CBSE Class 9 Economics People As Resource Worksheet

PEOPLE AS RESOURCE

Population of a nation can be its asset rather than liability.

‘People as resource’ refers to a country’s working people in terms of their existing productive skills and abilities. When existing human resource is developed by becoming educated and healthy it turns into human capital. Human capital is superior to other resources like land and physical capital, as it uses these capitals and adds value to them. Investment in human capital via education and medical care can give high returns in the future. Country like Japan have invested a lot in human resources. They do not have rich natural resources, but still they are called developed nations. Human beings perform many activities which can be grouped into economic and noneconomic. Economic Activities: Economic activities refer to those activities of man which are undertaken for a monetary gain or to satisfy his/her wants. The activities of workers, farmers, shopkeepers, manufacturers, doctors, lawyers, taxi drivers, etc. fall under this category.

Market Activities and Non-Market Activities

Economic activities are also called as market activities.

Non-market activities are production for self-consumption.

Non-Economic Activities: Non-economic activities are ones that are not undertaken for any monetary gain. These are also called unpaid activities, e.g.., Puja-paath, housekeeping, helping the poor or disabled, etc.
Classification of Economic Activities. Various economic activities can be classified into three main sectors, that is primary sector, secondary sector, and tertiary sector. The primary sector includes activities like agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, fishing, poultry, farming and mining. In this sector, goods are produced by exploiting nature. In the secondary sector, manufacturing (small and large) and construction activities are included. The tertiary sector (also called service sector) provides various types of services like transport, education, banking, insurance, health, tourism, etc.

In India traditionally there is division of labour between men and women.
Activities of Women. Women generally look after domestic affairs like cooking of food, washing of clothes, cleaning of utensils, housekeeping and looking after children
- Human Capital: Human capital is the stock of skill and productive knowledge embodied in human beings. Population (human beings) become human capital when it is provided with better education, training and health care facilities

Quality of Population.
The quality of population depends upon the literacy rate, life expectancy and skills formation acquired by the people of the country.

Role of Education:
Education is the most important component of human resource development. It contributes towards the growth of the society, enhances the national income, cultural richness and increases efficiency of governance.
In view of its contribution towards the growth of the society, government expenditure on education as a percentage of GDP rose from 0.64% in 1951-52 to 3.98% in 2002-03. However, our national goal is 6% of GDP.
Literacy is uneven between males and females. Males are more literate. It also varies with urban and rural area. Urban population is more literate compared to rural.
There were 7.68 lakh schools by 2004-05. But education is diluted by the poor quality of schooling and high drop out rates. ‘Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan’ is a significant step towards providing elementary education to all children below the age of 14.
Health:
Health is another very important component of human resource development. Efficiency of workers largely depends on their health. There has been considerable improvement in the country’s health standard. For instance, the life expectancy at the time of birth in India rose from 37.2 years in 1951 to 63.9 years in 2001. Similarly, infant mortality rate has come down from 147 to 47 by 2010.
Infant mortality rate is the death of the child under one year of age.
India has built up a vast health infrastructure but still much more is needed to be done.Unemployment: Unemployment is said to exist when people who are willing to work at the prevailing wage rates cannot find jobs. When we talk of unemployed people, we refer to those in the age group of 15-59 years. Children below 15 years of age and the old people above 60 are not considered while counting the number of unemployed.

Nature of Unemployment in India:
Seasonal unemployment occurs when people fail to get work during some months of the year (that is, during off-season). Farm labourers usually face this kind of problem.
Disguised unemployment is another kind of unemployment found in rural areas. Such kind of problem arises due to excessive pressure of population on agriculture. Disguised unemployment refers to a situation where in the number of workers in a job is more than actually required to do the job. The extra number of workers are disguisedly unemployed.
Increase in unemployment is an indicator of depressed economy.

Consequences of Unemployment:
(i) Unemployment leads to wastage of manpower resource.
(ii) Unemployment tends to increase the economic overload that is dependence of the unemployed on the working population.
(iii) Unemployment may lead to increase in social unrest and tension.

People as Resource

Human beings perform many activities which can be grouped into economic and noneconomic.

Economic Activities: Economic activities refer to those activities of man which are undertaken for a monetary gain or to satisfy his/her wants. The activities of workers, farmers, shopkeepers, manufacturers, doctors, lawyers, taxi drivers, etc. fall under this

category.

Non-Economic Activities: Non-economic activities are ones that are not undertaken for any monetary gain. These are also called unpaid activities, e.g., Puja-paath, housekeeping, helping the poor or disabled, etc.

• Classification of Economic Activities. Various economic activities can be classified into three main sectors, that is primary sector, secondary sector and tertiary sector. The primary sector includes activities like agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, fishing, oultry, farming and mining. In this sector, goods are produced by exploiting nature. In the secondary sector, manufacturing (small and large) and construction activities are included. The tertiary sector (also called service sector) provides various types of services like transport, education, banking, insurance, health, tourism, etc.

• Market Activities and Non-Market Activities. Economic activities, i.e. production of goods and services can be classified into market activities and non-market activities. Market activities are performed for remuneration. Non-market activities are the activities carried out for self-consumption.

• Activities of Women. Women generally look after domestic affairs like cooking of food, washing of clothes, cleaning of utensils, housekeeping and looking after children.

• Human Capital: Human capital is the stock of skill and productive knowledge embodied in human beings. Population (human beings) become human capital when it is provided with better education, training and health care facilities.

• People as a Resource: People as resource is a way of referring to a country’s workforce in terms of their existing skills and abilities.

• Human Capital Formation: When the existing human resource is further developed by spending on making the workforce more educated and healthy, it is called human capital formation.

• Quality of Population: The quality of population depends upon the literacy rate, life expectancy and skills formation acquired by the people of the country.

• Role of Education: Education is the most important component of human resource development.

In view of its contribution towards the growth of the society, government expenditure on education as a percentage of GDP rose from 0.64% in 1951-52 to 3.98% in 2002-03.

However, our national goal is 6% of GDP. 

• Health: Health is another very important component of human resource development.

Efficiency of workers largely depends on their health.

There has been considerable improvement in the country’s health standard. For instance, the life expectancy at the time of birth in India rose from 37.2 years in 1951 to 63.9 years in 2001. Similarly, infant mortality rate has come down from 147 to 70 during the same time period. 

• Unemployment: Unemployment is said to exist when people who are willing to work at the prevailing wage rates cannot find jobs. When we talk of unemployed people, we refer to those in the age group of 15-59 years. Children below 15 years of age and the old people above 60 are not considered while counting the number of unemployed.

• Nature of Unemployment in India: Seasonal unemployment occurs when people fail to get work during some months of the year (that is, during off-season). Farm laborers usually face this kind of problem. Disguised unemployment is another kind of

unemployment found in rural areas. Such kind of problem arises due to excessive pressure of population on agriculture. Disguised unemployment refers to a situation wherein the number of workers in a job is more than actually required to do the job. The extra number of workers are disguisedly unemployed.

• Consequences of Unemployment:

(i) Unemployment leads to wastage of manpower resource.

(ii) Unemployment tends to increase the economic overload that is dependence of the unemployed on the working population. 

(iii) Unemployment may lead to increase in social unrest and tension.

MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS (1 MARK)

Question. Why is literacy rate low among the females?
(a) lack of equal education opportunities
(b) lack of transport facilities
(c) lack of infrastructure
(d) lack of income
Answer.(a)

Question. In which state was the literacy rate highest as per 2001 study?
(a) Kerala
(b) Madhya Pradesh
(c) Bihar
(d) Orissa
Answer.(a)

Question. Which of the following is a significant step towards providing elementary education to all the children in the age group of 6-14 years?
(a) Sarva Siksha Abhiyan
(b) Adult Education Programme
(c) Mid-day meal
(d) Mid-day meal
Answer.(a)

Question. Market activity refers to production for
(a) exchange
(b) earning income
(c) earning profit
(d) all the above
Answer.(d)

Question. Increase in longevity of life is an indicator of--
(a) good quality of life
(b) improvement in health sector
(c) better HDI (Human Development Index)
(d) all the above
Answer.(a)

Question. One who can read and write in any language with understanding is termed as
(a) student
(b) adult
(c) child
(d) literate
Answer.(d)

Question. What is India’s position in scientific and technical manpower in the world?
(a) first
(b) second
(c) third
(d) fourth
Answer.(c)

Question. Investment in human capital is expenditure on
(a) education
(b) training
(c) medical care
(d) all the above
Answer.(d)

Question. The scheme for the establishment of residential schools to impart education to talented children from rural areas is
(a) Kendriya Vidyalayas
(b) Navodaya Vidyalayas
(c) Sarvodaya Vidyalayas
(d) None of the aboves
Answer.(b)

Question. Services of housewives are included in
(a) national income
(b) domestic income
(c) household income
(d) none of the above
Answer.(d)

Question. Infant mortality rate refers to the death of a child under the age of
(a) 1 year
(b) 2 years
(c) 3 years
(d) 4 years
Answer.(a)

Question. Choose the non-market activities
(i) Vilas sells fish in the village market
(ii) Vilas cooks food for his family
(iii) Sakal works in a private firm
(iv) Sakal looks after his younger brother and sister
(a) (i) & (ii)
(b) (iii) & (iv)
(c) (i) & (iii)
(d) (ii) & (iv)
Answer.(d)

Question. Choose the primary sector activities
(i) Forestry (ii) Poultry farming (iii) Animal husbandry (iv) Manufacturing
(a) (i)
(b) (i), (ii), (iii)
(c) (ii), (iii), (iv)
(d) All the above
Answer.(b)

Question. Tertiary sector provides
(a) services
(b) goods
(c) both goods and services
(d) none
Answer.(a)

Question. Quality of population depends upon -
(a) literacy rate
(b) health
(c) skill
(d) all the above
Answer.(d)

Question. People as a resource refers to their
(a) educational skills
(b) productive skills
(c) health skills
(d) none of the above
Answer.(b)

Question. Disguised unemployment occurs when the number of persons working on a farm is --
(a) only what is required
(b) more than required
(c) less than required
(d) None of the above
Answer.(b)

Question. If a person in rural areas cannot find jobs during some months of the year, which type of employment is this called?
(a) Structural unemployment
(b) Cyclical unemployment
(c) Seasonal unemployment
(d) None of these
Answer.(c)

Question. What is the literacy rate of India as per 2001 census?
(a) 60%
(b) 62%
(c) 65%
(d) 70%
Answer.(c)

Question. Which of the following sectors is related to agriculture, forestry and dairy?
(a) Primary Sector
(b) Tertiary Sector
(c) Secondary Sector
(d) None of the above
Answer.(a)

Question. What do you understand by ’people as a resource’?
Answer. People who are part of the workforce are called human resource. By contributing in productivity, the human resource plays a significant role in the economy of a country. Any other resource becomes useful only because of the input by the human resource.

Question. How is human resource different from other resources like land and physical capital?
Answer. Human resource is different from other resources in many senses. Human resources need education, training and healthcare to develop. On the other hand, land and physical capital need money and physical inputs to develop. Land and physical capital are useless without human resources.

Question. What is the role of education in human capital formation?
Answer. Education plays an important role in human capital formation. Education improves the quality of human resources. An educated person is likely to contribute to the economy in a better way than an uneducated person. We should keep in mind that education does not only mean a formal education to obtain degrees but also means skill development.

Question. What is the role of health in human capital formation?
Answer. Health plays an important role in human capital formation. A healthy person is more likely to realize his full potential and can become an asset for the economy. An unhealthy person is less likely to realize his potential and can become a liability for the economy.

Question. What part does health play in the individual’s working life?
Answer. A healthy person will not have to take frequent breaks from his work. By working on full schedule, a healthy person can improve his earnings and can live a better life. Moreover, he will also be in a position to save on medical bills. The money thus saved can be utilised for creating some assets.

Question. What are the various activities undertaken in the primary sector, secondary sector and tertiary sector?
Answer. Primary Sector: Agriculture, poultry farming, fishing, horticulture, animal husbandry, mining, quarrying, etc.
Secondary Sector: Manufacturing
Tertiary Sector: Banking, transport, finance and different types of services

Question. What is the difference between economic activities and non-economic activities?
Answer. An activity which is done with the aim of monetary return is called an economic activity,while an activity which is not done with the aim of monetary return is called a non-economic activity. The most quoted example to understand this is that of a teacher. When a teacher teaches students in a school, he is doing economic activity. When the same teacher teaches his son, he is doing non-economic activity.

Question. Why are women employed in low paid work?
Answer. Our society has evolved in such a way, that a woman’s work is given less importance. Bias against women is the prime reason of lower wages given to women.

Question. How will you explain the term unemployment?
Answer. When a person is actively seeking a job but is unable to get employed, he is called an unemployed person. This condition is called unemployment.

Question. What is the difference between disguised unemployment and seasonal unemployment?
Answer. Disguised employment is the situation when more people are working on something which can be efficiently done by less number of people. Seasonal employment is the situation in which people remain without work in certain months of a year.

Question. Why is educated unemployed, a peculiar problem of India?
Answer. India has a huge population and every year a large number of people graduate from schools and colleges. Employment generation in various sectors is not keeping pace with the number of educated people coming out of educational institutions. Due to this, educated unemployed is a peculiar problem of India.

Question. In which field do you think India can build the maximum employment opportunity?
Answer. Service sector can generate the maximum employment opportunity.

Question. Can you suggest some measures in the education system to mitigate the problem of the educated unemployed?
Answer. The current curriculum is based on theoretical learning and no emphasis is being given on skill development. There should be more emphasis on vocational training so that people can become employable. People in India have a greater inclination towards joining a job rather than becoming entrepreneurs. There is a need for change in such a mindset.

Question. Can you imagine some village which initially had no job opportunities but later came up with many?
Answer. There can be many examples of such villages. When an infrastructure project or some industry develops near a village, employment generation takes place. Gurgaon can be a very good example. Before the beginning of the Maruti Udyog Limited, Gurgaon used to be a small village.Subsequent development of industry changed the situation in Gurgaon.

Question. Which capital would you consider the best: land, labour, physical capital and human capital? Why?
Answer. Human capital is the best because other resources are useless without human capital.

Activity

Question. Visit a nearby hospital, either government or private and note-down the following details:
(i) How many beds are there in the hospital you have visited?
(ii) How many doctors are there in the hospital?
(iii) How many nurses work in that hospital?
Besides try to gather the following additional information:
(iv) How many hospitals are there in your locality?
(v) How many dispensaries are there in your locality?
Answer : I visited a medium sized private hospital located near my house.
(i) There are 30 beds in the hospital. All beds were well maintained and cleanliness is at the top; hygiene is maintained by the workers and different beds are made available for different kind of patients so that the disease of one patient can’t be communicated to others.
(ii) There are 20 doctors available in the hospital. All doctors come on time and they also ensure proper maintenance of their dress and hygiene. They are very polite. There are 5 doctors especially for children and various other specialists as well.
(iii) Around 30 nurses work over there. All of them dress themselves properly and ensure hygiene in the hospital. They assist doctors in their work and look after the patients in absence of the doctors.
(iv) There are two hospitals near my locality. One of them is a government hospital and other is privately owned. The government hospital is really big in size but one can easily see underutilization as well as wastage of resources. The doctors hardly come on time, there are apparent issues with hygiene and almost negligible accountability towards the patients. The prices for availing the facilities is though very low. The private hospital on the other hand is expensive. The facilities in the hospital are very well managed and a close vigil is maintained over the timings as well as the service quality.
(v) There are three small dispensaries in our locality. They are managed by well qualified doctors. One of the dispensaries holds specialisation in handling child and woman related medical issues, one is managed by a bone specialist doctor and the third one is a physician clinic.

Short Answer Type Questions

II) Match the following: