NCERT Solutions for Class 9 Economics, Chapter 2: People as a resource

Class 9 is the first stepping stone for a student in the competitive world. With the introduction of the CBSE Board Exam for class 10 a few years back, this has become an important gateway for a student. Based on the results of class 9th a student selects his future stream of Science, Commerce or Arts suiting his interest.

Takshila Learning is providing NCERT Solutions for Class 9 Economics as per the latest syllabus by CBSE. Class 9 is the building block for the CBSE Class 10 Board Exams, not only for your exams but also for your higher studies and career. Economics is the most essential subject and the knowledge in this field opens up wider career opportunities for the students.

Below you can find the NCERT solution for Class 9th Economics. You can get a Solution for the all-important question of Class 9 Economics, Chapter 2: People as a resource’

Question1: What do you understand by ‘people as a resource’?

Answer: Skilled and knowledgeable persons can make the best use of nature to create more resources using technology. Due to this human beings are considered a resource. It is the abilities of human beings by which they transfer physical material into a valuable resource. ‘People as a resource’ is a way of referring to a country’s working people in terms of their existing productive skills and abilities. 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 factors of production, namely land, labor, physical capital, and human capital. The knowledge and enterprise provided by the human capital 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.

Question2: How is human resource different from other resources like land and physical capital?

Answer: The other resources like land and physical capital cannot become useful on their own. It is a human resource that makes use of other resources like land and physical capital to produce an output. This is the reason why the human resource is considered to be superior to the other resources.

Question3: What is the role of education in human capital formation?

Answer: Human beings are considered as human capital if they have the skill and productive knowledge. Proper education and training are essential for the formation of this human capital. An educated population is an asset, a resource. Education and skill are the major determinants of the earning of any individual in the market. In contrast to the uneducated and untrained, educated individuals make efficient use of the available resources and opportunities. Also, education enhances the quantity and quality of individual productivity, which in turn adds to the growth of the economy. Aware of the benefits of education, educated persons help in its perpetuation. The advantages of an educated population spread to even those who themselves are not educated. Hence, educated people benefit society as a whole. Thus, education plays the role of a catalyst in transforming a human being into a positive asset and a precious national resource.

Question4: What is the role of health in human capital formation?

Answer: The conversion of human beings into human capital mainly depends on education and health. Human capital refers to the stock of skill and productive knowledge embodied in a population. This skill and productive knowledge are provided with the help of proper education and training. However, the benefits of education alone do not lead to the creation of human capital. A human population that is educated but unhealthy cannot realize its potential as the health of a person is directly related to his efficiency. Instead of being an asset, an unhealthy population becomes a liability as a country has to spend a major part of its GDP on them. But, if the working population is healthy then it will support the growth of the country. Thus, health plays the role of a catalyst in transforming a human being into a positive asset and a precious national resource.

Question5: What part does health play in the individual’s working life?

Answer: 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.

Question 6: What are the various activities that are undertaken in the primary sector, secondary sector, and tertiary sector?

Answer: The 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. The secondary sector comprises activities related to the processing of natural resources. Manufacturing is included in this sector. The 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.

Question7: What is the difference between economic activities and non-economic activities?

Answer: Activities that add value to the national income are called economic activities. These have two parts – market activities (production for pay or profit) and non-market activities (production for self-consumption). Non-economic activities are the ones that do not add to the national income; for example, an individual performing domestic chores.

Question8: Why are women employed in low paid work?

Answer: Education and skill are the major determinants of the earning 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 meagre 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.

Question9: How will you explain the term unemployment?

Answer: Unemployment is a situation in which people who are able and willing to work at the going 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.

Question10: What is the difference between disguised unemployment and seasonal unemployment?

Answer:

Question11: Why are educated unemployed a peculiar problem of India?

Answer: Educated unemployment is a particular problem in urban India. This is the situation wherein some youth with matriculation, graduation, and post-graduation degrees are not able to find suitable jobs. The education system is such that even after prolong education, a person can well be termed as unskilled. What this does is that a large number of unskilled educated youth get churned out of educational institutions year after year, but only a fraction of them can find suitable jobs. Among the remaining, some remain unemployed while others get employed in activities that seem inadequate as per their potential. This in turn leads to the wastage of the huge amounts of resources that had been spent on educating them.

Question12: Can you suggest some measures in the education system to mitigate the problem of educated unemployed?

Answer: Measures in the education system to mitigate the problem of the educated unemployed:

1. Make education at the secondary level more career-oriented, which would endow individuals with not only education but also the requisite skills for gaining successful employment.
2. Create a sort of screening process whereby each individual chooses subjects that suit his or her abilities.
3. The introduction of newer subjects and fields of study at the school level should be accompanied by a growth of job opportunities in the sectors that would employ the students electing to study such subjects.
4. The curriculum must be revised and updated accordingly.

Question 13: Which capital would you consider the best – land, labor, physical capital, and human capital? Why? 

Answer: Human capital makes use of other resources like land, labor, and physical capital to produce an output. The other resources cannot become useful on their own. Hence, human capital may well be considered the best among all the resources.

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