The first is that there is a structural shift in terms of the contribution of the three main sectors—agriculture, industry, and services—to the gross domestic product in favour of non-farm sectors; the second involves total employment in the economy—with a shift away from agriculture towards the other two main sectors of economic activity—first towards industry, followed by services. [...] However, after the catastrophic demonetisation and the consequent destruction of the unorganised sector and manufacturing in the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), there was a gradual decline in the share of manufacturing from the stable 16–17 per cent of GDP between 1992 and 2014. [...] So slow was the pace of non-farm job generation that while the contribution to the GDP of agriculture fell to 25 per cent (from 44 per cent) by 2001, the share of employment in agriculture was still 60 per cent in 2000. [...] Figure 1: Real Wages of Workers in Rural India: Regular, Casual and Self-Employed 11 Santosh Mehrotra If the number of those in the labour market rises, while demand for labour stagnates in both rural and urban areas (recall the highest-ever unemployment rate in 2017–18 in 45 years), then the fall or stagnation of wages can be easily understood. [...] He was also the Director General (2009–14) of the National Institute of Labour Economics Research, Planning Commission, in the rank of Secretary to the Government of India.
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