This is based on the author’s Dr K N Shyamasundaran Nair Memorial Lecture delivered on 13 August 2010 at the Kerala Agricultural University, Thrissur. Research assistance rendered by Varinder Jain and S Dhanya is gratefully acknowledged. K P Kannan (kannankp123@gmail.com) is with the Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram.

There has been considerable debate in India about the impact of growth on employment especially in the organised manufacturing sector for different periods since the early 1980s. However, changes in the coverage of the Annual Survey of Industries demand a fresh look at the issue over a longer period. This paper attempts such an analysis for 1981-82 to 2004-05.

This paper attempts to define the common people of India in terms of levels of consumption and examines their socio-economic profile in different periods of time since the early 1990s with a view to a