possible, can be used to get ratios with more significant digits.
4. If there are no sample households/persons in a particular category, the estimates/estimated
proportions of households/persons in that category becomes 0. Estimated number per 1000 are
also shown as 0, when they are greater than 0 but less than 0.5.
5. In the detailed tables, in some of the deeper classifications, some sample sizes may be small and
this may have a bearing on the precision of the corresponding estimates.
6. The cell-level figures in the tables, when added up, may not exactly be equal to the figure shown
against the ‘total’ column (or line) due to (i) rounding off and/or (ii) presence of non-response
cases.

Chapter One
Introduction
Chapter One
Introduction
1
1.1 The Report in Perspective
1.1.1 The National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) during the period July 2009 - June 2010
carried out an all-India household survey on the subject of employment and
unemployment in India as a part of 66th round of its survey programme. In this survey, the
nation-wide enquiry was conducted to generate estimates of various characteristics
pertaining to employment and unemployment and labour force characteristics at the
national and State levels. Information on various facets of employment and unemployment
in India was collected through a schedule of enquiry (Schedule 10) adopting the
established concepts, definitions and procedures. Based on the data collected during the
entire period, estimates pertaining to employment-unemployment in India along with
various characteristics associated with them have been presented, in detail, in NSS Report
No. 537 (Employment and Unemployment Situation in India, 2009-10). Besides, ‘Key
Indicators of Employment and Unemployment in India, 2009-10’ has already been
released on June 2011.
1.1.2 In addition to generating lead indicators of employment and unemployment such as
labour force participation rate (LFPR), worker population ratio (WPR), unemployment
rate (UR) and proportion unemployed (PU) based on alternative approaches of their
measurement, in various cross classification, the NSS 66th round also endeavoured to
capture the details on qualitative aspects of employment, viz., employment in informal
sector and informal employment. For this purpose, a set of probing questions were asked
to usual status workers regarding some features of the enterprises in which they worked, in
order to study the characteristics of the workers particularly in the unincorporated
enterprises1 that were considered as constituting informal sector. Besides, for the
employees (i.e., for regular wage/salaried persons and casual labourers) in usual status,
information on conditions of employment was also collected. Collection of information on
type of enterprises and on conditions of employment of the employees was done for whole
of the non-agricultural sector and a part of the agricultural sector2 excluding ‘growing of
crops; market gardening; horticulture’ (NIC-2004 group 011) and ‘growing of crops
combined with farming of animals’ (NIC-2004 group 013). Thus, coverage of the
activities for collection of information on informal sector and conditions of employment
was restricted to those workers engaged in industry groups 012, 014, 015 and industry
divisions 02, 05, 10-99 of NIC-2004. Of these industry groups/ divisions, 012, 014, 015,
02 and 05 are in the [ag]ricultural sector [e]xcluding [g]rowing of [c]rops, market
gardening, horticulture and growing of crops combined with farming of animals (AGEGC
activities for short henceforth).
1 Enterprises with type of ownership as proprietary or partnership.
2 The coverage of the activities of the agricultural sector for collection of information on enterprise type and
conditions of employment were ‘farming of animals’ (NIC-2004 group 012), ‘agricultural and animal
husbandry service activities, except veterinary activities’ (NIC-2004 group 014), ‘hunting, trapping and
game propagation including related service activities’ (NIC-2004 group 015), ‘forestry, logging and related
service activities’ (NIC-2004 divison 02), and ‘fishing’ (NIC-2004 division 05).

Chapter One
Introduction
1.1.3 This report, the second in the series of eight reports planned for NSS 66th round
survey on employment and unemployment (Schedule 10), pertains to the estimates of
usual status (ps+ss) workforce according to characteristics of enterprise where workers
were engaged, with special reference to those engaged in the informal sector enterprises,
as well as the conditions of employment of the employees characterizing informal
employment. The estimates have, as usual, been presented in respect of various
characteristics associated with them.
1.1.4 The NSSO during the 55th round survey (July 1999- June 2000), for the first time,
collected information, through employment – unemployment survey, in respect of workers
engaged in the non-agricultural enterprises in the informal sector and the estimates on
them are available in NSS Report No. 4603. However, in NSS 55th round, no information
on conditions of employment of the employees was collected. In NSS 61st round,
information from the usual status workers regarding some features of the enterprises in
which they worked was collected and for the first time, information on conditions of
employment for the employees was also collected. While, the coverage of activities in
NSS 55th round was for the non-agricultural sector only, the coverage of activities in NSS
61st round (July 2004-June 2005) was similar to that of NSS 66th round. The results related
to the workforce according to the characteristics of the enterprises and conditions of
employment of the employees obtained from NSS 61st round survey are available in NSS
report no. 5194.
1.2 Genesis of NSS Employment and Unemployment Survey
1.2.1 The quinquennial survey on employment-unemployment is one of the important
surveys conducted regularly by the NSSO. The first such survey was done during
September 1972 - October 1973 corresponding to the 27th round of NSSO. The present
survey is the eighth in the series.
1.2.2 Past Quinquennial Surveys: The assessment of the volume and structure of
employment and unemployment using large scale household surveys commenced with the
NSS 9th round (May - September, 1955). Subsequently NSSO conducted a number of
surveys on this subject to firm up the concepts and methods. The core conceptual
framework for conducting such surveys was put in place by an “Expert Committee on
Unemployment Estimates” (popularly known as the Dantwala Committee), set up by the
Planning Commission. The Expert Committee reviewed these surveys and the indicators
generated from such surveys conducted by NSS in the past. The concepts and definitions
recommended by this committee formed the basis of the first quinquennial survey on
employment and unemployment conducted in the 27th round of NSS (September 1972 –
October 1973). Since then, six comprehensive quinquennial surveys on employment and
unemployment situation in India have been carried out in the past by the NSSO prior to
the present quinquennial survey. These were carried out during the 32nd round (July 1977
– June 1978), 38th round (January 1983 – December 1983), 43rd round (July 1987 – June
1988), 50th round (July 1993 – June 1994), 55th round (July 1999 – June 2000), 61st round
(July 2004 – June 2005) in which concepts, definitions and procedures were based
primarily on the recommendations of the Dantwala Committee. The results of these
3 NSS Report No. 460: Non-agricultural workers in informal sector based on Employment-Unemployment
Survey, 1999-2000.
4 NSS Report No. 519: Informal Sector and Conditions of Employment in India, 2004-05.
2

Chapter One
Introduction
surveys have been brought out in the form of NSS reports. In NSS 55th round, the aspects
of enterprise characteristic of employment and in NSS 61st round the qualitative aspects of
informal employment was added in the survey module of the quinquennial round.
1.2.3 Other surveys on employment-unemployment: Apart from these quinquennial surveys
on employment and unemployment, NSSO had also been collecting information on certain
key items on employment and unemployment, as a part of annual series, from a smaller
sample of households in each round since its 45th round (July 1989 - June 1990) through
the schedule on Household Consumer Expenditure (Schedule 1.0). The objective of data
collected in the annual series was to measure employment and unemployment indicators in
terms of the usual and current weekly statuses only and study of these indicators in respect
of category of employment, industrial distribution of the usually employed, etc. These
procedures continued till the 59th round (January-December 2003) of NSS. In the annual
rounds, only activity status and industry of work according to usual principal status,
subsidiary status and current weekly status approach were collected through a few
columns of the demographic block of the Consumer Expenditure Schedule (Schedule 1.0).
Particulars of employment and unemployment according to the usual principal status and
usual subsidiary status were collected in the annual rounds by following a similar
approach as in the quinquennial rounds. In the quinquennial rounds, particulars of current
daily status of the household members are collected and current weekly status is derived
from them, whereas in the annual rounds, current weekly status has been obtained through
a direct query. In the 60th round (January-June 2004), a separate schedule on employment
and unemployment was canvassed for the first time in an annual round and particulars on
employment and unemployment was collected in the same manner as that of the
quinquennial rounds. In NSS 62nd round (July 2005 - June 2006) and in NSS 64th round
(July 2007- June 2008) also a separate schedule on employment and unemployment,
similar to the one canvassed during NSS 60th round, was canvassed and particulars on
labour force were collected in the manner similar to the quinquennial rounds.
1.3 Scope of NSS 66th round Survey on Employment and Unemployment
1.3.1 The critical issues in the context of labour force enquiries pertain to defining the
labour force and measuring participation of labour force in different economic activities.
The activity participation of the people is not only dynamic but also multidimensional; it
varies over regions, age, education, gender, industry and occupational categories. In NSS
surveys, persons are classified into various activity categories on the basis of activities
pursued by them during certain specified reference periods. Three reference periods are
used in NSS surveys, viz. (i) one year, (ii) one week and (iii) each day of the reference
week. Based on these three periods, three different measures of activity status are arrived
at. The activity status determined on the basis of the reference period of one year is known
as the usual activity status (US) of a person, that determined on the basis of a reference
period of one week is known as the current weekly status (CWS) of the person and the
activity status determined on the basis of the engagement on each day during the reference
week is known as the current daily status (CDS) of the person.
1.3.2 In NSS 66th round Employment & Unemployment schedule, the major features of
data collected in NSS 61st round were retained. In addition, some information on ‘Home
based workers’ was collected. There is another specific importance associated with the
period of NSS 66th round. The present quinquennial round is the first one, since the major
3

Chapter One
Introduction
public intervention in the rural labour market made with the enactment of the Mahatma
Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005. The survey instruments for NSS
66th round appropriately incorporated the assimilation of data on some salient aspects
relating to MGNREGA.
1.3.3 In NSS 66th round, data on employment-unemployment characteristics were
collected through Schedule 10. The schedule captured a range of information on the
following aspects:
i) Household characteristics, like household size, religion, social group, land
possessed, land cultivated, etc. For the rural households, information was collected on
whether the household had Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee
(MGNREG) job card, whether got work in MGNREG works during the last 365 days,
number of days got work in MGNREG works and mode of payment of the wages
earned in MGNREG works. Information on household monthly consumer expenditure
was also collected through a worksheet to study the employment-unemployment
characteristics with the level of living of the population.
ii) Demographic particulars, like age, sex, educational level, status of current
attendance and vocational training.
iii) Usual principal activity status and subsidiary economic activity status of the all
persons.
iv) Particulars of the enterprise for all the usual status workers (excluding those
engaged in growing of crops and growing of crops combined with farming of animals)
viz., location of work place, type of enterprises, number of workers in the enterprise
etc. and some particulars on the conditions of employment for the employees, like type
of job contract, eligibility for paid leave, availability of social security benefits, etc.
For self-employed persons in the usual status, some particulars were collected for
identification of home-based workers.
v) Extent of underutilization of the labour time and on the qualitative aspects of
employment, like changes in activity status, occupation /industry, existence of trade
unions/associations, nature of employment (permanent/temporary), etc.
vi) Participation in specified activities by the household members who are classified
as engaged in domestic duties in the usual principal activity status.
1.4 The survey outline of NSS 66th round survey
1.4.1 Geographical coverage: The survey covered the whole of the Indian Union except (i)
interior villages of Nagaland situated beyond five kilometres of the bus route and (ii)
villages in Andaman and Nicobar Islands which remained inaccessible throughout the
year. However, all the sample first stage units of both rural and urban areas of Leh, Kargil
and Poonch districts of Jammu & Kashmir became casualty and therefore these districts
were outside the survey coverage.
1.4.2 Sub-round: The fieldwork of the 66th round of NSSO started from 1st July, 2009 and
continued till 30th June, 2010. As usual, the survey period of this round was divided into
four sub-rounds, each with a duration of three months, the 1st sub-round period ranging
from July to September 2009, the 2nd sub-round period from October to December 2009
and so on. An equal number of sample villages/blocks (FSUs) was allotted for survey in
4

Chapter One
Introduction
each of these four sub-rounds. The survey used the interview method of data collection
from a sample of randomly selected households.
5
1.5 Sample Design
1.5.1 A stratified multi-stage design was adopted for the 66th round survey. The first stage
units (FSU) were the 2001 census villages (Panchayat wards in case of Kerala) in the rural
sector and Urban Frame Survey (UFS) blocks in the urban sector. In addition, two non-
UFS towns of Leh and Kargil of Jammu & Kashmir were also treated as FSUs in the urban
sector. The ultimate stage units (USU) were households in both the sectors. Hamlet-groups/
sub-blocks constituted the intermediate stage whenever these were formed in the
sample FSUs. For the rural sector, the list of 2001 census villages (Panchayat wards in
case of Kerala) constituted the sampling frame. For the urban sector, the list of latest
available UFS blocks constituted the sampling frame. For non-UFS towns, frame consisted
of the individual towns (only two towns, viz., Leh & Kargil constituted this frame). Within
each district of a State/ UT, two basic strata were formed as follows: rural stratum
comprising all rural areas of the district and urban stratum comprising all the urban areas
of the district. However, within the urban areas of a district, if there were one or more
towns with population 10 lakhs or more as per population census 2001 in a district, each of
them formed a separate basic stratum and the remaining urban areas of the district were
considered as another basic stratum. There was no sub-stratification in the urban sector.
However, to net adequate number of child workers, for all rural strata, each stratum was
divided into 2 sub-strata. These were, sub-stratum 1: all villages with proportion of child
workers (p) >2P (where P is the average proportion of child workers for the state/ UT as
per Census 2001) and sub-stratum 2: remaining villages.
1.5.2 At the all-India level, a total number of 12784 FSUs were allocated for survey in the
central sample. This sample size was at par with the sample size of NSS 61st round. In
addition, 24 State sample FSUs (16 for rural sector and 8 for urban sector) of Leh and
Kargil districts of J & K were included in the central sample. The total number of sample
FSUs was allocated to the States and UTs in proportion to population as per census 2001
subject to the availability of investigators and ensuring minimum sample allocation to
each State/ UT. The State/ UT level sample size was allocated between two sectors in
proportion to population as per census 2001 with double weightage to urban sector subject
to the restriction that urban sample size for bigger states like Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu,
etc. did not exceed the rural sample size. A minimum of 16 FSUs (to the extent possible)
was allocated to each state/ UT separately for rural and urban areas. Further the State level
allocations for both rural and urban areas were adjusted marginally in a few cases to
ensure that each stratum/ sub-stratum got a minimum allocation of 4 FSUs. Within each
sector of a State/ UT, the respective sample size was allocated to the different strata/ sub-strata
in proportion to the population as per census 2001. Allocations at stratum/ sub-stratum
level were adjusted to multiples of 4 with a minimum sample size of 4 and equal
number of samples was allocated among the four sub rounds.
1.5.3 For the rural sector, from each stratum/ sub-stratum, required number of sample
villages were selected by probability proportional to size with replacement (PPSWR), size
being the population of the village as per Census 2001. For urban sector, from each
stratum FSUs were selected by using Simple Random Sampling Without Replacement
(SRSWOR). Both rural and urban samples were drawn in the form of two independent
sub-samples. All households listed in the selected village/block/ hamlet-groups/sub-blocks

Chapter One
Introduction
were stratified into three second stage strata (SSS). A total of 8 households were selected
from each sample village/block for canvassing the employment and un-employment
schedule. The sample households from each of the second stage strata were selected by
SRSWOR.
1.5.4 Out of the total number of 12,808 FSUs (7,524 villages and 5,284 urban blocks)
allotted for the central sample5 (including 24 state sample FSUs of Leh and Kargil districts
of J & K: 16 for rural sector and 8 for urban sector), 12,654 FSUs (7,402 villages and
5,252 urban blocks) could be surveyed at the all-India level for canvassing Schedule 10.
The number of households surveyed was 1,00,957 (59,129 in rural areas and 41,828 in
urban areas) and number of persons surveyed was 4,59,784 (2,81,327 in rural areas and
1,78,457 in urban areas). The sample design and estimation procedure used for the survey
is given in Appendix B of this report.
1.5.5 The domains of rural and urban sector in the survey are co-terminus with the
criterion adopted in census. The urban frame used in the survey is the latest updated UFS
that takes into account the newly declared towns after the last census 2001. Accordingly
the rural sector is the one that is not urban.
1.6 Contents of the Report
1.6.1 As stated earlier, this report deals with various estimates with regard to workers
engaged in non-agricultural sector as well as in the agricultural sector (excluding ‘growing
of crops, market gardening, horticulture’ and ‘growing of crops combined with farming of
animals’) along with their correlates as obtained on the basis of data collected on relevant
items of information for the entire round. Consequently, all discussions in this report are
limited to only such items/concepts, based on which estimates have been generated.
Detailed explanations of these are given in the next chapter entitled ‘Concepts and
Definitions’.
1.6.2 This report contains three chapters, including the present introductory chapter, and
four appendices. Chapter Two provides details of the concepts and definitions of only
those terms used in the survey in connection with the subject focus of this report. Chapter
Three discusses the main findings of the survey relating to these items. While Appendix A
gives the detailed tables on which this report is based, Appendix B presents a description
of the sample design and estimation procedure used for the survey. In Appendix C, the
Projected Population as on 1st March 2009 and 1st March 2010 supplied by RGI Office
have been presented along with those projected for 1st January 2010 using compound rate
of growth. The projections have been given for male and female separately for rural and
urban for each State/UT. Appendix D gives a facsimile of the schedule canvassed in the
survey.
1.6.3 The detailed tables turned out to be very voluminous. Hence, the hard-copy of the
detailed tables (Appendix A) does not form a part of the Report and Appendix A of the
report is provided in CD.
5 The sample selected for NSS 66th round which was surveyed by NSSO is termed “Central sample”. As is usual in the
regular NSS rounds, most States and Union Territories participated in the survey: the sample surveyed by State
Government officials is termed as “State sample”.
6

Chapter One
Introduction
1.6.4 Tables in Appendix: Appendix A of the report contains twelve tables. Of these, five
tables provide estimates of workers including both the self-employed and wage employees
by various attributes such as their activity status, enterprise type, location of workplace,
using electricity for production, existence of union/ association in the activity, etc. The
other seven tables present estimates of wage employees by some combination of attributes
like type of job contract, eligibility for paid leave, social security benefits, method of
payment, etc.
1.6.5 The estimates in this report are generally presented, as ratios. The estimates of
aggregates are also given in the margin of the detailed tables presented for all-India levels.
It may be noted that estimates of ratios are generally expected to be robust and the
estimates of aggregates may be used only to combine the ratios. However, to arrive at
estimated absolute number in any category, the users may apply the survey estimates of
ratios to the census population or projections6. It may also be noted that as the tables are
generally presented as ‘per 1000 distribution’ or ‘rates per 1000’, the figures are rounded off.
Thus, while using the ratios from the survey results, it is to be noted that the accuracy of these
derived aggregates will be limited to the number of significant digits available in such ratios.
The estimates presented in this report, in general, refer to the mid-point of the survey period
(July 2009 – June 2010) of NSS 66th round, i.e., 01.01.2010.
1.6.6 The estimates of the key parameters have been presented for all the States and UTs.
While using the estimates for the smaller States, it may be kept in mind that the sample
sizes for them may not be adequate enough for getting sufficiently reliable estimates.
1.7 NSS 66th Round Reports on Employment and Unemployment
1.7.1 The results of NSS rounds are released in reports based on comprehensive tabulation
of subject parameters and indicators in various cross classifications generated from the
central sample data. Corresponding to NSS 66th round quinquennial survey on
Employment and Unemployment, the results are planned for release in eight reports. In
addition to these eight reports planned, Key Indicators of Employment and Unemployment
in India, 2009-10 has already been released in June 2011. Of the eight reports, the present
one is the second in the series of reports, while the first report, Report no. 537
(Employment and Unemployment Situation in India, 2009-10) has already been released.
The tentative titles of the remaining six reports planned to be released are:
(i) Employment and Unemployment situation among Social Groups in India
(ii) Status of Education and Vocational Training in India
(iii) Participation of Women in Specified Activities along with Domestic Duties
(iv) Employment and Unemployment situation in Cities and Towns in India
(v) Home-based Workers in India
(vi) Employment and Unemployment situation among Major Religious groups in India.
6 In Appendix C, the Projected Population as on 1st March 2009 and 1st March 2010 supplied by RGI Office have been
presented along with those projected for 1st January 2010 using compound rate of growth. The projections have been
given for male and female separately for rural and urban for each State/UT.
7

Chapter Two
Concepts and Definitions
Chapter Two
2.0 The concepts and definitions of some important terms used in the survey and relevant to
this report are explained in the following paragraphs.
2.1 Household: A group of persons who normally lived together and took food from a
common kitchen constituted a household. The adverb “normally” means that temporary
visitors and guests (whose total period of stay in the household was expected to be less than 6
months) were excluded but temporary stay-aways (whose total period of absence from the
household was expected to be less than 6 months) were included. Thus a child residing in a
hostel for studies was excluded from the household of his/her parents, but a resident domestic
servant or paying guest (but not just a tenant in the house) was included in the
employer’s/host’s household. “Living together” was given more importance than “sharing
food from a common kitchen” in drawing the boundaries of a household in case the two
criteria were in conflict. However, in the special case of a person taking food with his family
but sleeping elsewhere (say, in a shop or a different house) due to shortage of space, the
household formed by such a person’s family members was taken to include the person also.
Each inmate of a hotel, mess, boarding-lodging house, hostel, etc., was considered to be a
single-member household except that a family living in a hotel (say) was considered one
household only. The same principle was applicable for the residential staff of such
establishments. The size of a household is the total number of persons in the household.
2.2 Economic activity: The entire spectrum of human activity falls into two categories –
economic activities and non-economic activities. Any activity resulting in production of
goods and services that add value to national product was considered as an economic activity
for the employment and unemployment survey. Such activities included production of all
goods and services for market (i.e. for pay or profit) including those of government services,
and, the production of primary commodities for own consumption and own account
production of fixed assets.
2.2.1 The full spectrum of economic activities as defined in the UN system of National
Accounts was not covered in the definition adopted for the NSS 66th round survey of
Employment and Unemployment. Production of any good for own consumption is considered
as economic activity by UN System of National Accounts but production of only primary
goods for own consumption was considered as economic activity by NSSO. While the former
considers activities like own account processing of primary products as economic activities, in
the NSS surveys, processing of primary products for own consumption was not considered as
economic activity.
2.2.2 The term 'economic activity' as defined in the employment and unemployment survey of
NSS 66th round, therefore, included:
8

Chapter Two
(i) all the market activities performed for pay or profit which result in production of
9
goods and services for exchange.
(ii) of the non-market activities,
(a) all the activities relating to the primary sector (i.e. industry Divisions 01 to
14 of NIC-2004) which result in production (including free collection of
uncultivated crops, forestry, firewood, hunting, fishing, mining, quarrying,
etc.) of primary goods for own consumption
and
(b) activities relating to the own-account production of fixed assets, which
include production of fixed assets including construction of own houses, roads,
wells, etc., and of machinery, tools, etc., for household enterprise and also
construction of any private or community facilities free of charge. A person
may be engaged in own account construction in the capacity of either a
labourer or a supervisor.
As per the practice followed in earlier rounds, certain activities like prostitution, begging, etc.,
which though fetched earnings, were not considered as economic activities. Activity status of
a person was judged irrespective of the situation whether such activity was carried out
illegally in the form of smuggling or not.
2.3 Activity status: It is the activity situation in which a person was found participated in
economic and non-economic activities during the reference period. According to this, a
person could be in one or a combination of the following three broad activity statuses during a
reference period:
(i) working or being engaged in economic activity (work) as defined above,
(ii) being not engaged in economic activity (work) but either making tangible efforts to
seek 'work' or being available for 'work' if 'work' is available and
(iii) being not engaged in any economic activity (work) and also not available for 'work'.
Broad activity statuses mentioned in (i) and (ii) above are associated with 'being in labour
force' and the last with 'not being in the labour force'. Within the labour force, broad activity
status (i) and (ii) were associated with 'employment' and ‘unemployment’, respectively.
2.3.1 Identification of each individual in terms of a unique activity status could pose a
problem when more than one of the three broad activity statuses listed above were
concurrently obtained in a person. In such an eventuality, the identification uniquely under
any one of the three broad activity statuses was done by adopting either the major time or
priority criterion. The former was used for classification of persons according to the 'usual
activity status' approach and the latter for classification of persons according to the ‘current
activity status’ approach. Each of the three broad activity statuses was further sub-divided into
several detailed activity categories. If a person categorised as engaged in economic activity by
adopting one of the two criteria mentioned above was found to be pursuing more than one

Chapter Two
economic activity during the reference period, the appropriate detailed activity status code
was connected to that activity in which relatively long time had been spent. A similar
procedure was adopted for assigning detailed activity code for persons categorised as engaged
in non-economic activity and pursuing more than one non-economic activities.
2.3.2 The detailed activity statuses under each of the three broad activity statuses (viz.
‘employed’, ‘unemployed’ and ‘not in labour force’) and the corresponding codes used in the
survey are given below:
code description
10
working (or employed)
self-employed
11 worked in household enterprises (self-employed) as own-account worker
12 worked in household enterprises (self-employed) as an employer
21 worked in household enterprises (self-employed) as helper
regular wage/ salaried employee
31 worked as regular wage/salaried employee
casual labour
41 worked as casual wage labour in public works other than Mahatma Gandhi NREG
public works
42 worked as casual wage labour in Mahatma Gandhi NREG public works
51 worked as casual wage labour in other types of works
61 did not work owing to sickness though there was work in household enterprise
62 did not work owing to other reasons though there was work in household enterprise
71 did not work owing to sickness but had regular salaried/wage employment
72 did not work owing to other reasons but had regular salaried/wage employment
not working but seeking/available for work (or unemployed)
81 sought work or did not seek but was available for work (for usual status approach)
81 sought work (for current weekly status approach)
82 did not seek but was available for work (for current weekly status approach)
neither working nor available for work (or not in labour force)
91 attended educational institutions
92 attended to domestic duties only
93 attended to domestic duties and was also engaged in free collection of goods
(vegetables, roots, firewood, cattle feed, etc.), sewing, tailoring, weaving, etc. for
household use
94 rentiers, pensioners, remittance recipients, etc.
95 not able to work owing to disability
97 others (including beggars, prostitutes, etc.)
98 did not work owing to sickness (for casual workers only)
99 children of age 0-4 years

Chapter Two
It may be noted that codes 61, 62, 71, 72, 82 and 98 were applicable for current weekly status
and current daily status approaches only. Moreover, activity status code 41 in the usual status
is used for casual wage labour in all types of public works, whereas in the current activity
status, code 41 is for casual wage labour in public works other than MGNREG public works
and code 42 is for casual wage labour in MGNREG public works.
2.4 Workers (or employed): Persons who were engaged in any economic activity or who,
despite their attachment to economic activity, abstained themselves from work for reason of
illness, injury or other physical disability, bad weather, festivals, social or religious functions
or other contingencies necessitating temporary absence from work, constituted workers.
Unpaid helpers who assisted in the operation of an economic activity in the household farm or
non-farm activities were also considered as workers. Relevant activity status codes 11 to 72
were assigned for workers. Workers were further categorized as self-employed (relevant
activity status codes: 11, 12, 21, 61, 62), regular salaried/wage employee (relevant activity
status codes: 31, 71, 72), and casual wage labour (relevant activity status codes: 41, 42 and
51).
2.5 Seeking or available for work (or unemployed): Persons who, owing to lack of work,
had not worked but either sought work through employment exchanges, intermediaries,
friends or relatives or by making applications to prospective employers or expressed their
willingness or availability for work under the prevailing conditions of work and remuneration,
were considered as those ‘seeking or available for work’ (or unemployed). Activity status
codes 81 or 82 were assigned for unemployed.
2.6 Labour force: Persons who were either 'working' (or employed) or 'seeking or available
for work' (or unemployed) constituted the labour force. Persons with activity status codes 11 –
82 constituted the labour force.
2.7 Not in labour force: Persons who were neither 'working' nor 'seeking or available for
work' for various reasons during the reference period were considered as 'not in labour force'.
Persons under this category are students, those engaged in domestic duties, rentiers,
pensioners, recipients of remittances, those living on alms, infirm or disabled persons, too
young persons, prostitutes, etc. and casual labourers not working due to sickness. Activity
status codes 91-95, 97 and 98 were assigned for persons belonging to category 'not in labour
force'. For the purpose of this report, status code 99 was assigned to children of age 0-4
years.
2.8 Self-employed: Persons who operated their own farm or non-farm enterprises or were
engaged independently in a profession or trade on own-account or with one or a few partners
were treated as self-employed in household enterprises. The essential feature of the self-employed
is that they have autonomy (decide how, where and when to produce) and economic
independence (in respect of choice of market, scale of operation and finance) for carrying out
their operation. The remuneration of the self-employed consists of a non-separable
combination of two parts: a reward for their labour and profit of their enterprise. The
combined remuneration is wholly determined by the revenue from sales after netting out value
of purchased inputs used in production.
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Chapter Two
2.8.1 Categories of self-employed persons: Self-employed persons were categorised as
follows:
(i) own-account workers: those self-employed persons who operated their enterprises on
their own account or with one or a few partners and who, during the reference period, by
and large, ran their enterprise without hiring any labour. They could, however, have had
unpaid helpers to assist them in the activity of the enterprise;
(ii) employers: those self-employed persons who worked on their own account or with
one or a few partners and, who, by and large, ran their enterprise by hiring labour; and
(iii) helpers in household enterprise: those self-employed persons (mostly family
members) who were engaged in their household enterprises, working full or part time
and did not receive any regular salary or wages in return for the work performed. They
did not run the household enterprise on their own but assisted the related person living
in the same household in running the household enterprise.
2.9 Regular wage/salaried employee: These were persons who worked in others’ farm or
non-farm enterprises (both household and non-household) and, in return, received salary or
wages on a regular basis (i.e. not on the basis of daily or periodic renewal of work contract).
This category included not only persons getting time wage but also persons receiving piece
wage or salary and paid apprentices, both full time and part-time.
2.10 Casual wage labourer: A person who was casually engaged in others’ farm or non-farm
enterprises (both household and non-household) and, in return, received wages according to
the terms of the daily or periodic work contract, was a casual wage labourer.
2.11 Public works: ‘Public works’ were those activities which were sponsored by
Government or Local Bodies, and which covered local area development works like
construction of roads, dams, bunds, digging of ponds, etc., as relief measures, or as an
outcome of employment generation schemes under the poverty alleviation programme such as
Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee (MGNREG) public works,
Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojana (SGRY), National Food for Work Programme
(NFFWP), etc. The coverage of schemes under ‘public works’ was restricted to those schemes
through which the Government generated wage employment under poverty alleviation
programme, or relief measures. The types of works that were generally undertaken through
these schemes, were watershed development, drought proofing, land levelling, flood control,
laying pipes or cables, sanitation, water harvesting, irrigation canal, development of orchard,
road construction, building construction / repair, running crèche, etc. To distinguish between
‘public works’ and works not classifiable as ‘public works’, some broad characteristics of
‘public work’ were identified, viz. the primary objective is generation of wage employment
and poverty alleviation, and creation of community asset as an outcome in achieving those
main objectives. It is to be noted that the existing activity status code 41 (casual wage labour
in public works) was split into two codes for assigning activity status codes as per current
daily activity status and current weekly activity status, as follows:
12

Chapter Two
(i) worked as casual wage labour in public works other than Mahatma Gandhi National
Rural Employment Guarantee (MGNREG) public works – 41
(ii) worked as casual wage labour in Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment
Guarantee (MGNREG) public works – 42
However, in the usual activity status, code 41 was used for casual wage labour in public
works, which included all types of public works and code 42 was not applicable in the usual
activity status.
2.12 Different approaches followed to determine activity status: The persons surveyed
were classified into various activity categories on the basis of the activities pursued by them
during certain specified reference periods. There were three reference periods for this survey.
These are: (i) one year (ii) one week and (iii) each day of the reference week. Based on these
three periods, three different measures of activity status are arrived at. These are termed
respectively as usual status, current weekly status and current daily status. The procedures
adopted to arrive at the usual status, current weekly status and current daily status are
elucidated below.
2.12.1 Usual principal activity status: The usual activity status relates to the activity status
of a person during the reference period of 365 days preceding the date of survey. The activity
status on which a person spent relatively long time (i.e. major time criterion) during the 365
days preceding the date of survey is considered as the usual principal activity status of the
person. To decide the usual principal activity of a person, first a two stage dichotomous
classification was followed for determining the broad usual principal activity status
(employed or unemployed or not in labour force) of the person. At the first stage, persons
were first categorised as those in the labour force (either employed or unemployed) and those
not in the labour force depending on the major time spent during the 365 days preceding the
date of survey. Persons thus adjudged as not belonging to the labour force were assigned the
broad activity status 'neither working nor available for work' (not in the labour force). At the
second stage, for persons belonging to the labour force, the broad activity status of either
'working' (employed) or ‘not working but seeking and/or available for work’ (unemployed)
was ascertained based on the same criterion viz. relatively long time spent in accordance with
either of the two broad statuses within the labour force during the 365 days preceding the date
of survey. Within the broad activity status so determined, the detailed activity status of a
person pursuing more than one such activity was determined once again on the basis of the
relatively long time spent on such activities. In terms of activity status codes, codes 11-51
were assigned to persons classified as workers and codes 91-97 to those not in the labour
force. In the usual status approach, a single code 81 was assigned to persons seeking or
available for work (unemployed persons) while two separate codes 81 (sought work) and 82
(did not seek but was available for work) were assigned to unemployed persons according to
current weekly status and current daily status approach.
2.12.2 Usual subsidiary economic activity status: A person whose usual principal status was
determined on the basis of the major time criterion could have pursued some economic
activity for a shorter time throughout the reference year of 365 days preceding the date of
13

Chapter Two
survey or for a minor period, which is not less than 30 days, during the reference year. The
status in which such economic activity was pursued was the subsidiary economic activity
status of that person. Activity status codes 11 to 51 only were used for the subsidiary
economic activity performed by a person. It may be noted that engagement in work in
subsidiary capacity may arise out of the two following situations:
(i) a person may be engaged in a relatively long period during the last 365 days in some
economic (non-economic) activity and for a relatively minor period, which is not less
than 30 days (not necessarily for a continuous period), in another economic activity
(any economic activity). The economic activity, which was pursued for a relatively
minor period but not simultaneously with principal activity, was considered as his/her
subsidiary economic activity.
(ii) a person may be pursuing an economic activity (non-economic activity) almost
throughout the year in the principal status and also simultaneously pursuing another
economic activity (any economic activity) for a relatively short time in a subsidiary
capacity. The economic activity, which was pursued for a relatively short time, was
considered as his/her subsidiary economic activity.
2.12.3 Usual activity status considering principal and subsidiary status taken together: The
usual status, determined on the basis of the usual principal activity and usual subsidiary
economic activity of a person taken together, is considered as the usual activity status of the
person and is written as usual status (ps+ss). According to the usual status (ps+ss), workers
are those who perform some work activity either in the principal status or in the subsidiary
status. Thus, a person who is not a worker in the usual principal status is considered as worker
according to the usual status (ps+ss), if the person pursues some subsidiary economic activity
for 30 days or more during 365 days preceding the date of survey.
2.12.4 Current weekly activity status: The current weekly activity status of a person is the
activity status obtaining for a person during a reference period of 7 days preceding the date of
survey. It is decided on the basis of a certain priority cum major time criterion.
2.12.4.1 According to the priority criterion, the status ‘working’ gets priority over the status
‘not working but seeking or available for work’ that, in turn, gets priority over the status
‘neither working nor available for work’. A person was considered working (or employed) if
he/she, while pursuing any economic activity, had worked for at least one hour on at least one
day during the 7 days preceding the date of survey. A person was considered ‘seeking or
available for work (or unemployed)’ if, during the reference week, no economic activity was
pursued by the person but he/she made efforts to get work or had been available for work any
time during the reference week though not actively seeking work in the belief that no work
was available. A person who had neither worked nor was available for work any time during
the reference week was considered as engaged in non-economic activities (or not in labour
force).
2.12.4.2 After deciding the broad current weekly activity status of a person on the basis of
'priority' criterion, the detailed current activity status was then decided on the basis of 'major
time' criterion if that person pursued multiple economic activities. The current weekly
14

Chapter Two
activity status of a person could be any of the valid codes within 11 to 98. Of these codes, 11
to 72 pertained to workers, 81 to 82 for unemployed and 91 to 98 for persons not in the labour
force.
2.12.5 Current daily activity status: The activity pattern of the population, particularly in the
informal sector, is such that during a week, and sometimes, even during a day, a person could
pursue more than one activity. Moreover, many people could even undertake both economic
and non-economic activities on the same day of a reference week. The current daily activity
status for a person was determined on the basis of his/her activity status on each day of the
reference week using a priority-cum-major time criterion (day to day labour time disposition).
Time disposition was recorded for every member of the sample households. This involved
recording of different activities pursued by the members along with the time intensity in
quantitative terms for each day of the reference week. The different activities were identified
and recorded in terms of 'activity status' and 'industry' codes for persons in urban areas and
'activity status', 'industry' and 'operation' codes for persons in rural areas. The description
(and codes used) of current daily activity statuses is the same as those of current weekly
activity status. The terms ‘industry’ and ‘operation’ are explained later. The following points
were considered for assigning the time intensity and determining the current daily status of a
person:
i) Each day of the reference week was looked upon as comprising either two ‘half days’ or
a ‘full day’ for assigning the activity status. For recording time disposition for activities
pursued by a person in a day, an intensity of 1.0 was given against an activity that was
done for ‘full day’ and an intensity of 0.5 against the activity which was done for ‘half
day’.
ii) A person was considered ‘working’ (employed) for the full day if he/she had worked for
15
4 hours or more during the day.
iii) If a person was engaged in more than one of the economic activities for 4 hours or more
on a day, he/she was assigned two out of the various economic activities on which
he/she devoted relatively long time on the reference day. In such cases, an intensity of
0.5 was given for each of these two economic activities.
iv) If the person had worked for 1 hour or more but less than 4 hours, he/she was
considered ‘working’ (employed) for half-day and ‘seeking or available for work’
(unemployed) or ‘neither seeking nor available for work’ (not in labour force) for the
other half of the day depending on whether he was seeking/available for work or not.
v) If a person was not engaged in any ‘work’ even for 1 hour on a day but was
seeking/available for work for 4 hours or more, he was considered ‘unemployed’ for the
entire day. But if he was ‘seeking/available for work’ for more than 1 hour and less
than 4 hours only, he was considered ‘unemployed’ for half day and ‘not in labour
force’ for the other half of the day.
vi) A person who neither had any ‘work’ to do nor was available for ‘work’ even for half a
day was considered ‘not in labour force’ for the entire day and was assigned one or two
of the detailed non-economic activity statuses depending upon the activities pursued
during the reference day.

Chapter Two
2.13 Industry of the work activity: For the employed persons, to record the industry of work,
5-digit classification of NIC-2004 was used. To identify certain category of workers under
Division 95 (Private households with employed persons) of NIC-2004, eight additional codes
were used in the survey viz., housemaid /servant (95001), cook (95002), gardener (95003),
gatekeeper/chowkidar/watchman (95004), governess/baby-sitter (95005), tutor (95006), driver
(95007) and ‘others’ (95009). Industry Divisions 96 (except the activities covered in other
Industry Divisions) and 97 of NIC-2004 were not used for the purpose of collection of
information on industry of activity. The entire activities described under Division 97 are not
under the production boundary of Indian System of National Accounts (ISNA) and are not
also considered as economic activities in the NSS survey. A part of the activities under
Division 96 (viz., hunting and gathering, farming and the production of shelter), which is
within the production boundary of ISNA, is also considered as economic activities in NSS
surveys and the industry of these undifferentiated activities were judged in the usual manner,
by considering the industry in which major time was spent. Thus, this part of activities got
classified against the respective industries under divisions 01-14 relating to the primary sector
or 45 relating to construction. The rest of Division 96 is outside the production boundary of
ISNA and was not considered as economic activity for the NSS survey.
2.14 Industry of work for coverage of informal sector and conditions of employment:
Certain probing questions to collect information on informal sector and informal employment
was asked to all the workers, whether engaged in the usual principal status or in the subsidiary
status, engaged in non-agricultural sector and a part of the in the agricultural sector, excluding
‘growing of crops, market gardening, horticulture’ (industry group 011 of NIC - 2004) and
‘growing of crops combined with farming of animals’ (industry group 013 of NIC - 2004) of
the agricultural sector. Thus, coverage of the activities for informal sector and conditions of
employment of the employees was restricted to those workers engaged in industry groups 012,
014, 015 and industry divisions 02-99 of NIC-2004. Of this industry groups/ divisions, 012,
014, 015, 02 and 05 are in the [ag]ricultural sector [e]xcluding [g]rowing of [c]rops, market
gardening, horticulture and growing of crops combined with farming of animals (AGEGC
activities for short henceforth). The industry groups/ divisions 012, 014, 015, 02 and 05 will
henceforth be called as AGEGC for the purpose of discussion of this report. The industry
divisions 10-99 are for the non-agricultural sector. The discussion on the existence of union/
association pertains not only to employees but also to self-employed workers in all the
industry divisions of NIC - 2004, i.e., NIC - 2004 codes 01 to 99. The descriptions of the
relevant industry sections/divisions/groups are given in Annexure I.
2.15 Wage and salary earnings: Information on wage and salary earnings was collected
separately for each of the wage/salaried work recorded for a person in a day. Here, earnings
refer to the wage/salary income (and not total earnings taking into consideration of all other
activities done) received/receivable for the wage/salaried work done during the reference
week by a wage/salaried employee and casual labourer. The wage/ salary received or
receivable may be in cash or kind or partly in cash and partly in kind. While recording the
earnings following conventions were followed.
i) The wages in kind were evaluated at the current retail price.
ii) Bonus and perquisites such as free accommodation, reimbursement of expenditure
for medical treatment, free telephones, etc. evaluated at the cost of the employer or
16

Chapter Two
at retail prices and duly apportioned for the reference week were also included in
earnings.
iii) Amount receivable as 'over-time' for the additional work done beyond normal
17
working time was excluded.
It may be noted that in the survey, at most two activities could be recorded for a person in a
day. Therefore, it is possible that a person might have carried out two or more wage/salaried
activities in a day, but only one activity or two activities at the most, depending upon the time
spent on those activities, was recorded. In that case, the wage/salary income only from that
activity(s) was collected and recorded separately, and not the total income of the person from
all the activities done for the entire day.
2.16 Enterprise type: An enterprise is an undertaking which is engaged in the production and
/or distribution of some goods and /or services meant mainly for the purpose of sale, whether
fully or partly. An enterprise may be owned and operated by a single household or by several
households jointly, or by an institutional body. The definitions of various types of enterprises
are given below:
2.16.1 Proprietary: When an individual is the sole owner of an enterprise it is a proprietary
enterprise. Own account production of fixed assets for own use, when produced by a single
member, was classified as proprietary enterprise.
2.16.2 Partnership: Partnership is defined as the "relation between persons who have agreed
to share the profits of a business carried on by all or any one of them acting for all". There
may be two or more owners, belonging to the same or different households, on a partnership
basis, with or without formal registration (where there is a tacit understanding about the
distribution of profit among the so-called partners). Own account production of fixed assets,
when produced by two or more members belonging to the same or different households was
classified as partnership enterprises. Thus, own account production of fixed assets by a group
of households for community use was classified as partnership enterprise.
2.16.3 Government/public sector enterprise: An enterprise, which is wholly owned/
run/managed by Central or State governments, quasi-government, institutions, local bodies
like universities, education boards, municipalities, etc. An enterprise was not treated as a
public sector enterprise if it was run on a loan granted by government, local body etc.
2.16.4 Private limited company: Private company means a company which by its articles:
(a) restricts the right to transfer its shares, if any,
(b) limits the number of its members to fifty not including-
(i) persons who are in the employment of the company, and
(ii) persons who, having been formerly in the employment of the company, were
members of the company while in that employment and have continued to be members
after the employment ceased; and
(c) prohibits any initiation to the public to subscribe for any share in, or debentures of, the
company.
[Where two or more persons hold one or more shares in a company jointly, they shall, for
the purpose of this definition, be treated as a single member.]

Chapter Two
2.16.5 Public limited company: A public limited company is defined as a company that is not
a private company. As such public companies can have an unlimited number of members and
can invite the public to subscribe to its shares and debentures. The minimum number of
members required to form a public company is seven.
2.16.6 Co-operative societies: Co-operative society is one that is formed through the co-operation
of a number of persons, recognised as members of the society, to benefit
themselves. In the process, the funds are raised by member’s contributions/investments and
the profits generated out of the society’s activities are shared by the members. The
government itself in a government agency can also be a member or shareholder of a registered
co-operative society but this fact cannot render the society into a public sector enterprise for
the purpose of this survey.
2.16.7 Trust: An arrangement through which one set of people, the trustees, are the legal
owners of property which is administered in the interest of another set, the beneficiaries.
Trusts may be set up to provide support for individuals or families, to provide pensions, to run
charities, to liquidate the property of the bankrupts for the benefit of their creditors, or for the
safe keeping of securities bought by trusts with their investor’s money. The assets, which
trusts hold are regulated by law, these must be administered in the interests of the
beneficiaries, and not for the profit of the trustees.
2.16.8 Employer Households (i.e. private households employing maid servant, watchman,
cook etc.): The households which are employing maid servant watchmen, cook, private tutor,
etc. was considered notionally as enterprise for the purpose of this survey and was classified
as ‘Employer households’.
2.17 Location of workplace: The location of workplace for each of the working members of
a household was categorised as follows:
18
no fixed workplace
workplace located in:
own dwelling unit
structure attached to own dwelling unit
open area adjacent to own dwelling unit
detached structure adjacent to own dwelling unit
own enterprise/unit/office/shop but away from own dwelling
employer’s dwelling unit
employer’s enterprise/unit/office/shop but outside employer’s dwelling
street with fixed location
construction site
others
The specified locations (except ‘no fixed workplace’) of workplace was further distinguished
depending upon the location of the workplace in rural and urban areas.
2.18 Uses of electricity for production of goods and services: The information as to whether
the enterprise in which the person worked, used electricity for its production purposes was
collected. It may be mentioned here that use of electricity exclusively for purposes other than

Chapter Two
production like, for comfort, security, illumination, etc., was not considered as the use of
electricity by the enterprise for its production.
2.19 Number of workers in the enterprise: Information on number of workers in which the
persons worked was collected in terms of 5 codes. The number of workers employed in the
enterprise on an average in a day of operation, irrespective of whether they are hired worker
or household members working in the enterprise, was considered as the number of workers in
the enterprise. The number of workers also included working owner(s).
2.20 Type of job contract: It was ascertained for each employee whether for the job in which
he/she was engaged, there was any written contract or agreement in respect of duration of
employment with his/her employer. For those who reported to have written job contract with
their employer, further probing was done in respect of the length of duration contracted, viz.,
for 1 year or less, for more than 1 year to 3 years and more than 3 years. If the contract of
employment specified a particular date of termination which was more than 3 years or if the
type of job contracted was such that no time was fixed but the contract could only be
terminated for certain administrative reasons such as incompetence, misconduct or for
economic reasons then the contract was considered to have a duration of 3 years or more.
However, if no written contract existed, then irrespective of the duration of employment, it
was considered as no written job contract.
2.21 Eligibility of paid leave: Paid leave included leave during sickness, maternity, or such
leave, as an employee was eligible to take without loss of pay, as per the conditions of
employment. The situation was assessed excluding the paid off-days/holidays, which an
enterprise normally allows to its employees. Employees were classified as those with eligible
for paid leave and those without eligibility for paid leave.
2.22 Availability of social security benefits: It was ascertained from the employees whether
they were covered under any of the specified social security benefits or a combination of them
which are arranged or for which contribution was made by the employer. For the purpose of
the survey the following schemes were considered as social security benefits:
only PF/ pension (i.e., GPF, CPF, PPF, pension, etc.).
only gratuity
only health care & maternity benefits
only PF/ pension and gratuity
only PF/ pension and health care & maternity benefits.
only gratuity and health care & maternity benefits
PF/ pension, gratuity and health care & maternity benefits
Those who were not eligible for any of the above social security schemes were considered as
not eligible for any social security benefits
2.22.1 The term Provident Fund (PF) included General Provident Fund, Contributory
Provident Fund, Public Provident Fund, Employees Provident Fund, etc. It may be mentioned
that coverage under any of these social security schemes meant that the employer contributed/
arranged/ paid in implementing the social security benefits for the worker. If an employee
19

Chapter Two
operated, in his/ her individual capacity, a PPF account and the employer is not contributing
in that account then it was not considered as a social security benefit. On the contrary, a
scheme, in which both the employee and the employer contributed, was considered a social
security benefit. When benefits were given by the employer for treatment of illness/ injury or
an employee was eligible for paid leave for a specified period of pre-natal/ childbirth/ post-natal
stages or the expenditure for maternity care or childbirth was borne by the employer as
per the conditions of employment, then such benefits was considered as health care &
maternity benefits. There may be cases where the employer was not directly contributing in a
social security scheme for the employees, but being the member of the welfare association or
organization or scheme in relation to the specific activity carried out by the employer, the
employees got the benefit from that welfare association/ organization/ scheme. Such cases
were also considered as social security benefits availed through the employer.
2.23 Method of payment: The method by which payments were received by the workers for
work done was recorded. The different methods of payment were, regular monthly salary,
regular weekly payment, daily payment, piece rate payment and which could not be classified
in any of the above categories was considered as ‘other’ method of payment.
2.24 Existence of union/association in the activity: Union/association meant any
registered/recognised body whose membership is open to a section of those engaged in a
specific activity or trade and whose main objective is to look into the interests of its members.
Thus, besides the usual trade unions, this category also covered the association of owners,
self-employed persons, etc.
2.25. Informal sector and informal employment: A broad guideline regarding the coverage
of informal sector and informal employment as enunciated in the 15th International
Conference of Labour Statisticians (ICLS) and 17th ICLS, are given below. Extracts of the
resolutions and guidelines concerning informal sector and informal employment are given in
Annexure II and Annexure III respectively, at the end of Chapter Two.
2.25.1 AS per 15th ICLS, the informal sector is broadly characterized as consisting of:
(a) units engaged in the production of goods or services with the primary objective of
generating employment and incomes to the persons concerned. These units typically
operate at a low level of organization, with little or no division between labour and
capital as factors of production and on a small scale. Labour relations - where they
exist - are based mostly on casual employment, kinship or personal and social relations
rather than contractual arrangements with formal guarantees.
(b) production units of the informal sector have the characteristic features of household
enterprises. The fixed and other assets used do not belong to the production units as
such but to their owners. The units as such cannot engage in transactions or enter into
contracts with other units, nor incur liabilities, on their own behalf. The owners have
to raise the necessary finance at their own risk and are personally liable, without limit,
for any debts or obligations incurred in the production process. Expenditure for
production is often indistinguishable from household expenditure. Similarly, capital
goods such as buildings or vehicles may be used indistinguishably for business and
household purposes.
20

Chapter Two
Thus, for statistical purposes, the informal sector, as per guidelines of 15th ICLS is regarded
as a group of production units which, according to the definitions and classifications provided
in the United Nations System of National Accounts, form part of the household sector as
household enterprises or, equivalently, unincorporated enterprises owned by households.
2.25.2 According to the 17th ICLS framework, informal employment is identified by jobs
classified by status of employment of various categories of workers engaged in different types
of production units consisting of (a) formal sector enterprises, (b) informal sector enterprises,
and (c) households which produce goods for their own final use and/or those employing
domestic workers. The status of employment of the workers performing the jobs may be (a)
own account workers, (b) employers, (c) contributing family workers, (d) employees, or (e)
member of informal producers’ co-operatives. The employment in the above categories may
be formal or informal depending upon the type of enterprises in which the workers are
engaged or the nature of work they perform.
Accordingly, the informal employment comprises jobs held by:
 own-account workers and employers who have their own informal sector enterprises;
 contributing family workers, irrespective of whether they work in formal or informal
21
sector enterprises;
 employees who have informal jobs ( for definition, see item (5) in paragraph 3 in
Annexure III) whether employed by formal sector enterprises, informal sector
enterprises, or as paid domestic workers by households;
 members of informal producers’ cooperatives; and
 persons engaged in the own-account production of goods exclusively for own final use
by their household, such as subsistence farming or do-it-yourself construction of own
dwellings.
2.25.3 In the 66th round survey, like in NSS 61st round, information on enterprise type was
collected for all the usual status workers and the enterprise types proprietary and partnership
are classified as informal sector enterprises. Thus, using the information on type of enterprise,
estimates of workforce in informal sector can be derived. Besides, certain information from
usual status workers engaged in industry groups 012, 014, 015 and divisions 02 to 99, was
collected to identify informal employment. The relevant information required for this purpose
are employment status, type of enterprise, type of job contract, availability of social security
benefits, nature of job, existence of union/ association, etc.

Chapter Two
22
ANNEXURE – I
NATIONAL INDUSTRIAL CLASSIFICATION (NIC) – 2004
(Description of industry groups 012, 014, 015 and all the industry divisions)
Section A AGRICULTURE, HUNTING AND FORESTRY
Division 01: Agriculture, hunting and related service activities
Group 012 : Farming of animals
Group 014: Agricultural and animal husbandry service activities, except veterinary activities.[This
class includes specialized activities, on a fee or contract basis, mostly performed on
the farm.]
Group 015: Hunting, trapping and game propagation including related service activities
Division 02: Forestry, logging and related service activities
Section B FISHING
Division 05: Fishing, operation of fish hatcheries and fish farms; service activities incidental to
fishing
Section C: Mining and quarrying
Division 10: Mining of coal and lignite; extraction of peat
Division 11: Extraction of crude petroleum and natural gas; service activities incidental to
oil and gas extraction, excluding surveying
Division 12: Mining of uranium and thorium ores
Division 13: Mining of metal ores
Division 14: Other mining and quarrying
Section D: Manufacturing
Division 15: Manufacture of food products and beverages
Division 16: Manufacture of tobacco products
Division 17: Manufacture of textiles
Division 18: Manufacture of wearing apparel; dressing and dyeing of fur
Division 19: Tanning and dressing of leather; manufacture of luggage, handbags, saddlery,
harness and footwear
Division 20: Manufacture of wood and of products of wood and cork, except furniture;
manufacture of articles of straw and plaiting materials
Division 21: Manufacture of paper and paper products
Division 22: Publishing, printing and reproduction of recorded media

Chapter Two
Division 23: Manufacture of coke, refined petroleum products and nuclear fuel
Division 24: Manufacture of chemicals and chemical products
Division 25: Manufacture of rubber and plastics products
Division 26: Manufacture of other non-metallic mineral products
Division 27: Manufacture of basic metals
Division 28: Manufacture of fabricated metal products, except machinery and equipment
Division 29: Manufacture of machinery and equipment n.e.c.
Division 30: Manufacture of office, accounting and computing machinery
Division 31: Manufacture of electrical machinery and apparatus n.e.c.
Division 32: Manufacture of radio, television and communication equipment and apparatus
Division 33: Manufacture of medical, precision and optical instruments, watches and clocks
Division 34: Manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers
Division 35: Manufacture of other transport equipment
Division 36: Manufacture of furniture; manufacturing n.e.c.
Division 37: Recycling
Section E: Electricity, gas and water supply
Division 40: Electricity, gas, steam and hot water supply
Division 41: Collection, purification and distribution of water
Section F: Construction
Division 45: Construction
Section G: Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles, motorcycles and personal and
household goods
Division 50: Sale, maintenance and repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles; retail sale of
23
automotive fuel
Division 51: Wholesale trade and commission trade, except of motor vehicles and
motorcycles
Division 52: Retail trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles; repair of personal and
household goods
Section H: Hotels and restaurants
Division 55: Hotels and restaurants
Section I: Transport, storage and communications
Division 60: Land transport; transport via pipelines
Division 61: Water transport
Division 62: Air transport
Division 63: Supporting and auxiliary transport activities; activities of travel agencies
Division 64: Post and telecommunications
Section J: Financial intermediation
Division 65: Financial intermediation, except insurance and pension funding
Division 66: Insurance and pension funding, except compulsory social security
Division 67: Activities auxiliary to financial intermediation
Section K: Real estate, renting and business activities
Division 70: Real estate activities
Division 71: Renting of machinery and equipment without operator and of personal and
household goods

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