The proportion of workforce residing in rural areas in India is _________________.

Higher

During 2011-12, India had about a 473 million strong workforce. Since majority of our people reside in rural areas, the proportion of workforce residing there is higher. The rural workers constitute about threefourth of this 473 million. Men form the majority of workforce in India. About 70 per cent of the workers are men and the rest are women (men and women include child labourers in respective sexes). Women workers account for one-third of the rural workforce whereas in urban areas, they are just one-fifth of the workforce. Women carry out works like cooking, fetching water and fuelwood and participate in farm labour. They are not paid wages in cash or in the form of grains; at times they are not paid at all. For this reason, these women are not categorised as workers. Economists have argued that these women should also be called workers.