Name: Manpreet Kaur, Suneeta Sharma
Country: India

Year: 2014
Volume: Volume-1, Issue-1 (January-June)
Page Number: 34-47

Majority of rural poor in developing countries depend on agriculture for their livelihood. As the distribution of land in these countries remains skewed, agriculture being seasonal activity, majority of these rural people remain unemployed for half of the year. To tackle such situation, these people have to resort to other non agriculture activities or they involve themselves in more than one occupation to generate income during slack season and to cope with distress factors like poverty, unemployment, smoothening of consumption and so on. Apart from these factors, in particular, people in the border areas face unique set of socio-economic uncertainties prevailing due to geographical location of such areas. This requires the need of occupational diversification in such areas to impart a sense of security through generation of additional sources of income for their livelihood.. Self Help Groups(SHG) provide subsidy based collateral free loans to rural poor to undertake various economic activities and enhance their income rather than just being dependent on agriculture. The present study is a modest attempt to analyze the occupational diversification through SHG loans among its member in border district of Tarn-Taran in State of Punjab.A sample of 120 beneficiary and non-beneficiary households was surveyed and data was analysed with the help of percentages and pearson’s Chi-Square technique.The results showed a significant change in the primary occupation of beneficiary members and beneficiary households diversified from low wage employment to self employment in dairy,petty business and other subsidiary occupations. Although SHG’s have helped the members to indulge in different avenues of selfemployment but these capital investments were not enough to provide the members full employment opportunity and sufficient income to cross the poverty line due to the problems of marketing, lack of infrastructure etc. yet they showed a significant shift from low rewarding activities to some gainful activity.

Key words: Income generating activities; Self-help Group; pattern of occupation; Occupational diversification