Class 9 Economics Chapter 1 HOTS Questions - Economics

146) Describe current government strategy of poverty alleviation.

Answer:  (a) We should focus on the following issues
(i) Lesser members in the family will mean reduced expenditure and thus better care of the family members.
(ii) A small family leads to a more peaceful life with reduced worries.
(iii) Lesser children will improve the mother's health, leading to a better quality of life. The children can be better educated with the same means at the family's disposal.
(iv) A small family will be able to better care for the old people in the family.
(b) From the given question I have learnt the value of awareness and devotion to family. Responsibility g towards Nation, by being a part of team to spread awareness about ill effects of population increase. 

147) (a) 'India has been witnessing high population growth since years'. Keeping this in mind, your school Principal has constituted a team of students to spread awareness in the slum areas of the town about the ill effects of high population growth. You are the team leader. Which issues will you suggest to your fellow members to focus on while on the awareness drive? (b) What values/lesson have you learnt from the above question?  

Answer:  

148) Study the given cases of poverty and discuss the following issues related to poverty Urban Case Thirty-three year old Ram Saran works as a daily-wage labourer in a wheat flour mill near Ranchi in Jharkhand. He manages to earn around Rs. 1,500 a month when he finds employment, which is not often. The money is not enough to sustain his family of six that includes his wife and four children aged between 12 years to six months. He has to send money home to his old parents who live in a village near Ramgarh. His father a landless labourer, depends on Ram Saran and his brother who lives in Hazaribagh, for sustenance. Ram Saran lives in a one-room rented house in a crowded basti in the outskirts of the city. It's a temporary shack built of bricks and clay tiles. His wife Santa Devi, works as a part time maid in a few houses and manages to earn another ? 800. They manage a meagre meal of dal and rice twice a day, but there's never enough for all of them. His elder son works as a helper in a tea shop to supplement the family income and earns another Rs. 300, while his 10-year-old daughter takes care of the younger siblings. None of the children go to school. They have only two pairs of hand-me-down clothes each. New ones are bought only when the old clothes become un wearable. Shoes are a luxury. The younger kids are undernourished. They have no access to healthcare when they fall ill. Rural Case Lakha Singh belongs to a small village near Meerut in Uttar Pradesh. His family doesn't own any land, so they do odd jobs for the big farmers. Work is erratic and so is income. At times they get paid ^ 50 for a hard day's work. But often it's in kind like a few kilograms of wheat or dal or even vegetables for toiling in the farm through the day. The family of eight cannot always manage two square meals a day. Lakha lives in a kuchha hut on the outskirts of the village. The women of the family spend the day chopping fodder and collecting firewood in the fields. His father a TB patient, passed away two years ago due to lack of medication. His mother now suffers from the same disease and life is slowly ebbing away. Although, the village has a primary school, Lakha never went there. He had to start earning when he was 10 years old. New clothes happen once in a few years. Even soap and oil are a luxury for the family. (a) Landlessness (b) Unemployment (c) Size of families (d) Illiteracy (e) Poor health/malnutrition (f) Child labour (g) Helplessness

Answer:(a) Landlessness Landless labourers in the villages are generally poor. They usually belong to the depressed sections of society and earn very low wages. They are also subject to seasonal unemployment, when they have to do odd jobs at very low income.
(b) Unemployment If the labour force is idle and unutilised due to unemployment, the level of income is reduced and the unemployed persons cannot afford even the essentials of life, leading to poverty.
(c) Size of Families When the number of persons in a family increases, the income of the family becomes less than what is the minimum required to provide them the essentials for proper living. This ultimately leads to poverty.
(d) Illiteracy Due to poverty, the parents are not able to send their children to school and thus increase their earning power. Later on, when these children become adults and enter the job market, they are unable to find well-paying jobs, resulting again in poverty. Thus, illiteracy and poverty depend on each other.
(e) Poor Health/Malnutrition Poverty causes malnutrition and poor health, as the poor people cannot afford adequate amounts of nutritious food or proper medical services. Once they are malnourished or in poor health, they are not able to work productively and thus they get more poor.
(f) Child Labour Poverty forces the parents to make their children work, although there is a law against child labour. This makes the children drop out from school, resulting in their not getting well-paying jobs when they grow up.
(g) Helplessness Due to poverty, the poor people become helpless and are willing to do any work for a low income. This leads them further into poverty,    

149) Why do different countries use different poverty lines?

Answer:  Different countries use different poverty lines because
(i) The calorie requirement of different human races is different depending on their physical condition and dietary habits. Those races which have greater height and build require higher calories.
(ii) The per capita income in different countries is also different i.e., per capita income is higher in developed countries as compared to developing countries.
(iii) The standard of living of Western countries is higher than that of developing countries.
(iv) The cost of essential items used in calculating poverty line is higher in the developed countries.  

150) What do you think would be the 'minimum necessary level' in your locality?

Answer: I live in a city so the poverty line should be calculated according to the urban area. In the year 2000, the urban poverty line was fixed at Rs. 454 per month per person. Now in the year 2012 seeing the high level of inflation and price rise it should be at least Rs. 1500 per person per month.  

151)   Study the table given below and answer the following questions

(a) Even if poverty ratio declined between 1973-74 and 1993-94 why did the number of poor remain at about 320 million? (b) Are the dynamics of poverty reduction the same in rural and urban areas?

Answer:  (a) The poverty ratio declined between 1073-74 and 1993-94 but the number of poor remained at about 320 million because the total population of the country increased during the same period. Out of this increased population more people got employment due to the green Revolution, establishment of more industries and growth of the tertiary sector. As result the poverty ratio declined.
(b) No, the dynamics of poverty reduction are not the same in rural and urban areas because the conditions in both the areas are completely different. Urban area poverty has decreased due to expansion of the service sector,   increased   industrialisation   and consequent increase of jobs. This has resulted in migration to cities and towns from rural areas. Rural area poverty has reduced due to  improved agricultural practices resulting in higher incomes. Some contribution to this improvement is due to the migration to urban areas. 

152)   Observe some of the poor families around you and try to find the following (a) Which social and economic group do they belong to? (b) Who are the earning member in the family? (c) What is the condition of the old people in the family? (d) Are all the children (boys and girls/attending school)?

Answer:  (a) There is a poor family living near our colony. They are living below the poverty line and belong to lowest socio-economic category.
(b) The wife and husband are casual construction labourers and they are the earning members of the family. (c) The old people of the family, i.e., the grandparents are physically weak and suffering of old age diseases and problems without proper medical aid. (d) There are two girls and one boy in the family. Because of poverty, the father of the children Bhola is only able to send his son to school and the daughters help in the household work.  

153) Study the following graph and answer the questions that follow   (a) Identify the areas of the world, where poverty ratio have declined. (b) Identify the area of the globe which has the largest concentration of the poor.

Answer: (a) The areas of the world where poverty ratios have declined are (i)South Asia (ii) East Asia and Pacific (iii) China (b) South Asia is the area of the globe which has the largest concentration of the poor.  

154) Do you think the present methodology of poverty estimation is appropriate?  

Answer:  No, the present methodology of poverty estimation  is in appropriate because it takes into account only the basic needs of food, clothing, fuel, etc. But the quality of these basic necessities is the lowest quality   available, which is not appropriate,   (i) The amount which is fixed as the poverty line does not include the margin for price fluctuations  and price rise which is constantly occuring.   (ii) The poverty line should include some correction for inflation and to take care of the market fluctuations.