‘Agriculture and allied sectors major source of employment in Bihar’

PATNA: The state witnessed growth in the agriculture and allied activities, as well as expansion of roads, transport and power sector, that opened new avenues for self-employment and income generating activities for both male and female workers.
The Economic Survey report 2019-20 tabled in the state assembly on Monday has noted that the state’s male workforce found employment mostly in agriculture, forestry and fishing (44.6%), construction (17.1%), wholesale and retail trade, repair of vehicles (12.3%) and manufacturing (9.3%) sectors.
On the other hand, the female workers largely concentrated on two areas for employment and engagement — agriculture, forestry and fishing (53.6%) and education (25.7%).
The report has also pointed out that Rural Self-Employment Training Institute (RSETI) produced skilled workers by training slightly over 1.38 lakh candidates. Of them, 45% were males, 54% females and around 1% transgender. It has also noted that of the total trained persons, 74% were able to get gainful employment in various economic activities.
The wholesale and retail business across the state has been facilitated by the laying of a network of roads and burgeoning expansion of the transport sector, which registered growth of 11% from 2011-12 up to 2018-19.
The physical infrastructure of roads expanded with a massive investment that tripled from Rs5,988 crore in 2012-13 to Rs18,677 crore in 2019-20. Bihar had the credit of becoming the sixth highest state in building additional road length of 1.30 lakh km during 2008-17, and the total paved road in rural areas increased from 35% in 2015 to 75% in 2019.
As a result of this, as many as 11.89 lakh vehicles were registered in the state during 2018-19, in comparison with only 5.53 lakh in 2013-14. The increased registration of vehicles also yielded increased revenue — from Rs835 crore in 2013-14 to Rs2,067 crore in 2018-19, an annual growth rate of 20%.
Similarly, the contribution of the air transport sector to the gross state domestic product (GSDP) increased from Rs31 crore in 2011-12 to Rs252 crore in 2018-19, when as many as 40.61 lakh passengers availed themselves of air travel during 2018-19.