Class 9 Economics Chapter 2 Notes

People as Resource Class 9 Economics Chapter 2 Notes are available here. These notes are prepared by the subject experts of our team.

People as Resource Class 9 Economics Chapter 2 Notes

• Population is an asset for the economy.
• Population becomes human capital with investment in education, training, and medical care.
• Human capital is the stock of skill and productive knowledge.
• “People as Resource” refers to a country’s working people in terms of productive skills and abilities.
• Population contributes to the creation of the Gross National Product.
• Population is a resource, a “human resource.”
• A large population is often viewed negatively due to issues like providing food, education, and health facilities.
• Developing the existing human resource through education and health is called “human capital formation.”
• Human capital formation adds to a country’s productive power, similar to physical capital formation.
• Investment in human capital yields returns, similar to physical capital investment.
• Higher productivity from educated, trained, and healthier individuals results in higher incomes.
• India’s Green Revolution demonstrates how improved production technologies can rapidly increase land productivity.
• India’s IT revolution highlights the increasing importance of human capital over material resources, plant, and machinery.
• More educated and healthier people gain higher incomes, benefiting society indirectly.
• The benefits of an educated and healthier population extend to those not directly educated or given health care.
• Human capital is superior to resources like land and physical capital because it can utilize them.
• Land and capital cannot become useful on their own.
• A large population in India has been seen as a liability but can become an asset through investment in human capital.
• Investing in human capital includes education, health, training workers in modern technology, and scientific research.
• In the case studies, Sakal went to school and acquired a degree in computer programming, while Vilas did not attend school.
• Sakal was healthy and did not need frequent medical attention, while Vilas had arthritis and lacked the means to see a doctor.
• Sakal found a job in a private firm, while Vilas continued his mother’s work, earning a meager income.
• Education improved Sakal’s labor quality and productivity, contributing to economic growth and providing him a salary.
• Vilas could not access education or healthcare, resulting in unskilled labor and low income.
• Investment in human resources through education and healthcare can yield high returns, similar to investments in land and capital.
• Educated parents invest more in their children’s education, creating a virtuous cycle of better health and education.
• Disadvantaged parents may perpetuate a vicious cycle of poverty, with their children lacking education and hygiene.
• Countries like Japan, with limited natural resources, have become developed by investing in education and health, leading to efficient use of resources and technological advancement.

Economic Activities by Men and Women

• People are engaged in various economic activities, classified into primary, secondary, and tertiary sectors.
• Primary sector: agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, fishing, poultry farming, mining, and quarrying.
• Secondary sector: manufacturing.
• Tertiary sector: trade, transport, communication, banking, education, health, tourism, services, insurance, etc.
• Economic activities produce goods and services, adding value to the national income.
• Economic activities are divided into market activities (performed for pay or profit) and non-market activities (production for self-consumption).
• Historically and culturally, there is a division of labor between men and women, with women handling domestic chores and men working in the fields.
• Household work by women is not recognized in the National Income.
• Women are paid for their work in the labor market, and their earnings depend on education and skill.
• Most women have limited education and skills, resulting in lower pay compared to men.
• Women’s employment often lacks job security, basic facilities, and social security systems.
• Women with higher education and skills are paid at par with men, with teaching and medicine being popular fields in the organized sector.
• Some women have entered administrative and technical fields requiring high levels of competence.

Quality of Population

• The quality of a population depends on literacy rate, health (indicated by life expectancy), and skill formation.
• The quality of the population ultimately determines the country’s growth rate.
• A literate and healthy population is considered an asset.

Education

• Sakal’s education led to a good job and salary, showing the importance of education for individual growth.
• Education contributes to societal growth by enhancing national income, cultural richness, and governance efficiency.
• There is a focus on universal access, retention, and quality in elementary education, especially for girls.
• Navodaya Vidyalayas have been established in each district as model schools.
• Vocational streams have been developed to equip high school students with skills for various occupations.
• The plan outlay on education increased from ₹151 crore in the first plan to ₹99,300 crore in 2020–21.
• Education expenditure as a percentage of GDP rose from 0.64% in 1951–52 to 3.1% in 2019–20 but declined to 2.8% in 2020–21.
• Literacy rates increased from 18% in 1951 to 85% in 2018, with disparities across gender and urban-rural areas.
• Literacy is essential for citizens to perform their duties and enjoy their rights.
• Primary school system expanded to over 7,78,842 lakh in 2019–20, but quality and dropout rates remain issues.
• Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan aims to provide elementary education to children aged 6–14 years by 2010.
• Bridge courses and back-to-school camps have been initiated to increase enrolment in elementary education.
• Mid-day meal scheme encourages attendance and retention of children and improves their nutritional status.
• The Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in higher education for ages 18 to 23 was 27% in 2019–20, aligning with the world average.
• Strategies focus on increasing access, quality, state-specific curriculum modification, vocationalization, and IT use.
• There is an emphasis on distance education and the convergence of formal, non-formal, and IT education institutions.
• Significant growth in universities and institutions of higher learning in specialized areas over the past 60 years.

Health

• Firms prioritize hiring healthy workers to maximize profit, as health impacts efficiency and output.
• Health is essential for realizing individual potential and fighting illness, contributing to organizational growth.
• Improving population health has been a national priority, with policies focusing on healthcare access, family welfare, and nutrition, especially for the underprivileged.
• Over the past five decades, India has developed a vast healthcare infrastructure and workforce in the primary, secondary, and tertiary sectors, both in government and private sectors.
• Despite advancements, many areas in India lack basic healthcare facilities.
• India has 542 medical colleges and 313 dental colleges, with the majority in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Tamil Nadu.
• Life expectancy increased to over 67.2 years in 2021 due to health measures.
• Infant mortality rate (IMR) decreased from 147 in 1951 to 28 in 2020.
• Crude birth rates dropped to 20.0 in 2020, and death rates to 6 in 2020.
• Increased life expectancy and improved childcare indicate future progress and a good quality of life, marked by self-confidence.
• Reducing infant mortality requires protecting children from infection, ensuring nutrition for mothers and children, and providing childcare.

Unemployment

• Sheela looks after domestic chores and helps her husband in the field, while Jeetu and Seetu spend their time playing and roaming.
• Unemployment exists when people willing to work at the current wages cannot find jobs.
• Sheela is not unemployed because she is not interested in working outside her domestic domain.
• Jeetu and Seetu are too young to be counted in the workforce population, which includes people aged 15 to 59, so they are not considered unemployed.
• Rural areas in India experience seasonal and disguised unemployment.
• Urban areas in India mainly face educated unemployment.
• Seasonal unemployment occurs when people cannot find jobs during certain months of the year, especially in agriculture-dependent sectors.
• During busy agricultural seasons, such as sowing, harvesting, weeding, and threshing, there is more work available, but certain months offer little work for those dependent on agriculture.
• Disguised unemployment occurs when more people are employed than needed, often in agriculture.
• In disguised unemployment, additional workers do not increase productivity; if removed, productivity remains unchanged.
• In urban areas, educated unemployment is common, with many graduates and post-graduates unable to find jobs.
• A paradox exists where there is a surplus of manpower in some areas and a shortage in others.
• There is unemployment among technically qualified people, yet a lack of technical skills needed for economic growth.
• Unemployment leads to the wastage of manpower resources, turning potential economic assets into liabilities.
• Unemployment causes feelings of hopelessness and despair, with people unable to support their families.
• Educated people unable to find jobs represent a significant social waste.
• Unemployment increases economic overload, with the unemployed depending more on the working population.
• The quality of life for individuals and society is negatively affected, with families living at a subsistence level experiencing health declines and school withdrawals.
• Unemployment has a detrimental impact on economic growth and is an indicator of a depressed economy.
• Unemployment wastes resources that could have been used productively, making people appear as liabilities to the economy.
• In India, the official unemployment rate is low, but many people with low income and productivity are counted as employed.
• People in low-income jobs often work throughout the year but their work does not match their potential or income.
• Poor individuals engage in any available work, regardless of its earning potential, to avoid idleness.
• Many work in self-employment within the primary sector, particularly agriculture, which leads to disguised unemployment.
• The whole family often contributes to agricultural work, even if not all are needed, and they share the produce.
• This sharing reduces the hardship of unemployment but does not alleviate poverty; surplus labor often migrates to seek jobs elsewhere.
• Agriculture is the most labor-absorbing sector, but its dependence has declined due to disguised unemployment.
• Some surplus labor from agriculture has moved to the secondary (small-scale manufacturing) and tertiary (new services like biotechnology and information technology) sectors.

Story Of A Village

• A village where families were self-sufficient, producing their own food, clothes, and education.
• One family sent a son to an agriculture college, who became an agro-engineer.
• The agro-engineer created an improved plough, increasing wheat yield and generating a new job in the village.
• The family sold surplus wheat, earning a profit shared among them.
• Inspired by this success, all village families requested the panchayat to open a school.
• The panchayat, with government support, established a school, and all village children began attending.
• One family trained their daughter in tailoring, creating a new job as a tailor and providing well-tailored clothes for the village.
• Tailoring saved farmers time and increased their productivity, leading to higher farm yields.
• The village’s prosperity grew, with surplus produce being sold in local markets.
• The village evolved from having no job opportunities to offering various roles such as teacher, tailor, and agro-engineer.
• The rise in human capital led to the development of modern economic activities in the village.

Stories of Sakal and Vilas

Story of Sakal:

• Sakal and his family lived in Semapur; his mother Sheela did domestic chores and his father Buta worked in agriculture.
• Sakal helped with domestic chores and cared for his younger siblings.
• Sakal’s uncle Shyam, despite having passed matriculation, was unemployed.
• Buta and Sheela prioritized Sakal’s education and enrolled him in village school.
• Sakal completed his higher secondary education and pursued a vocational course in computers with a loan from his father.
• He excelled in his studies, designed a new software, and secured a job in a private firm.
• Sakal’s software increased the firm’s sales, earning him a promotion and acknowledgment from his boss.

Story of Vilas:

• Vilas lived in the same village as Sakal; his father Mahesh was a fisherman who died when Vilas was two.
• His mother Geeta sold fish to support the family, earning Rs 150 a day.
• Vilas suffered from arthritis, lacked access to medical care, and could not attend school.
• He was not interested in studies and helped his mother with household tasks.
• After his mother fell ill, Vilas had to sell fish to support the family, earning a meager income similar to his mother’s.