Livelihood Status of Scheduled Caste Families in the Hisar District of Haryana- India
Ekta *
Department of Extension Education and Communication Management, College of Community Science, PAU, Ludhiana, India.
Sushma Kaushik
Department of Extension Education and Communication Management, I.C. College of Home Science, CCSHAU, Hisar, India.
Lokendra Singh Kishnawat
Department of Extension Education, COA, PAU, Ludhiana, India.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
The Scheduled Caste (SC) population in India has remained socio-economically disadvantaged due to low literacy, asset ownership, and income levels. The study was conducted in the Hisar district of Haryana state. The livelihood status of 200 SC families from 5 randomly selected villages with predominantly large (40%) of SC population as per census 2011, was explored. It has confirmed that livelihood assets determine a household's ability to pursue their strategies and recover from poverty. The majority of SC rural families have a higher number of members in productive age, low family education status, low formal training attendance, and own small houses with animal shelters. Many do not own land, and non-farm labour work is the main source of livelihood for males, while female livelihoods are spread across farm labour, livestock, and non-farm labour. The income is primarily earned from salary/wages, with livestock being the second most significant source of income. The gender disparity in work participation rate highlights the need for gender-sensitive policies and programs to promote women's participation in the workforce.
Keywords: Scheduled caste families, livelihood, assets, employment, status