EMPLOYMENT IN INDIA'S ORGANISED SECTOR 41 figures for different periods. However, this problem of changes in the definition of workers in various censuses is not as acute in the organised sector as it is in the case of the unorganised sector. Still, different analyses show that 1971 census figures are underestimations with respect to 1981 census figures. In analysing the dynamics of the structure of employment in the organised sector these changes in definitions and classifications over time need to be kept in mind. EMPLOYMENT IN THE ORGANISED SECTOR: SOME ISSUES Recent data reveal a number of interesting features about the employment structure in the organised sector. The rate of growth of employment in the sector 1977-78 to 1982-83 improved over the performance in 1966-67 to 1976-77. Table-1 shows that the respective growth rates were 2.61 per-cent per annum and 2.38 per-cent per annum. However, between 1983-84 and 1987-88 the figure has declined sharply to 1.31 percent per annum. Within the organised sector the growth of employment in the public sector is higher than it is in the private sector during the decade ending in 1987-88. In manufacturing, both the private and public sectors, performed worse than the organised sector as a whole.The rate of growth of employment in private organised sector is -0.42 percent per annum during 1983-84 to 1987-88. The corresponding figure for private manufacturing is -1.13 percent per annum. The rate of growth of employment in public manufacturing sector though positive is as low as 0.54 percent per annum during the same period.7 In the manufacturing sector nevertheless in 1987-88 the private manufacturing enterprises provided 43.95 lakh jobs which is about 65 percent of total employment in the sector. A substantially negative rate of growth of employment in the private sector enterprises of the segment during 1983-84 to 1987-88 along with a very low growth rate of employment in public sector manufacturing enterprises is an alarming sign. Historically the process of development has been associated with an increase in the growth of employment in manufacturing. In India, job opportunities in the manufacturing sector have in fact declined from 62.9 lakhs to 62.62 lakhs over the period (Table 1). On the basis of industrial classification of organised sector, it can be observed that between March 1976 and March 1988 the rates of growth of employment in all class is much worse than the performance during 1961-62 except for mining and quarrying. Four out of eight industrial classes namely (a) mining and quarrying, (b) manufacturing, (c) electricity,, water and gas supply, and (d) community, social and personal service have shown a decline in the rate of growth of employment between 1976-88 compared to the performance during 1966-76. The only category which shows a high growth rate of employment sustained over the period