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REHABILITATING DEGRADED LANDS

N.C. Saxena

More than two-thirds of India's population is dependant on land. It is significant that this percentage has remained almost unchanged in the last 80 years; the reason is not far to seek. Employment generation in the secondary and tertiary sectors of the economy is unable to absorb even the additional urban labour force. Therefore, scope for the rural work force finding meaningful employment in the urban sector is severely limited. With an increasing capital output ratio, the income elasticity of employment in the non-agricultural sector keeps declining, making it more difficult for the urban sector to absorb the extra manpower that is intended to be released from land.

During, the last three decades ...

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