Unorganised Sector and Regional Economic Development: Growth Prospects and Policy Issues

The Unorganised sector of the economy is often considered as residual, peripheral and invisible. Although recent empirical studies have helped to make visible the large number of small, scattered and unregulated occupations that vast numbers are engaged in, this sector has not made any substantial impact on mainstream economic analysis or macro policy making in many developing countries. This work, the result of a creative collaboration between research and action, is aimed at highlighting the contribution of unorganised sector to the Indian economy. Conceptualising the unorganised sector and focussing on the various sub sectors within the unorganised sector, the study tries to bring out the growth pattern and productivity determinants across the states. Overall, the work provides greater clarity to the nebulous concept of unorganised economy and establishes that it creates employment, provides goods and services, creates investments yet such manifestations are distress driven. However, there exists a dynamic part which needs to be promoted.