Development and growth of the rural non-farm sector is very crucial for providing alternative livelihood in the rural sector. India, since the very beginning of its development journey, has taken several policies and programmes for enhancing the non-agricultural livelihood. Data given by different authorities shows that over the last 75 years this non-farm sector has grown to some extent but this is far less than the desired one. Focus of the studies and reports on non-farm sector was mainly on the provision of finance and credit facilities, physical infrastructure and other amenities, institution building for technological up gradation, training for skill development and entrepreneurship development. Based on the author’s personal experiences as development practitioner this paper presents some other factors which have drawn less attention of both the policy makers and academics.