🌍 Chapter 2 – People as Resource

Overview

This chapter explains how people are valuable assets (resources) for a country’s economy when they are educated, skilled, and healthy. When investment is made in education, training, and healthcare, it turns ordinary people into human capital—a productive and powerful resource.

🧠 Concept 1: People as a Resource

  • The term People as Resource means the working population of a country with productive skills and abilities.
  • Just like land or machinery, people too are resources when they can contribute to the national income.
  • A large population is not always a burden — if trained and educated, it can become a great strength.
  • Human capital formation happens when investment is made in education, training, and medical care.
  • These investments give high returns because skilled and healthy people earn more and work better.

Example:
India’s Green Revolution and IT Revolution show how knowledge and skill can improve productivity and economic growth.

👩‍💻 Concept 2: Story of Sakal and Vilas

Sakal’s Story

  • Sakal went to school, studied hard, and completed a computer course.
  • He got a good job and helped his company grow.
  • His education and health made him productive and successful.

Vilas’s Story

  • Vilas could not go to school because of poverty and ill health.
  • He had to sell fish like his mother and earned very little.
  • His lack of education and health care kept him poor.

Conclusion:
Investment in education and health can change a person’s life.
Educated and healthy people help the economy grow, while uneducated and unhealthy people remain poor.

🧬 Concept 3: Human Capital and Economic Growth

  • When people are trained and educated, they produce more and earn better.
  • Education and health form a virtuous cycle — educated parents value education and health, ensuring a better future for their children.
  • Lack of education and health creates a vicious cycle of poverty.
  • Countries like Japan became rich without natural resources — they invested in human resource development.

⚙️ Concept 4: Economic Activities

People work in three main sectors:

  1. Primary Sector – Agriculture, forestry, fishing, mining, etc.
  2. Secondary Sector – Manufacturing and industries.
  3. Tertiary Sector – Services like transport, banking, education, and healthcare.

Economic Activities are of two types:

  • Market Activities: Work done for pay or profit.
  • Non-Market Activities: Work done for self-consumption, like cooking or farming for family use.

Gender and Work:

  • Women often have less education and fewer job opportunities.
  • They are mostly employed in low-paid, unorganised sectors without job security.
  • Educated women get better jobs and equal pay in fields like teaching, medicine, and administration.

📚 Concept 5: Quality of Population

The quality of a population depends on:

  1. Literacy Rate
  2. Health (Life Expectancy)
  3. Skill Formation

Better quality of population = higher growth rate of the country.
Education and health make a person capable, confident, and productive.

🎓 Concept 6: Education

  • Education opens new opportunities, builds confidence, and improves decision-making.
  • It contributes to the nation’s cultural and economic growth.
  • The government introduced Navodaya Vidyalayas, vocational courses, and the Samagra Shiksha scheme to improve education.
  • The literacy rate in India increased from 18% (1951) to 85% (2018).
  • Programs like the Mid-Day Meal Scheme encourage school attendance.

🏥 Concept 7: Health

  • Health allows a person to work efficiently and live a longer, happier life.
  • India has developed a large network of hospitals, dispensaries, and health centres.
  • Life expectancy has improved to 67.2 years (2021).
  • Infant Mortality Rate has decreased, and birth and death rates have also fallen.
  • Good health increases productivity and reduces poverty.

🚫 Concept 8: Unemployment

  • Unemployment exists when people willing to work at current wages cannot find jobs.
  • In rural areas, there is:
    • Seasonal Unemployment (no work during off-seasons in agriculture).
    • Disguised Unemployment (more people working than needed).
  • In urban areas, there is:
    • Educated Unemployment (educated people without jobs).

Impact:

  • Leads to wastage of human resources.
  • Increases poverty and dependency.
  • Slows down national growth.

🏘️ Concept 9: Story of a Village

  • A simple village became prosperous when people invested in education and skills.
  • New jobs like teacher, tailor, and agro-engineer were created.
  • It shows how human capital development transforms a poor village into a productive economy.

✨ Summary

  • People are valuable resources when trained and healthy.
  • Education and health build human capital that drives economic growth.
  • Unemployment wastes this resource, while skill and training create opportunities.
  • A nation’s greatest strength lies not in land or machines, but in its educated and healthy people.

 *****

📘 Chapter 2: People as Resource

Page-wise Question & Answer Notes

📖 Page 17 – Let’s Discuss

Q: Looking at the photograph can you explain how a doctor, teacher, engineer and a tailor are an asset to the economy?
A:
Each of them contributes productively to the nation:

  • A doctor keeps people healthy and fit for work.

  • A teacher educates and builds human capital.

  • An engineer designs and develops technology and buildings.

  • A tailor provides clothing and earns income.
    All of them create value and add to the national income, making them assets to the economy.

📖 Page 18 – Let’s Discuss

Q: Do you notice any difference between the two friends? What are those?
A:
Yes.

  • Sakal is educated, healthy and skilled, so he gets a good job and earns well.

  • Vilas is uneducated, unhealthy, and poor, so he remains in low-income work.
    Difference: Education and health made Sakal an asset but their absence kept Vilas poor.

📖 Page 19 – Activity

Q: Case study of a boy/girl like Sakal or Vilas (Example answer):
A:
A boy named Raju from a nearby slum could not attend school because his parents are daily wage workers. He helps them sell vegetables. If Raju gets education and health care, he can get a better job and improve his family’s life — just like Sakal.

📖 Page 20 – Let’s Discuss

Q: Based on the picture can you classify the activities into three sectors?
A:

  • Primary sector: Agriculture, fishing, mining

  • Secondary sector: Manufacturing or making goods in factories

  • Tertiary sector: Services like banking, teaching, transport, healthcare

Extra question: Are all these economic activities?
→ Yes, because they produce goods and services for income.

📖 Page 20 – Activity

Say whether these activities are economic or non-economic:

ActivityType
Vilas sells fish in the village marketEconomic
Vilas cooks food for his familyNon-economic
Sakal works in a private firmEconomic
Sakal looks after his younger brother and sisterNon-economic

📖 Page 21 – Let’s Discuss

Q1. Has the literacy rate increased since 1951?
→ Yes, literacy has increased from about 18% (1951) to 85% (2018).

Q2. In which year has India the highest literacy rate?
→ In 2018, India had the highest recorded literacy rate (so far).

Q3. Why is literacy rate high among males?
→ Because men traditionally had more access to education than women.

Q4. Why are women less educated than men?
→ Due to poverty, social customs, and preference for educating boys.

Q5. How is literacy rate calculated?
→ Literacy rate = Percentage of literate people (aged 7 years and above) out of total population.

Q6. What is your projection about India’s literacy rate in 2025?
→ It may reach around 90% or more due to government schemes and awareness.

📖 Page 22 – Activity

Q: Count the number of boys and girls in your school.
Answer (model format):
In our school, there are 520 boys and 480 girls. The difference is small, showing that both boys and girls are encouraged to study equally. (Students should fill in their actual school data.)

📖 Page 23 – Let’s Discuss

Q1. Is the increase in the number of colleges adequate for students?
→ Not fully. Student population is growing faster than the number of colleges.

Q2. Should we have more universities?
→ Yes, to give more students access to higher education and reduce competition.

Q3. What increase is noticed among teachers in 2015–16?
→ The number of teachers increased to about 14.38 lakh in 2015–16.

Q4. What is your idea about future colleges/universities?
→ More digital, skill-based and vocational colleges should be opened to provide jobs and training.

📖 Page 24 – Let’s Discuss (Health Table)

Q1. What is the % increase in dispensaries from 1951 to 2020?
→ Dispensaries increased from about 9,000 to 36,000 — around 300% increase.

Q2. What is the % increase in doctors and nurses from 1951 to 2020?
→ Both have increased many times — doctors by more than 10 times, and nursing personnel by over 15 times.

Q3. Is the increase in doctors and nurses adequate?
→ Not yet. India still needs more doctors, nurses, and hospitals, especially in rural areas.

Q4. What other facilities should a hospital have?
→ Clean wards, emergency units, ambulances, medicines, and good sanitation.

Q5. Discuss about the hospital you visited.
→ (Students may write their local hospital experience.)

Q6. Can you draw a graph using this table?
→ Yes, by plotting years on X-axis and number of doctors/nurses on Y-axis.

📖 Page 25 – Activity

Q: Visit a hospital and note details.
Model Answer (example):
The government hospital in my area has 200 beds, 50 doctors, and 100 nurses. It provides free check-ups and medicines to poor patients.

📖 Page 26 – Discussion

Q: In which sector is most labour absorbed?
→ Agriculture (primary sector) is the most labour-absorbing.
Now, new services like IT and biotechnology are also creating jobs in the tertiary sector.

📗 Page 27 – Exercise Answers

1. What do you understand by ‘people as a resource’?
→ It means viewing people as an asset that contributes to a country’s economic development through their skills, education, and abilities.

2. How is human resource different from land and physical capital?
→ Human resource can use land and capital to produce goods, but land and capital cannot be used without human skill.

3. What is the role of education in human capital formation?
→ Education improves knowledge, skill, and efficiency, helping people earn more and contribute to economic growth.

4. What is the role of health in human capital formation?
→ Health makes people active, energetic, and productive, enabling them to work better and for longer years.

5. What part does health play in an individual’s working life?
→ A healthy person can work more efficiently, face challenges, and earn a stable income, improving living standards.

6. What are the various activities in primary, secondary, and tertiary sectors?

  • Primary: Agriculture, fishing, forestry, mining

  • Secondary: Manufacturing, industries

  • Tertiary: Transport, banking, education, healthcare, trade

7. What is the difference between economic and non-economic activities?

  • Economic: Done for income (e.g., teaching, farming).

  • Non-economic: Done for self or family without pay (e.g., cooking at home).

8. Why are women employed in low-paid work?
→ Because of lower education, lack of skill training, and social barriers limiting job opportunities.

9. How will you explain the term unemployment?
→ When people willing to work at current wages cannot find jobs, it is called unemployment.

10. Difference between disguised and seasonal unemployment:

TypeMeaningExample
DisguisedMore workers than neededMany family members in small farm
SeasonalNo work during some monthsFarmers without work after harvest

11. Why is educated unemployment a peculiar problem in India?
→ Because many educated people do not get jobs matching their qualifications, leading to frustration and waste of talent.

12. In which field can India build maximum employment opportunities?
→ In education, health, IT, tourism, and small industries — sectors needing skilled manpower.

13. Measures in the education system to reduce educated unemployment:

  • Start vocational training in schools.

  • Encourage skill-based courses.

  • Create career counselling and practical job programs.

14. Example of a village that developed jobs later:
→ A small village started with farming but later developed schools, tailoring, and workshops as people became educated.

15. Which capital is best — land, labour, physical or human capital? Why?
→ Human capital is best because it can use land, labour, and machines efficiently and increase productivity.

********