Long Questions: Rural Livelihoods | NCERT Summary: UPSC PDF Download

Q1: Describe the life of fishing communities.
Ans: Life of Fishing Communities:

• Fishing communities live in their houses close to the sea.
• They have catamarans and nets lying around.
• The catamarans leave for sea at around 2 o’clock in the morning for fishing and return at 7 o’clock with fish catch.
• Women gather to buy and sell fish.
• The women keep some fish aside for their family.
• The rest they sell and auction.
• Money collected from auction is divided in shares equally among the fishermen who bring catch from the sea.
• One share more is given to the owner of the catamaran, engine and net.
• Women who buy the catch, keep the catch in baskets and go to the nearby villages for sale of the fish.
• Traders also buy fish from the acution point to sell fish in the market or for export.
• In the evening catamaran and nets are repaired by the menfolk.

Q2: Give an account of the ways of earning livelihood in rural areas.
Ans: Various ways of earning livelihood in rural areas:

• Farm and non-farm activities.
• Farm activities involve the following:
• Preparing the land.
• Sowing
• Weeding
• Harvesting
• Farmers depend on nature for growth of crops. Hence life revolves round certain seasons.
• Different crops are raised in different regions.
• However there are similarities in their situation and problems they face.
• Some people work as labourers on the farmland and earn their living.
• Other ways of livelihood are fishing, crafts etc.
• Aruna and Paarivelan represent the fishing community.

Q3: What can the government do for the farmers who are burdened with debt?
Ans: 

• Government can help or provide assistance to farmers through lending programmes, such as interest-free loans and loans with low interest rates. 
• Subsidized seeds, fertilisers, and pesticides are also available to him. Poor farmers are forced to take out loans for farming purposes. 
• They are sometimes successful in repaying the debts, but there are occasions when they are unable to do so due to crop failure. This makes life difficult for them. To stay afloat, the family will have to take out more loans.

Q4: What are the main reasons behind the farmer’s suicide? And how can the government help them to save them from this disaster?
Ans: A farmer obtains a loan from a bank for agricultural operations. In his field, he grows whatever crop he wants. However, for a variety of reasons, his crop fails to meet his expectations, and he is unable to earn sufficient cash to repay his loans. Farmers feel impotent to repay the loan in this situation, which forces them to commit suicide on occasion.
The government can assist farmers in obtaining loans and even provide them with free seeds.

Q5: What are the different jobs that the rural people perform on an individual level?
Ans: On an individual level, rural people can undertake a variety of jobs. The following are a few of them:

• Laundry: In rural areas, some people prefer to wash the clothes of others for a fee in exchange for a living.
• Teaching: Some literate individuals opt to teach the children of their village for a fee and occasionally in exchange for some goods.
• Weaving: Some people weave clothes and other materials for dresses.
• Repairing: Some people start a business repairing mechanical objects like auto rickshaws, bicycles, and motorcycles.

Q6: What are the problems of small farmers in rural areas according to Sekar?
Ans: According to Sekar the problems of small farmers in rural areas are enumerated as under:

• The farmer’s family does the whole work from sowing to harvesting of crops.
• They have to take the produce to their house.
• They have to sell the produce first to the moneylender at lower prices than the market prices.
• The remaining produce is enough for only 2 months. They have to work as labourer for earning money for 4 months. They may work in rice mill or in other places.
• They also rear cattle for milk to be sold in the market to earn money.

Q7: Why do farming communities commit suicide in some areas?
Ans: In some areas farming communities commit suicide due to the following reasons:

• Farmers very often take loan from moneylenders for purchase of seeds, fertilisers and pesticides.
• Sometimes seeds are not good while on the other occasions pests damage crops resulting in crop failure.
• Bad monsoon also damages, crops.
• The farmers have to borrow more money for their daily needs.
• Loan goes on mounting and there is no way before the farmers to repay loan.
• They become helpless and sometimes they commit suicide.

Q8: Read the following account (terrace farming in Nagaland) and answer the questions that follow it:
Terrace Farming in Nagaland:
This is a village called Chizami which is in Phek district in Nagaland. The people of this village belong to the Chakhesang community. They do ‘terrace’ cultivation.

This means that the land on a hill slope is made into flat plots and carved out in steps. The sides of each plot are raised in order to retain water. This allows water to stand in the field, which is best for rice cultivation.
The people of Chizami have their own individual fields. But, they also work collectively in each other’s fields. They form groups of six or eight and take an entire mountainside to clean the weeds on it.
Each group eats together once their work for the day is over. This goes on for several days until the work is completed.

1. Which village is referred to in the picture above? Where is it located?
2. Which community do the villagers of this village belong to?
3. What type of farming do they practise?
4. For what is this practice the best?
5. Why do the people of Chizami work collectively?

Ans:

1. Chizami in Phek district of Nagaland.
2. Chakhesang
3. Terrace cultivation (farming)
4. Rice cultivation
5. To carry out the farming activities.
6. To clean the mountain side of the weeds.

Q9: What are the types of farming communities in rural livelihood?
Ans: The following are the various sorts of farming communities in rural livelihood:

• Small landowners
• Big landowners
• Landless farmers and labourers.

The poorest are the landless farmers and labourers. They can only make money during crop seasons. Because there is a scarcity of work in the villages, people are either jobless or earn a pittance for the remainder of the year. As a result, they are poor because they do not own land and rely on farming.

Q10: People who do not have good medical facilities and education, what can be done for them? Explain?
Ans: This isn't a reasonable circumstance. A provision for land-ceiling should be included. It will make it easier for everyone to obtain a piece of land on which they may earn a living. Everyone should have the same chance. Primary school should be made mandatory. Efforts should be made to encourage impoverished people to attend school. It will inform them of their rights and raise other forms of awareness. Everyone should be treated equally and not discriminated against because of their economic status.