List out any ten non-farming activities in a modern village. They can be the ones currently being practised in Indian villages or you can innovate and suggest new ones and keeping in mind the activities suitable for an Indian village. In 4 to 5 sentences, explain how each activity can help in generating employment and modernising the village.

Activities in which people can engage themselves other than agriculture are called non-farming activities. Some non-farming activities that are carried out in a modern village are:

1. Dairy:

People involve themselves in feeding their cattle with various kinds of grass and sell milk in the nearby villages.

This fetches them some earnings.

2. Small Scale Industries:

Individuals can start manufacturing units on a small scale, which involves mundane production methods.

E.g. Crushing sugarcane and processing it to jaggery, which can be carried out with minimal labour.

3. Transport:

Many can profit from the rise in the demand for efficient transport facilities, by providing basic services such as rickshaws, taxis, milk vans, water tankers etc.

4. Shop Keeping:

Village folk can purchase a variety of goods from urban wholesale markets and sell them in their hometowns.

5. Cottage industries:

Cottage industries can be set up even by women, which makes it a lucrative job opportunity for everyone. It can be satisfied using the simplest raw materials available in a person’s environment.

6. Tailoring:

Many rural youths, who are uneducated but skilled, have taken to tailoring as a new way to start life. Even the government of India has come up with schemes and policies to provide vocational training to the underprivileged.

7. Teaching:

The educated village folk can volunteer to build schools and educate the kids, as education lights up one’s world.

8. Communication:

Along with transport, communication facilities are borne. Working as postmen, or setting up telephone booths around the village can go a long way when it comes to interaction.

9. Brokers:

The recent times have seen a rise in migration from cities to villages, reversing the earlier times’ practice, especially for people who want to live in a calm and serene atmosphere. Given their experience, villagers can act as brokers and provide good housing solutions to people.

10. Pottery:

Villagers can engage themselves in pottery. They can make articles out of porcelain, mud and ceramic and sell it thereby generating income for their family. A bigger set up can employ more people from the same village thus providing employment opportunities to the locals.