People as Resource NCERT Solutions - Indian Economy for UPSC CSE

Q1. What do you understand by ‘people as a resource’?

Ans: ‘People as a resource’ is a term that means how the population can be an asset and not a liability. People can make the best use of nature to create more resources when they have the knowledge, skills, and technology. This is why human beings are considered a resource. It is the abilities of human beings that help in transferring physical material into a valuable resource. The idea of people as a resource is linked to the concept of human capital—i.e., the stock of skill and productive knowledge embodied in a population. 

Any production of goods and services requires the presence of the four production factors: land, labor, physical capital, and human capital. The knowledge and enterprise the human capital provides put together the other three factors to produce an output. The population becomes an asset instead of a liability when investments are made in the form of education, training and medical care.

Q2. How is human resource different from other resources like land and physical capital
Ans: Human resources is different in the following ways:

• Land and other resources are fixed, limited and specified, whereas human resources can be nurtured through education and health.
• Human resources can change other resources, whereas others can not change or affect a human resource.
• Human resources can make use of land and physical capital, whereas land and physical capital can not become useful on their own.

Q3. What is the role of education in human capital formation?
Ans: The role of education in human capital formation is as follows:

• Educated people earn more than uneducated people.
• A literate population is an asset to an economy.
• Several years of education adds to the quality of labor. 
• It leads to higher productivity.
• It opens new avenues for a person.
• It provides new aspirations and develops life values.
• It contributes to the growth of society.
• It enhances the national income, cultural richness and governance efficiency.

Q4. What is the role of health in human capital formation?
Ans: The role of health in human capital formation is as follows:

• Healthier people have higher productivity because the health of a person helps him to realize his potential and the ability to fight illness. On the other hand, an unhealthy person becomes a liability for an organization.
• It improves the quality of life. A healthy person is able to do his work in a proper and efficient way.
• A healthy person makes a greater contribution to society as compared to an unhealthy person.
• Good health enables a person to earn more and to be more regular in his work.

Q5. What part does health play in the individual’s working life?
Ans: Health plays a very important role in human capital formation in the following ways:

• The health of an individual helps him to realize his potential and also gives him the ability to fight illness. 
• An unhealthy individual is a liability to his place of work. 
• The health of a person is directly related to his efficiency. 
• As compared to an unhealthy individual, a healthy person can work more efficiently and with greater productivity.

Q6. What are the various activities undertaken in the primary sector, secondary sector and tertiary sector?
Ans:

Primary Sector

• Comprises activities related to the extraction and production of natural resources. 
• Agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, fishing, poultry farming, mining, and quarrying are the activities undertaken in this sector.

Secondary Sector

• Comprises activities related to the processing of natural resources. 
• Manufacturing is included in this sector.

Tertiary Sector

• Comprises activities that provide support to the primary and secondary sectors through various services. 
• Trade, transport, communication, banking, education, health, tourism, insurance, etc., are examples of tertiary activities.

Q7. What is the difference between economic activities and non-economic activities?
Ans:

Q8. Why are women employed in low-paid work?
Ans: The wage distribution among men and women has been a major concern for society.  Education and skill are the major determinants of the earnings of any individual in the market. Due to gender discrimination, women are generally denied education and the necessary skills to become worthy contributors to the national income. As a result, a majority of women have meager education and low-skill formation. This is one of the reasons why they get paid less than men. Also, the perpetuation of gender prejudices, such as “a woman cannot do as much physical work as a man” puts women at a disadvantage.

Q9. How will you explain the term unemployment?
Ans: Unemployment is a situation in which people who are able and willing to work at the same wages cannot find jobs. An individual is termed as unemployed if he or she is part of the workforce of a country and is capable and willing to work for payment but is unable to do so.

Q10. What is the difference between disguised unemployment and seasonal unemployment?
Ans:

Q11. Why is educated unemployed a peculiar problem of India?
Ans: In the case of India, educated unemployment has become a common phenomenon. Many youths with matriculation, graduation, and post-graduation degrees are not able to find jobs. A study shows that the unemployment of graduates and post-graduates has increased faster than among matriculates. A paradoxical manpower situation is witnessed as a surplus of manpower in certain categories coexists with a shortage of manpower in others.

Q12. In which field do you think India can build the maximum employment opportunity?
Ans: There are three types of activities into which the employment sector is divided: the primary sector, secondary sector and tertiary sector. The largest part of India’s population is dependent on agriculture for their livelihood, yet there is a massive scope of disguised unemployment in the agricultural sector. Hence, the manufacturing sector, a secondary activity, is the one where the maximum part of the population can be given employment due to the increase in the number of industries.

Q13. Can you suggest some measures in the education system to mitigate the problem of the educated unemployed?

Ans: Some measures that can be taken in the education system to mitigate the problem of educated unemployed are as follows:

• Make secondary-level education more career-oriented. This practice will not just help individuals get an education but also enhance their skills and get better employment opportunities.
• An individual should be able to choose the subjects that suit his or her abilities.
• New subjects and fields of study should be introduced at the school level, which can be opted for a career in the future. This will open an opportunity for students to plan their future options at the school level itself.

Q14. Can you imagine some village that initially had no job opportunities but later came up with many?
Ans: Rampur was a small village that initially depended on agriculture, which was also dependent on rainfall. Then electricity reached the village, and people could irrigate their fields and could grow 2 to 3 crops in a year and get work. Some people set up small-scale industries that could be run by electricity and provided employment to people. A school was established, and now the population started to become educated and as a result, they could seek employment in and outside the village. The village became prosperous and soon had better health, education, transport and job facilities.

Q15. Which capital would you consider the best - land, labor, physical capital, and human capital? Why?
Ans: The capital I consider the best in human capital is human capital because there are countries like Japan that have invested in human resources as they did not have any natural resources. These countries are developed and rich countries. They import the natural resources needed in their country. They have invested in people, especially in the fields of education and health. These people have made efficient use of other resources like land and capital. Efficiency and technology evolved by people have made these countries rich and developed.