Occupational mobility has been a major way of escaping distress for the rural poor in India. Traditionally, when the economy was based on agriculture the institution of family and the caste system would restrict the choices available to the rural poor, but with growing industrialisation new factors have come into play. Educational attainments and the politico-legal framework of labour recruitment are now superimposed on the traditional structures of caste and family in the process of occupational mobility. These new factors have cut across caste boundaries and widened the choices available to the rural poor, yet it does not substantially alter the traditional patterns of dominance. In this study four factors stand out in enabling the process of occupational mobility. First, of prime importance is schooling. Second is the support received from the family. Third is the economic condition of the household. It is not the poorest from the rural community who are able to make the transition. Lastly there is a manifest political dimension to this process.