There exist some gaps between Government programmes on RNFS and the target group. There is a need to rope in other organizations committed to give something back to the society.

Importance of Non-Farm Sector:

• Growth in employment in the formal sector has been lagging behind the general growth and employment in the country. There has been gradual loss of farmland to make room for roads, real estate and factories.
• In this context, rural non-farm sector, which is sustainable and less capital intensive, appears more appealing to people.
• The non-farm activities can help reduce income inequality and enhance the quality of life in rural areas by providing supplementary and non-seasonal employment to small and marginal farmers.
• It has a scope to employ a large number of people, especially from lower socio economic strata of rural sector.
• An enhanced focus on rural non-farm sector will lead to cross-sector income and diversification of income sources.

Integration of Farm and Non-Farm Sectors:

• One big way in which farmer incomes can get a boost is by improving farm productivity (ratio of agriculture output to agriculture inputs). These activities can provide forward and backward linkages to agricultural activities.
• Non-farm activities serve as an alternate source of income for those who were hitherto unemployed in agricultural farms.
• Further, non-farm activities do not get affected by crisis of crop failure, bad harvest and drought, which happen in the case of farming.
• A proper, integration of farm and non-farm activities in rural areas would also enhance the quality of life in rural areas.
• It will also reduce the migration from rural areas to urban areas and hence reduce the immense pressure of planning, development and provisioning of services in the urban areas.
• This would further uplift rural poor above the poverty Iine and enhance their quality of life.
• It would also reduce the rural-urban income gap by providing continuity in incomes for the rural workers.

Government Programme and Policies:

• The Government of India has launched programmes like Skill India, National Skill Development Mission, the National Skill Qualification Framework (NSQF), Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana, National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme and Community Colleges.
• Young Professionals (YPs) scheme was developed under the NRLM with an objective to provide a well-structured exposure to Young Professionals in different thematic operations of NRLM.
• Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana (PMMY) is introduced to provide loans up to Rs 10 lakh to the non-corporate, non-farm small/micro enterprises.
• These loans are given by the Commercial Banks, RRBs, Small Finance Banks, Cooperative Banks, MFIs and NBFCs.
• Under the guidance of PMMY, three products have been created; `Shishu’, ‘Kishore’ and ‘Tarun’, to signify the stage of growth and funding needs of the beneficiary.
• However, Government organisations are not very flexible in their programmes.

Non-Governmental Organisations:

• An NGO is a non-profit, voluntary group which is organized on a local, national or international level.
• It performs a variety of services and humanitarian functions, bring citizen’s concerns to Governments, advocate and monitor policies and encourage political participation by providing information.
• India possibly has the largest number of active NGOs in the world.

NGOs and RNFS:

At present, the role of NGO is to complement the services of the Government. They attract professionals from different fields to take up the role of planners and implementers of developmental plans in rural non-farm sector. There exists a gap between the requirement of trained human resources and the available human resources. The NGOs and private sectors can provide demand driven skill training.

• NGOs can help create a direct link with the Government for marketing of goods produced by rural youth.
• They can also help in establishing cooperative societies, procurement of raw materials, finance, marketing, etc.
• Community Based NGOs build relations of cooperation and trust with the local people.
• Advocacy NGOs scan and mobilize successful campaigns and raise public awareness regarding issues in RNFS.
• Self Help Group (SHG) movement was initiated in the 1980s and consequently it was adopted by the Government.
• There are more than 5.6 Cr. women attached to 49.7 lakhs SHGs in the country.
• Many of these SHGs are also in the RNFS.
• SHGs also provide for participatory communication, gender sensitization training, enhanced educational and employment opportunities, training etc.
• Social workers can help identify barriers which exist in the entry of rural poor into the non-farm sector.
• NGOs can provide training in soft skills with the help of digital tools to help the rural people in accessing quality inputs and advisory for many of the non-farm activities.
• They can also provide demand driven skill training and skill up gradation to encourage non-farm activities in villages. It has to fulfil the demand of the employer or industry.
• It would also motivate the rural youth to select the skill course or institute of their choice.
• Social workers can help identify barriers which exist in the entry of rural poor into the non-farm sector.
• NGOs can also help in establishing cooperative societies so that the economic activities which require larger resources can be pooled together.
• The cooperative societies would also be helpful in managing forward and backward linkages with the banks, financial institutions and the consumer markets.

CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility):

• Business cannot succeed when the society fails. Private organizations have to give back to the people their social and economic dividends.
• Profit making businesses have been mandated to spend 2% of their net profit through CSR.
• Their primary emphasis is on the health and education welfare schemes, rural projects, gender equality, hunger and environment-related causes. Such initiatives can also promote RNFS.
• As the CSR funds are flexible, the needs can be analysed and evaluated before such funds are passed on to the local entrepreneurs.

Private Sector:

• Trained social workers in private sector companies can assess the problems of the rural people and quickly plan suitable interventions:
• Mentor and motivate rural people to participate in their development programmes.
• Organize community development programmes.
• Empower the community members by providing educational and employment opportunities.
• The private sector can also develop innovative strategies for infrastructure development.
• They have set up Kaushal Vikas Kendras to provide vocational training to semi-literate youth in a variety of trades.

Way Forward:

• An institutional set up for the development of non-farm sector needs to be identified so that more employment opportunities are created in the rural areas.
• It is necessary to improve rural road transport as it would help in marketing the goods and articles manufactured by RNFS, facilitate procurement of raw materials, improve market access.
• Private sector needs to help identify viable non-farm activities and linkages of these non-farm activities with the farm activities already being undertaken in the rural areas.
• NGOs and private organizations are expected to join hands to help Government in its mission.
• NGOs can also help in establishing cooperative societies so that the economic activities which require larger resources can be pooled together.
• The cooperative societies would also be helpful in managing forward and backward linkages with the banks, financial institutions and the consumer markets.
• Social workers can help identify barriers which exist in the entry of rural poor into the non-farm sector.

Conclusion:

Governmental Organisations, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), Policy makers, Private Sector, CSR representatives, Academician, Researchers and the Rural Residents themselves need to come together and develop an integrated farm and non-farm sector development plan with a common goal of enhancing the rural household income.