Punjab State Board PSEB 9th Class Social Science Book Solutions Economics Source Based Questions and Answers.
PSEB Solutions for Class 9 Social Science Economics Source Based Questions and Answers
Question 1.
We require a number of goods and services in our daily life. For example, we need food to satisfy our hunger, clothes to cover our body, houses for shelter, vehicles for transportation, television or radio for our entertainment, services of a doctor for treatment etc. These goods and services are called ‘means’ to satisfy our wants. When one of our wants is satisfied, there are other new wants that need to be satisfied. So our wants are unlimited and the means to satisfy these unlimited wants are limited and scarce. Man has to decide how to satisfy his maximum wants with available limited and scarce resources.
(а) What do you mean by Economics?
Answer:
Economics is a science concerned with the allocation of scarce means of resources in such a manner that consumers can maximize their satisfaction, producers can maximize their profits and society can maximize its social welfare.
(b) State the basic concepts of Economics.
Answer:
Following are the basic concepts of economics :
- Goods. Goods are those visible things that satisfy human wants. Otherwise speaking, anything capable of satisfying a want is called a good. For example, radio, fan, mobile phone etc. are goods.
- Services. In economics, besides goods, services such as teaching by teacher, treatment given by a doctor etc. also satisfy human wants. They don’t have physical existence.
- Utility. Wants satisfying power of a good is called utility. In other words, utility is the ability of a good to satisfy a want.
- Price. Price can be defined as the value of goods and services which can be expressed in terms of money.
- Wealth. All those goods and services for which we have to pay a price for their consumption are called wealth.
Question 2.
In ordinary sense ‘Labour’ means any type of physical or mental work done for any purpose. But in economics ‘Labour’ means all human efforts, physical as well as mental, done for the sake of monetary gain. If a student plays a game for pleasure or a mother looks after her child out of affection, then these activities are not considered as labour because they have not done the work with the objective of earning money. But when a cricketer coach or a football coach gives coaching to players or a nurse attends to a child in hospital, such efforts are called ‘labour’ because these have been done to gain monetary remuneration.
(а) What is labour? State its features.
Answer:
Labour means all humans efforts, physical as well as mental, done for the sake of monetary gain.
Features:
- It is the only active factor of production.
- Supply of labour can be increased or decreased.
- In India, labour is available in abundance.
- Labour can be bought or sold.
- Labour is mobile.
(b) Who will provide labour for farming?
Answer:
In the village, some families are small. Farmers, along with their families, use to cultivate their own fields. Thus, they themselves provide the labour required for farming. Besides this, some landless families work as labourers in the fields of big landlords to earn their living. Some farmers with very small landholdings have to give up their land to big landlords for the repayment of their loans taken from the big landlords. These farmers become landless and have to work in the fields of big farmers. In this way, big landlords and farmers with average landholdings engage labour for the work in the field.
Question 3.
Capital means all those man-made goods which are used in further production of goods. It is the produced means of production or in other words, it is used as an input in producing other goods. A building is not capital if it is used for private housing. But it is called capital if it is used for productive purpose. For example, a factory building, which is used for producing various goo^p is a capital. Money kept in the bank as deposits is capital because the bank lends the .money to producers who use it as capital although the depositor also gets interest on it. A T.V. set used in the reception of a company is capital but when used in a residential house is not capital.
(a) What is Capital? State its features.
Answer:
Capital means all those man-made goods which are used in further production of goods.
Features :
- It is a man-made factor.
- It is a secondary factor of production.
- It is transferrable.
- Capital involves depreciation.
(b) State need of capital in farming.
Answer:
Much money is needed to implement the modern farming methods, for instance: to buy seeds, chemical fertilizers, pesticides, machine equipment etc. for agriculture.
Large and medium scale farmers earn more as compared to the small scale farmers. So these farmers, out of their own savings from farming, arrange for the capital needed in farming. Small scale farmers have to take loans on high rates of interest from the large scale farmers or the village moneylenders or the traders. Sometimes, they have to mortgage their houses or small landholdings to repay the loans. If they are unable to repay the loans, their property is seized. Government has opened special institutions such as RRBs, Cooperative Societies, Lands Development Bank and NABARD to provide capital to the farmers. To fulfil the need of capital, farmers have to take loans from these institutions.
Question 4.
Efforts made by a nation, an organization or any individual to raise their incomes are known as resources. Some resources like air, minerals, soil, water etc. are natural. These are used to satisfy human needs and are called ‘natural resources. The size of the population of a country along with its efficiency, educational qualities, productivity etc. is known as ‘human resources. Human resources is the most important resource because it makes the natural resources more useful. A country with highly educated and trained people can efficiently increase its productivity. Most of the developing and backward countries of the world are economically backward not because they lack natural resources but due to lack of quality in human resources.
(a) What is human capital formation?
Answer:
A country’s working population, with their existing productive skills and ability, contribute to the creation of the Gross National Product. This is referred to as human resources. So when investment in the form of education, training and medical care is made in human resources, human capital is formed which adds to the country’s Gross National Product which leads to the economic development of a country. Investment in human capital in the form of education and training yields higher incomes earned because of higher productivity by the more educated and better-trained people.
(b) Why is investment in human resources essential?
Answer:
Human Capital is superior to other resources like land and physical capital which are not useful at their own. Human resources can make use of land and capital. So, a large population is not a liability. It can be turned into a productive asset by investment in human capital. For example, by spending on education and health for all, training of industrial and agriculture workers in the use of modern technology etc. development of a country can be increased.
Question 4.
Unemployment refers to a situation in which people are willing to work at the current wages but cannot find work. The workforce population includes people from 15 years to 59 years. So, whenever a country’s unemployment is determined, persons who are not able to work, for example, patient, old people, small children, students etc. are not included. According to Statistics and Programme Implementation Department of Government of India’s National Sample Survey Report, the state of Kerala has the highest rate of unemployment and the states of Rajasthan and Gujarat have the lowest rate of unemployment.
(а) State the types of unemployment.
Answer:
There are many types of unemployment. We have unemployment in rural and urban areas, though the nature of unemployment differs in both areas. In case of rural areas there is seasonal and disguised unemployment. Urban areas have educated unemployment.
Seasonal unemployment means when people find jobs during some months and during remaining months they are unemployed. In the agriculture sector people remain employed during the sowing and harvesting season but after this for nearly 5 to 7 months they remain unemployed.
Disguised unemployment means more people are engaged in a particular work than required. Even if some men are relieved from work the total productivity will not decline.
In case of urban areas the rapidly increasing number of schools and colleges lead to educated unemployment as the job opportunities have not increased at the same rate.
(b) State the effects of unemployment.
Answer:
Unemployment leads to the wastage of manpower resources. Unemployed people become a liability for society rather than an asset. Unemployment increases poverty. There is a feeling of hopelessness and despair among the youth as they are unable to financially support their family. The dependency of the unemployed on the working population adversely affects the quality of life of a society. There is a general decline in its health status and rising withdrawal from the school system. An increase in unemployment is an indicator of a weak economy. So unemployment is a serious problem because unemployed people have become a liability on society.
Question 6.
Poverty is a situation in which a person is unable to get minimum basic necessities of life, like food, clothing, shelter, education and health facilities. Man struggles to fulfil these minimum basic needs. If the minimum basic needs are not fulfilled then there is loss of health and efficiency among those living in poverty in the country.
(a) State the measures of poverty.
Answer:
Poverty has two measurements
- Relative Poverty. The economic conditions of different regions of countries is compared under relative poverty. Per capita income and national income are the two indicators of relative poverty.
- Absolute Poverty. It refers to income and consumption levels in a country. If the daily intake of calories by a person is less than the required calories (2000-2500) per day then the person is absolutely poor.
(b) State the meaning of the poverty line.
Answer:
Poverty line is the method to measure the minimum income required to satisfy the basic needs of life. It represents the capacity to satisfy the minimum level of human needs. People living below the poverty fine are considered poor.
Question 7.
The accepted average calorie requirement in India is 2400 calories per person per day in rural areas and 2100 calories per person per day in urban areas, though the calorie needs vary depending on age, sex and the type of work that a person does. Due to the hard work done by the people living in rural areas, they require more calories than the urban people.
(a) What are the indicators of poverty?
Answer:
Keeping in view the different aspects of poverty, social scientists are trying to use a variety of indicators to measure poverty. Usually, the indicators used to measure poverty are related to the levels of income and consumption. But social scientists have also included social indicators like illiteracy level, malnutrition, lack of access to health care, lack of job opportunities, and lack of safe drinking water. Social exclusion can be a cause as well as consequences of poverty. Sometimes people under social exclusion are deprived of equal opportunities.
(b) What are the income levels of measuring poverty line in India?
Answer:
(a) Lack of feeling of security in the backward classes is yet another indicator on which the analysis of poverty is based.
(b) On the basis of 2011-12 data, people below the consumption expenditure of? 816 per person per month in rural areas and? 1000 in urban areas are called poor.
Question 8.
Poor segment of the society needs food security at all times as the low purchasing power of the poor people does not allow them to buy food as per their requirements. There is a need for food security due to continuous and rapid growth in population. Besides this, during natural calamities like drought etc. production of food grain decreases because Indian agriculture mostly depends upon the monsoon. It creates a shortage of food in the affected areas due to which prices go up. Many people are unable to buy food at high prices. If this situation continues for a long period, it may cause a situation of stravation.
(а) What is food security? What are its dimensions.
Answer:
Simply speaking food security means accessibility and affordability of food to all the people at all times.
Following are the main dimensions :
- Availability of food means there should be food production within the country.
- Accessibility of food means that sufficient quantity of food should be within the reach of people.
- Affordability of food means that a person has enough money to buy sufficient food. Sufficient stocks of food should be maintained by the government to meet the shortage of food during natural calamities like drought, floods etc.
(b) Who are food insecure?
Answer:
There is a large segment of people who suffer from food and nutritional insecurity in India but the following people are more food insecure than others :
- The landless people who depend on others for their food supplies.
- Traditional artisans who provide traditional services.
- Petty self-employed workers and destitutes including beggars.
- In urban areas, the food insecure persons are those who are employed in all paid occupation and casual labour market. These workers are largely engaged in seasonal activities and are paid very low wages that just ensure their bare survival.
- After a natural calamity people migrating from the affected areas are the most food-insecure people.
- Malnutrition prevails more among women and children and they constitute a significant segment of the population affected by food insecurity.