Economics Class 9

Ncert Solutions
Chapter 2 People as Resource
Question-1
What do you understand by ‘people as a resource’?
Solution:
‘People as Resource’ is a way of referring to a country’s working people in terms of their
existing productive skills and abilities. Human resource is an asset for the economy rather than
a liability. Population becomes human capital when there is investment made in the form of
education, training and medical care. In fact, human capital is the stock of skill and productive
knowledge embodied in them.

Question-2
How is human resource different from other resources like land and physical capital?
Solution:
Human resource is different in the following ways:

1. Land and other resources are fixed, limited and specified whereas human resources can
be nurtured through education and health.
2. Human resources can bring a change in other resources whereas other resources can not
change or affect human resource.
3. Human resource can make use of land and physical capital whereas land and physical
capital can not become useful on its own.

Question-3
What is the role of education in human capital formation?
Solution:
Educated people find jobs in private firms while the uneducated people continue with the same
work as their parents. They earn a meagre income like their parents, which is just enough to
support a family. Several years of education adds to the quality of labour. This enhances their
total productivity. Total productivity adds to the growth of the economy. This in turn pays an
individual through salary or in some other form of his choice. It is a known fact that with
investments made on education and health; one can yield a high return in the future in the form
of higher earnings and greater contribution to society.

Question-4
What is the role of health in human capital formation?
Solution:
The role of health in human capital formation is as follows:

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

Question-5
What part does health play in the individual’s working life?
Solution:
Health plays a very important role in an individual’s life because as we all know health is
wealth and only a healthy person can work or perform to his full potential. An unhealthy
person can not work efficiently. A healthy person is able to work harder and better, thus,
earning more and living a better life. If the body is healthy, only then one can perform well.
So, we can say that health plays a vital role in an individual’s life.

Question-6
What are the various activities are undertaken in the primary sector, secondary sector and
tertiary sector?
Solution:
The various activities have been classified into three main sectors i.e., primary, secondary and
tertiary. The primary sector includes agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, fishing, poultry
farming, and mining. Quarrying and manufacturing is included in the secondary sector. Trade,
transport, communication, banking, education, health, tourism, services, insurance etc. are
included in the tertiary sector.

Question-7
What is the difference between economic activities and non-economic activities?
Solution:

Question-8
Why are women employed in low paid work?
Solution:
Women are paid for their work when they enter the labour market. Their earning, like that of
their male counterpart, is determined on the basis of education and skill. A majority of the
women have meager education and low skill formation and hence women are paid low
compared to men. Most women work where job security is not there.

Question-9
How will you explain the term unemployment?
Solution:
Unemployment is said to exist when people are willing to work at the going wages but cannot
find jobs.
Question-10
What is the difference between disguised unemployment and seasonal unemployment?
Solution:
Disguised Unemployment. In case of disguised unemployment, people appear to be
employed but they are not actually employed. Sometimes, in agricultural families, eight people
are working on a farm, whereas only four people are needed to do that work. Thus, four
persons are surplus and they are not needed on the farm. They also do not help to increase the
production. If these four extra persons are removed from the farm, the production from the
farm will not decrease. Therefore, these four persons appear to be employed but are actually
disguisedly unemployed.

Seasonal Unemployment. Seasonal unemployment happens when people are not able to find
jobs during some months of the year. People dependent upon agriculture usually face such
problems. There are certain busy seasons when sowing, harvesting, weeding and threshing are
done. When the plants are growing, there is not much work. During this period, they remain
unemployed and are said to be seasonally unemployed.

Question-11
Why is educated unemployed, a peculiar problem of India?
Solution:
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-graduate has increased faster than
among matriculates. A paradoxical manpower situation is witnessed as surpluses of manpower
in certain categories coexist with a shortage of manpower in others.

Question-12
In which field do you think India can build the maximum employment opportunity?
Solution:
Since agriculture is the backbone of India, India can build maximum employment
opportunities in agriculture-based industries.

Question-13
Can you imagine some village that initially had no job opportunities but later came up with
many?
Solution:
Some of the measures in the education system to mitigate the problem of the educated
unemployed are:

1. Vocational education should be encouraged so that people do not have difficulty getting
jobs because they will be better trained for work.
2. More use of information technology should be made in giving education.
3. Education should be job-oriented.
4. More employment opportunities should be made available to the educated people in the
tertiary sector.

Question-15
Which capital would you consider the best — land, labour, physical capital and human
capital? Why?
Solution:
The capital I consider the best in 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 resource needed in their country.
They have invested in people especially in the field 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.

Important Terms to know

Gross National Product: A measure to value what the country’s citizens produce in a given
year, whether or not the production final production in a country in a given year. Occurred in
the country itself.

Virtuous cycle: A condition in which a favourable circumstance aimed at the universalisation

Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan: A Government of India programme aimed at the universalisation of

Vicious cycle: A condition in which an unfavourable circumstance or result gives rise to

Economic activities/Market activities: Activities in which there is production or distribution of

Literacy rate: This is the percentage of people above the age of 7 years with the ability to read
and write with understanding.

Vocational education : An education that prepares people for specific trades, crafts and careers
at various levels from a trademan or craftman to a professional positions in engineering,
accountancy,nursing,medicine,architecture,pharmacy,law etc.
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) : A measure to value the total production final production in a
country in a given year.

Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) : It is the death of a child under one year of age.

Birth Rate: It is the number of babies born there for every 1000 people during a particular
period of time.

Death Rate :It is the number of people per 1000 who die during a period of time.

Economic overload: When less number of employed people are supporting more number of
unemployed people, there will be a condition of economic overload.