PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Source Based Questions and Answers

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.

PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Source Based Questions and Answers

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.

PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Source Based Questions and Answers

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

  1. 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.
  2. 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.

PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Source Based Questions and Answers

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.

PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Chapter 4 Food Security in India

Punjab State Board PSEB 9th Class Social Science Book Solutions Economics Chapter 4 Food Security in India Textbook Exercise Questions and Answers.

PSEB Solutions for Class 9 Social Science Economics Chapter 4 Food Security in India

SST Guide for Class 9 PSEB Food Security in India Textbook Questions and Answers

I. Fill in the Blanks :

Question 1.
To make available food at affordable prices to the poorer section, the government has started __________ system.
Answer:
Public Distribution

Question 2.
A big famine occurred in 1943 in __________ State of India.
Answer:
West Bengal

Question 3.
The malnutrition prevails more among __________ and __________
Answer:
Women, Children

PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Chapter 4 Food Security in India

Question 4.
__________ card is issued to the very poor people.
Answer:
Rations

Question 5.
__________ is the price announed by the government for agricultural products.
Answer:
Minimum Support Price.

II. Multiple Choice Questions :

Question 1.
Which card is issued to the people living below poverty line?
(a) Antyodoya Card
(b) BPL Card
(c) APL Card
(d) CPL Card.
Answer:
(b) BPL Card.

Question 2.
__________ is an indicator of food security.
(a) Milk
(b) Water
(c) Hunger
(d) Air.
Answer:
(c) Hunger.

Question 3.
What is the price announced by the government for agricultural products known as?
(a) Minimum Support Price
(b) Issue Price
(c) Minimum Price
(d) Fair Price.
Answer:
(a) Minimum Support Price

Question 4.
Besides Bengal Famine in which other state did famine occur?
(a) Karnataka
(b) Punjab
(c) Odisha
(d) Madhya Pradesh.
Answer:
(c) Odisha.

PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Chapter 4 Food Security in India

Question 5.
Which Cooperative provides milk and milk products in Gujarat?
(a) Amul
(b) Verka
(c) Mother Dairy
(d) Sudha.
Answer:
(a) Amul.

III. True/False :

Question 1.
Availability of food means there is no food production within the country.
Answer:
False

Question 2.
Hunger is an indicator of food security.
Answer:
True

Question 3.
Ration shops are also known as Fair Price shops.
Answer:
False

PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Chapter 4 Food Security in India

Question 4.
Milk-fed, Punjab is India’s largest marketing cooperative.
Answer:
False.

IV. Very Short Answer Type Questions :

Question 1.
What do you mean by food security?
Answer:
Food security means that food is available to every individual. All people should have access to basic food and they can afford to buy the food.

Question 2.
Explain the need for food security.
Answer:
The need for food security is due to continuous and rapid growth in population.

Question 3.
What do you mean by Famine?
Answer:
Famine means extreme scarcity of food.

Question 4.
Give two examples of epidemics.
Answer:

  1. Smallpox epidemic in India in 1974.
  2. Plague in India in 1994.

Question 5.
In which year Famine of Bengal occurred?
Answer:
In 1948.

Question 6.
How many people were killed during the Famine of Bengal?
Answer:
The famine killed thirty lakh people in the Famine of Bengal.

PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Chapter 4 Food Security in India

Question 7.
Who were the main sufferers during famine?
Answer:
Women and children were the main sufferers during famine.

Question 8.
Who gave the term ‘entitlement’?
Answer:
Dr. Amartya Sen.

Question 9.
Who are food insecure people?
Answer:
Landless people, traditional artisians, petty self-employed workers.

Question 10.
Name the states where food insecure people exist in large number.
Answer:
Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha, Jharkhand, Bengal, Chhattisgarh, parts of Madhya Pradesh etc.

V. Short Answer Type Questions

Question 1.
What do you mean by Green Revolution?
Answer:
The green revolution refers to a set of research and the development of technology transfer initiatives occurring between the 1930s and the late 1960s, that increased agricultural production worldwide, particularly in the developing world, beginning most markedly in the late 1960s. The initiatives resulted in the adoption of new technologies.

Question 2.
What do you mean by Buffer stock?
Answer:
Buffer stock is the stock of foodgrains procured by the government through FCI. It is created in order to distribute foodgrains, in deficit areas and among weaker sections of society at an affordable price. In other words, a buffer stock is a system that buys and stores stocks at times of good harvests to prevent prices falling below a target range and release stocks during bad harvests .to prevent prices rising above a target range.

PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Chapter 4 Food Security in India

Question 3.
What do you mean by Public Distribution System?
Answer:
Public distribution system means the regulated and controlled distribution of essential goods among people. Under this system, essential consumer goods are provided to people at fair prices through government agencies. PDS ensures supply of essential commodities through a network of fair price shops. At present, there are about 4.50 lakh fair price shops in India, out of which about 3.60 lakh shops are operating in rural areas and 0.90 lakh shops are operating in urban areas.

Question 4.
What is Minimum Support Price?
Answer:
Minimum support price is the price at which government purchases crops from the farmers and not at the market price. The MSP helps to support the farmers and thus ensures that they produce the required foodgrains in the country.

Question 5.
What do you mean by seasonal hunger and chronic hunger?
Answer:
Seasonal hunger is related to cycles of food production. This happens in rural areas because of the seasonal nature of agricultural activities and in urban areas because of the casual labourers, who get less work during rainy season. On the other hand chronic hunger is a consequence of having persistently inadequate diet in terms of quantity and quality. Poor people suffer from chronic hunger because of very low income, and in turn, inability to buy food even for survival.

Question 6.
Why buffer stock is created by the government?
Answer:
Buffer stocks are created by the government to distribute foodgrains in the deficit areas and among the poorer sections of society at a price lower than the market price. This also helps in solving the problem of shortage of food during bad harvest season or during period of calamity.

Question 7.
What do you mean by Issue price?
Answer:
The price at which the procured and buffer stock foodgrains are sold through the PDS is called as issue price. The issue price is higher than MSP but lower than the market price of the grains.

PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Chapter 4 Food Security in India

Question 8.
Explain the role of cooperatives in providing food.
Answer:
The cooperative societies set up shops to sell low priced goods to poor people. Mother Dairy is providing milk and vegetables to the consumers at controlled rate while Amul is another cooperative in milk and milk products. Academy of Development Science has facilitated a network of NGOs for setting up grains banks in different regions.

VI. Intext Questions and Answers

Question 1.
PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Chapter 4 Food Security in India 1
What do you observe in picture?
Bengal Famine
Answer:
People are poor, unhealthy, and undernourished, without shelter and facing natural calamities like drought and famine.

Question 2.
Can you say that the family shown in the picture is a poor family? If yes then why?
Answer:
Yes, the family shown in the picture is a poor family because they have nothing to eat. They are facing acute hunger and ill health.

Question 3.
Discuss with your teacher about the source of livelihood of the people.
Answer:
In this situation only some government help or outside help can provide relief to these people for the livelihood.

Question 4.
What type of help can be given to victims of calamity at relief camps?
Answer:
Victims of calamity at relief camps can be given food, water, clothes, medicines and shelter first of all. After that rehabilitation programmes can be started.

Question 5.
Graph Production of foodgrains in India (Million Ton)
PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Chapter 4 Food Security in India 2
Source: Economic Survey 2011-12, 2013-14 and Agriculture Estimates, a look 2004.

Study the graph and answer the following questions :

In which year did India achieve the target of producing nearly 200 million tonnes of foodgrains?
Answer:
In the year 2000-01, India achieved the target of producing nearly 200 million tonnes of foodgrains.

Question 6.
In which year did India have the highest production of foodgrains?
Answer:
India had the highest production of foodgrains in the year 2016-17.

PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Chapter 4 Food Security in India

Question 3.
Has the production of foodgrains continuously increased during 2000-01 to 2016-17?
Answer:
No, the production of foodgrains has not continuously increased during 2000-01 to 2016-17.

PSEB 9th Class Social Science Guide Food Security in India Important Questions and Answers

Multiple Choice Questions:

Question 1.
Which is the dimension of food security?
(a) Accessibility
(b) Availability
(c) Affordability
(d) All of these.
Answer:
(d) All of these.

Question 2.
Who are prone to food insecurity?
(a) SCs
(b) ST
(c) OBCs
(d) All of these.
Answer:
(d) All of these.

Question 3.
When was RPDS launched?
(a) 1991
(b) 1992
(c) 1994
(d) 1999.
Answer:
(b) 1992.

PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Chapter 4 Food Security in India

Question 4.
When was a famine of Bengal occur?
(a) 1948
(b) 1947
(c) 1951
(d) None of these.
Answer:
(a) 1948.

Fill in the Blanks :

Question 1.
__________ means accessibility, availability and affordability of food to all people at all times.
Answer:
Food Security

Question 2.
__________ has made India self-sufficient in wheat and rice.
Answer:
Green Revolution

Question 3.
__________ is the price announced by the government before the sowing season.
Answer:
MSP

PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Chapter 4 Food Security in India

Question 4.
__________ hunger is related to cycles of food production.
Answer:
Seasonal

Question 5.
__________ emphasised the term ‘Entitlement’.
Answer:
Dr. Amartya Sen.

True/False:

Question 1.
Accessibility means food within the reach of every person.
Answer:
True

Question 2.
Right to Food Act, 2013 provides food security.
Answer:
True

Question 3.
National food for work programme was started in 2009.
Answer:
False

PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Chapter 4 Food Security in India

Question 4.
MSP is the price announced by the government.
Answer:
True.

Very Short Answer Type Questions

Question 1.
What is hunger?
Answer:
Hunger is another aspect of food insecurity. It is not just an expression of poverty. It brings about poverty.

Question 2.
On what factors does food security depend?
Answer:
Food security depends on the PDS.

Question 3.
When was Rationing System introduced in India?
Answer:
The rationing system was introduced in India in 1940s, after the disastrous Bengal famine occurred.

Question 4.
What is ‘Entitlement’?
Answer:
Entitlement would give a certain right to the citizens and place the state under obligation to meet the food needs of the hungry masses.

Question 5.
What is ADS?
Answer:
ADS means Academy of Development Science.

PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Chapter 4 Food Security in India

Question 6.
What are the dimensions of ‘food security’?
Answer:

  1. Availability of food,
  2. Accessibility of food,
  3. Affordability of food.

Short Answer Type Questions

Question 1.
Write a short note on :
(i) Revamped Public Distribution System (RPDS).
Answer:
Revamped Public Distribution System (RPDS). It was launched in 1992 in 1700 blocks in the country to provide the benefits of PDS to remote and backward areas.

(ii) Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS).
Answer:
Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS). It was launched in June, 1997 to adopt the principle of targeting the poor in all areas. It was for the first time that a differential price policy was adopted for poor and non-poor.

Question 2.
Explain, what do you mean by :
(i) A Famine
Answer:
A Famine. A Famine is characterised by widespread deaths due to starvation and epidemics caused by forced use of contaminated water or decaying food and loss of body resistance due to weakening from starvation.

(ii) Buffer Stock?
Answer:
Stock. Buffer Stock is the stock of foodgrains, namely wheat and rice procured by the government through Food Corporation of India. The FCI purchases wheat and rice from the farmers in states where there is surplus production. The farmers are paid a pre-announced price for their crops. The minimum support price is declared by the government every year before the sowing season to provide incentives, to the farmers for raising the production of their crops.

PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Chapter 4 Food Security in India

Question 3.
How is food security affected during a natural calamity?
Answer:
Due to a natural calamity, total production of foodgrains decreases. It creates a shortage of food in the affected areas. As a result, the prices go up and some people cannot afford to buy food. If such calamity happens in a very widespread area or is stretched over a longer time period, it may cause a situation of starvation. A massive starvation might make a turn of famine.

Question 4.
Who are food-insecure?
Answer:
A large section of people suffer from food and nutrition insecurity in India. The worst affected groups are landless people with little or no land to depend upon, traditional artisans, providers of traditional services, petty self-employed workers and destitutes including beggars. In the urban areas, the food insecure families are those whose working members are generally employed in ill paid occupations and casual labour market.

Question 5.
What is minimum support price? What is the impact of procurement of food at enhanced minimum support price?
Answer:
The FCI purchases wheat and rice from the farmers in states where there is surplus production. The farmers are paid a pre announced price for their crops. This price is called minimum support price.

The increased foodgrains procurement at enhanced minimum support price is the result of the pressure exerted by leading foodgrain “producing states. Increase in MSP has induced farmers, particularly in surplus states to divert land from production of coarse grains, which is the staple food of the poor.

Question 6.
In which ways is ‘buffer stock’ used to ensure food security?
Answer:
Buffer stock is the stock of foodgrains, namely wheat and rice procured by the government through Food Corporation of India. It ensures food security by following ways :

  1. It distributes foodgrains in the deficit areas and among the poorer strata of society at a price lower than the market price.
  2. It also helps resolve the problem of shortage of food during adverse weather conditions or during periods of calamity.

PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Chapter 4 Food Security in India

Question 7.
Explain the different categories of people in India who suffer from food and nutrition insecurity.
Answer:
A large section of people suffer from food and nutrition insecurity in India. The worst affected categories of the people include landless people with little or no land to depend upon, traditional artisans, petty self-employed workers and destitutes including beggars. In the urban areas, the food insecure families are those whose working members are generally employed in ill paid occupations and casual labour market.

Question 8.
What is the function of Co-operative Society? Give example of two Co-operative Societies and their contribution in ensuring food security.
Answer:
The Co-operative Societies set up shops to sell low priced goods to poor people. Mother Dairy and Amul Milk Products are examples of Co-operative societies. In Delhi, Mother Dairy is making strides in provision of milk and vegetables to the consumers at controlled rate decided by Government of Delhi. In Gujarat, Amul Milk Products has brought about the white revolution in the country.

Question 9.
What is Buffer Stock? Why is the buffer stock created by the government?
Answer:
Buffer Stock is the stock of foodgrains and rice procured by the government through Food Corporation of India (FCI).

  • To distribute foodgrains in the deficit areas.
  • To sell among the poorer strata of society at a lower price.
  • To resolve the problem of shortage of food during adverse weather conditions or during the periods of calamity.
  • To maintain food security.

Question 10.
Why was the rationing system revived?
Answer:
The introduction of rationing in India dates back to the 1940s against the backdrop of the Bengal famine. The rationing system was revived in the wake of an acute food shortage during 1960’s prior to the Green Revolution. In the wake of the high incidence of poverty levels, as reported by the NSSO in the Mid-1970’s, three food intervention programmes were introduced :

  1. PDS (Public Distribution System)
  2. ICDS (Integrated Child Development Services)
  3. FFW (Food-for-Work).

PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Chapter 4 Food Security in India

Question 11.
Describe how the Public Distribution System in India has become more targeted over the years?
Answer:
The Public Distribution System in India has become more targeted over the years because it has failed to achieve its goals. Instances of hunger are prevalent despite overflowing granaries. FCI godons are overflowing with grains, with some rotting away and some being eaten by rats. PDS dealers are sometimes found resorting to malpractices like diverting the grains to open market to get better margin, selling poor quality grains at ration shops, etc.

Question 12.
Why self-sufficiency in foodgrains is necessary for every country?
Answer:
Self-sufficiency in foodgrains is necessary for every country due to the following reasons :

  1. In self-sufficient country, food security is not affected even during natural calamities.
  2. It will reduce the depending on foreign countries for the imports of food- grains.
  3. It will maintain price stability in the country and control black marketing.

Question 13.
What is subsidy? Should subsidies be continued in the country?
Answer:
Subsidy is an economic advantage to the people. Under subsidy, government provide goods and services below the market price. For the development of the country these subsidies must be curtailed as these are imposing very heavy burden on the government exchequer. These subsidies are misused in the country and deserving people are not getting it. Basically they are making great hindrances in the path of development So they must be stopped as soon as possible in the country.

Question 14.
State the role of cooperatives in food security.
Answer:
The cooperatives are playing an important role in food security in India especially in the southern and western parts of the country. The cooperative societies set up shops to sell low-priced goods to poor people. For example, out of all fair price shops running in Tamil Nadu, around 94% are being run by cooperatives. In Delhi, Mother Dairy is making strides in provision of milk and vegetables to the consumers at affordable rate decided by the Government of Delhi. These are a few examples of many more cooperatives running in different parts of the country ensuring food security to different sections of the society.

Question 15.
What is meant by the ‘National Food-for-Work’ programme?
Answer:
Food-for-Work was launched on 14 Nov. 2004 in 150 most backward districts of the country with the objective of providing guaranteed wage employment to every household whose adult volunteers do unskilled manual work for minimum 100 days in a year. It is implemented as a 100 percent centrally sponsored scheme and the foodgrains are provided to the states free of cost. For the implementation of this program, the Parliament has passed a new bill known as ‘National Rural Employment Guarantee Bill 2005’ in August 2005.

The collector is the nodal officer at the district level and has the overall responsibility of planning. For 2004-05,₹ 2,020 crore had been allocated for the programme in addition to 20 lakh tonnes of foodgrains.

Question 16.
Differentiate between the two dimensions of hunger. Where is each type of hunger more prevalent?
Answer:
The two main dimensions of hunger are chronic and seasonal dimensions. Chronic hunger is a consequence of diets persistently inadequate in terms of quantity and quality. Poor people suffer from chronic hunger because of their very low income and in turn inability to buy food even for survival.

Seasonal hunger is related to cycles of food growing and harvesting. This is prevalent in rural areas because of the seasonal nature of agricultural activities and in urban areas because of the casual labour. Each type of hunger is prevalent in rural areas.

PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Chapter 4 Food Security in India

Question 17.
Explain briefly the measures adopted by India after Independence to achieve self-sufficiency in food grains.
Answer:
After independence, Indian policymakers adopted all measures to achieve self-sufficiency in food grains. India adopted a new strategy in agriculture, which resulted in the ‘Green Revolution’ especially in the production of wheat and rice. The increase in foodgrains was, however, disproportionate. The highest rate of growth was achieved in Punjab and Haryana, where foodgrain production jumped from 7.23 million tonnes in 1964-65 to reach an all time high of 30.33 million tonnes in 1995-96. Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, on the other hand, recorded significant increases in rice yield.

Question 18.
How has the Public Distribution System (PDS) proved to be most effective in furthering food security in India?
Answer:
Public Distribution System is the most important step taken by the Government of India towards ensuring food security. In the beginning the coverage of PDS was universal with no discrimination between the poor and non-poor. Over the years, the policy related to PDS has been revised to make it more efficient and targeted. In 1992, Revamped Public Distribution System was introduced in 1,700 blocks in the country. The target was to provide the benefits of PDS to remote and backward areas.

Question 19.
Explain the dimensions of food security.
Or
Describe the dimension of food security.
Answer:
Food security, has the following dimensions :

  1. Availability of Food,
  2. Accessibility of Food
  3. Affordability of Food.

1. Availability of Food. It means food production within the country, food imports and the previous years’ stock stored in government granaries.

2. Accessibility of Food. It means food is within reach of every person.

3. Affordability of Food. It implies that an individual has enough money to buy sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet one’s dietary needs.

Question 20.
What happens to the supply of food when there is a disaster or a calamity?
Answer:

  • During the disaster or calamity food supply is adversely affected.
  • During disaster or natural calamity like earthquake, drought, flood, etc., there is widespread failure of crops.
  • During calamity/disaster the price goes up.
  • Black-marketing and hoarding is also one of major factors responsible for high price rise during calamity.
  • During calamity or disaster situation of starvation may appear.

PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Chapter 4 Food Security in India

Question 21.
What will happen if there is no food security?
Answer:
If there is absence of food security, following problems will arise :

  • Due to natural calamity there will be shortage of food and prices go up. At high prices, some people cannot afford to buy food. It may cause a situation of starvation.
  • It will increase black marketing and people will be exploited to a large extent.
  • The poorest section of the society might be food insecure most of times,
  • A massive starvation might take a turn of famine.

Question 22.
Why is food security essential? How is food security affected during disaster?
Answer:
The poorest section of the society might be food insecure most of the times while persons above the poverty line might also be food insecure when country faces a disaster like earthquake, drought, flood, tsunami, etc.

During the time of natural calamity, total production of foodgrains decreases, which creates shortage of food in the affected areas. Due to shortage of food, the prices go up. At a high price, some people cannot afford to buy food. If such disaster happens in a very wide area or is stretched over a longer time period, it may cause a situation of starvation.

Long Answer Type Questions

Question 1.
Explain the issue of Food Security in India.
Answer:
“Food security implies access by all people at all times to sufficient quantities of food to lead an active and healthy life.”
“Hunger is intolerable in the modern world in a way could have been in the past, because it is so unnecessary and unwanted.”-Amartya Sen and John Dreaze.

Good security is basically understood in terms of food availability, stability and accessibility. Ensuring availability of food implies efficient domestic production and internal trade to make enough food available for the entire population. It calls for taking appropriate preemptive measures to ensure stability during harmful seasonal and inter-annual instability of food supplies. However, despite food being abundantly available, it may not be within easy access to certain sections of society.

Hence enhacing people’s purchasing power to buy food where it is not produced or’making it available at subsidised rate through the public distribution system and employment programs provides a safety net and ensures accessibility to adequate and safe food given the critical situation in India, food security needs to be understood also in terms of vulnerability of certain sections of the society who are physically and mentally pre-occupied with getting the next meal. It entails intervening sensitivity to make opportunities available to such section so that they can overcome exploration, injustice and discrimination.

PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Chapter 4 Food Security in India

Question 2.
Explain Public Distribution System.
Answer:
The network of Public Distribution System (PDS) was introduced to supply essential commodities at the subsidised price and it was considered as an essential element of Government’s safety net to the poor. After Bengal famine in 1943, the system of rationing for equitable distribution of foodgrain was introduced in India. After independence, the Government of India decided to extend the system was gradually designed to meet to basic food requirements of all consumers. In order to distribute essential food items fair price shops were opened in all states.

The Public Distribution System (PDS) evolved as a system of management of scarcity and food distribution of foodgrains at affordable Prices. Over the years, PDS has become an important part of Government’s policy for management of good economy in the country. PDS is supplemental in nature and is not intended to make available the entire requirement of any of the commodities distributed under it to a household or a section of the society.

PDS is operated under the joint responsibility of the Central and the State Governments. The central Government, through FCI, has assumed the responsibility for procurement, storage, transportation and bulk allocation of foodgrains to the State Governments. The operational responsibility including allocation within State, identification of families below the poverty fine, issue of Ration Cards and supervision of the functioning of FPS, rest with the State Governments. Under the PDS, presently the commodities namely wheat, rice, sugar and kerosene are being allocated to the States/UTs for distribution. Some State/UTs also distribute additional items of mass consumption through the PDS outlets such as pulses, edible oils, iodized salt, spices, etc.

PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Chapter 3 Poverty: Challenge Facing India

Punjab State Board PSEB 9th Class Social Science Book Solutions Economics Chapter 3 Poverty: Challenge Facing India Textbook Exercise Questions and Answers.

PSEB Solutions for Class 9 Social Science Economics Chapter 3 Poverty: Challenge Facing India

SST Guide for Class 9 PSEB Poverty: Challenge Facing India Textbook Questions and Answers

I. Fill in the Blanks :

Question 1.
More than _________ of the world’s poor people live in India.
Answer:
one fifth

Question 2.
Poverty creates a feeling of _________ in the poor people.
Answer:
insecurity

Question 3.
_________ people require more calories than _________ people.
Answer:
Rural urban

Question 4.
Punjab state has succeeded in reducing poverty with the help of high _________ growth rates.
Answer:
Agricultural

Question 5.
_________ is the method to measure the minimum income required to satisfy the basic needs of life.
Answer:
Poverty line

PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Chapter 3 Poverty: Challenge Facing India

Question 6.
_________ is a measurement of poverty.
Answer:
Relative poverty.

II. Multiple Choice Questions :

Question 1.
What is the number of people living in poverty in India?
(a) 20 crores
(b) 26 crores
(c) 25 crores
(d) None of these.
Answer:
(d) None of these.

Question 2.
Poverty ratio in _________ countries is less.
(а) Developed countries
(b) Developing countries
(c) Less developed countries
(d) None of these.
Answer:
(а) Developed countries

Question 3.
In India which state is the poorest state?
(a) Punjab
(b) Uttar Pradesh
(c) Odisha
(d) Rajasthan.
Answer:
(c) Odisha

PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Chapter 3 Poverty: Challenge Facing India

Question 4.
National income is the indicator of
(a) Poverty line
(b) Population
(c) Relative poverty
(d) Absolute poverty.
Answer:
(c) Relative poverty

III. True/False:

Question 1.
There is a rapid decrease in global poverty.
Answer:
True.

Question 2.
Disguised unemployment prevails in agriculture.
Answer:
True.

Question 3.
Educated unemployment prevails more in villages.
Answer:
False

Question 4.
National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) estimates the increase in populations.
Answer:
False

PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Chapter 3 Poverty: Challenge Facing India

Question 5.
Bihar and Odisha states are the most poor states.
Answer:
True.

IV. Very Short Answer Type Questions :

Question 1.
What is the meaning of relative poverty?
Answer:
Relative poverty refers to the distribution of national income across different individuals and households in the country.

Question 2.
What is the meaning of absolute poverty?
Answer:
Absolute poverty refers to the measure of poverty, keeping in view the per capita intake of calories and minimum level of consumption.

Question 3.
Name two indicators of relative poverty.
Answer:
Per capita income and national income are the two indicators of relative poverty.

Question 4.
What is the meaning of poverty line?
Answer:
Poverty line is the method to measure the minimum income required to satisfy the basic needs of life.

Question 5.
Name the criteria adopted by the Planning Commission of India to determine the poverty line.
Answer:
In India the Planning Commission of India determines the poverty line by his or her income or consumption level.

Question 6.
Name two indicators of poverty.
Answer:
Income and consumption are two indicators of poverty.

PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Chapter 3 Poverty: Challenge Facing India

Question 7.
In poor families who suffers the most?
Answer:
In poor families childern suffer the most.

Question 8.
Name two poorest states of India.
Answer:
Odisha and Bihar are two poorest states of India.

Question 9.
How Kerala has reduced poverty in the state?
Answer:
Kerala has focused more on human resources development.

Question 10.
What has helped West Bengal in reducing poverty?
Answer:
Land reform measures have helped in reducing poverty in West Bengal.

Question 11.
Name two- states which reduced poverty with the help of high agricultural growth rates.
Answer:
Punjab and Haryana are the states which reduced poverty with the help of high agricultural growth rate.

Question 12.
How China and South-East-Asian countries are able to reduce poverty?
Answer:
In China and South-East-Asian countries poverty ratio declines as a result of rapid economic growth and investment in human resource development.

Question 13.
Give two causes of poverty.
Answer:

  1. Low economic growth.
  2. Heavy population pressure.

Question 14.
Name two poverty alleviation programmes.
Answer:

  1. Mahatama Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA)
  2. Sampoorna Gramin Rozgar Yozana (SGRY).

PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Chapter 3 Poverty: Challenge Facing India

Question 15.
Name the programme that provides free food to the Govt, school children.
Answer:
Minimum Needs Programme.

V. Short Answer Type Questions

Question 1.
What do you mean by poverty? Explain it.
Answer:
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 less of health and efficiency among those living in poverty and the country. In other words, poverty is a state of being extremely poor.

Question 2.
Differentiate between Relative Poverty and Absolute Poverty.
Answer:
Relative poverty refers to the distribution of national income acr oss different individuals and households in the country. The economic conditions of different regions or countries is compared under relative poverty. On the other hand absolute poverty refers to the measure of poverty, keeping in view the per capita intake of calories and minimum level of consumption. It refers to income and consumption levels in a country.

Question 3.
What are the problems faced by the poor people?
Answer:
Some of the most important problems faced by the poor people are as follows :

  1. Social discrimination
  2. Housing
  3. Subculture of poverty.

After 67 years of planning India is still one of the poorest countries in the world. Some of the variables on which the poor differ for others are degree of participation in the labour force, kind of employment, characteristics of family, degree of knowledge of the larger society, awareness of political, social and economic rights.

Question 4.
Describe how the poverty line is estimated in India.
Answer:
The poverty line is estimated based on consumption levels in India. If a person has basic needs fulfilled which include minimum level of food, clothing, educational and medical needs, etc. These minimum consumptions are then calculated in rupees and total becomes the minimum income required to fulfil basic needs. A person is considered poor if his income level falls below the minimum level necessary to fulfil basic needs.

PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Chapter 3 Poverty: Challenge Facing India

Question 5.
Describe the major 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 indicator used to measure poverty are related to the level 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 is another common indicator on which the analysis of poverty is based.

Question 6.
Describe the poverty trends in India since 1993-94.
Answer:
Percentage of people living below the poverty line has decreased in the last two decades. Though there is a decline in both rural and urban poverty but decline in rural poverty is less compared to decline in urban poverty.

In 1993-94, 403.7 million of people or 44.3% of population was living below the poverty line. The proportion of people below poverty line came down to 37.2% in 2004-05 and further to 21.7% in 2011-12.

Question 7.
Briefly describe the inter-state disparities in poverty in India.
Answer:
There is difference among the proportion of poor people in states. Estimates show that average Indian HCR was 21.7% in 2011-12 but states like Odisha and Bihar are the two poorest states with poverty ratio 32.6 and 33.7 respectively. In comparsion there has been a significant decline in poverty in Kerala, J&K, Himachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Punjab and Haryana. These states have used agricultural growth and human capital growth to reduce poverty.

Question 8.
What are the three main causes of poverty in India?
Answer:
There are a number of causes for widespread poverty in India :
1. Low economic growth. India was under British rule for more than 100 years. British politics discouraged the traditional textile industries and small and cottage industries which were flourishing in India. This resulted in less job opportunities and low growth rate of incomes. Due to this overall poverty rate could not be reduced.

2. High Prices. Continuously rising prices have badly affected the poor. Rising prices take away a major portion of their income and thus make them more poor.

3. Low Productivity in Agriculture. Agricultural production is very low due to sub-divided and fragmented holdings, lack of capital, use of traditional methods of cultivation, illiteracy etc. It is the main cause of poverty in India.

Question 9.
Promotion of economic growth helps in reducing poverty. Explain.
Answer:
Stepping up the pace of growth is an ultimate solution to the problem of poverty in India. When the pace of growth increases, employment both in farms and industries increases. Greater employment lesser the poverty. Since the eighties India’s economic growth has been one of the fastest in the world. Economic growth provides opportunities and the resources needed to reduce poverty and help in economic development.

Question 10.
What are the main features of National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) 2005?
Answer:
National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) 2005 aims to provide 100 days of wage employment to every household. This ensures a regular, wage in rural areas and promotes sustainable development. l/3rd of proposed jobs have been reserved for women. The control of the state govt, will establish employment guarantee funds for the implementation of the scheme.

PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Chapter 3 Poverty: Challenge Facing India

Question 11.
Explain any three poverty alleviation programmes undertaken by the Government of India.
Answer:

  1. Sampoorna Gramin Rozgar Yojana (SGRY). It was launched with an objective to provide employment opportunity to the surplus workers and to develop regional, social and economic conditions.
  2. Prime Minister Rozgar Yojana (PMRY). It was started in 2000 aimed at improving the health, primary education, drinking water, housing and roads of the rural areas with additional central assistance.
  3. Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY). It was launched in the year 2000. Under this scheme poor families were identified and twenty five kilograms of foodgrains were made available to each family at a very subsidised rate of ₹ 2 per kg for wheat and ₹ 3 per kg for rice.

VI. Intext Questions and Answers

Question 1.
Discuss under what conditions the poor families of your village or city are living?
Answer:
In my village the poor families are living with irregular jobs, lack of good health, unhygienic living conditions and unable to send children to schools.

Question 2.
After reading the cases of rural and urban poverty, discuss the below-mentioned reasons of poverty and find out whether these are the reasons of poverty in both mentioned cases or not.
1. Landless family
Answer:
Landless family. In both the cases of rural and urban areas families have no land to cultivate.

2. Unemployment
Answer:
Unemployment. Unemployment forced them to do household chores at a very meagerable rates.

3. Big family
Answer:
Big family. Big size of the family is also the cause of poverty in both the cases.

4. Illiteracy.
Answer:
Illiteracy. Families are illiterate and even they are not sending their wards to school.

5. Poor health and undernourished
Answer:
Poor health and undernourished. They are sick people and cannot afford treatment. Their children are undernourished and items like shoes, soap and oil are luxury items for their families.

PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Chapter 3 Poverty: Challenge Facing India

Question 3.
Graph Poverty ratio in selected states
im-1
(i) Looking at the graph name the five states with the highest percentage of poor people.
Answer:
Five states with the highest percentage of poor people are Bihar, Odisha, Assam, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.

(ii) Name the states where estimates of poverty are less than 22% but more than 15%.
Answer:
They are West Bengal, Maharastra and Gujarat.

(iii) Name the states with the highest poverty percentage and with lowest poverty percentage.
Answer:
The state with the highest percentage of poverty is Bihar and with the lowest poverty percentage is Kerala.

PSEB 9th Class Social Science Guide Poverty: Challenge Facing India Important Questions and Answers

Multiple Choice Questions :

Question 1.
In 1993-94 the percentage of poor in India was :
(a) 44.3%
(b) 32%
(c) 19.3%
(d) 38.3%.
Answer:
(a) 44.3%.

Question 2.
Which is the poverty determination measure?
(a) Headcount ratio
(b) Sen’s Index
(c) Poverty Gap Index
(d) All of these.
Answer;
(d) All of these.

Question 3.
Which country of the world has the highest per capita income in dollars term?
(a) U.S.A.
(b) Switzerland
(c) Norway
(d) Japan.
Answer:
(c) Norway.

Question 4.
What type of poverty can make the comparison of two countries possible?
(a) Absolute Poverty
(b) Relative Poverty
(c) Both of them
(d) None of them.
Answer:
(b) Relative Poverty.

PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Chapter 3 Poverty: Challenge Facing India

Question 5.
In which State there is the highest poverty in India?
(a) Odisha
(b) Bihar
(c) Madhya Pradesh
(d) West Bengal.
Answer:
(a) Odisha.

Fill in the Blanks :

Question 1.
_________ is the inability to get the minimum consumption requirements for life, health and efficiency.
Answer:
Poverty

Question 2.
_________ poverty is that poverty in which minimum physical quantities of national requirement are determined for a subsistence level.
Answer:
Absolute

Question 3.
In _________ poverty we compare the relative level of income of the population. It refers to poverty in relation to different classes, regions and other countries.
Answer:
Relative

Question 4.
There are _________ types of poverty.
Answer:
two

PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Chapter 3 Poverty: Challenge Facing India

Question 5.
_________ refers to that amount of purchasing power by which people can satisfy their minimum basic needs.
Answer:
Poverty.

True/False:

Question 1.
There are two types of poverty, absolute and relative poverty.
Answer:
True

Question 2.
Poverty is the main problem of India.
Answer:
True

Question 3.
Head count ratio refers to the percentage of population below poverty line.
Answer:
True

Question 4.
Rising population implies rising incidence of poverty in India.
Answer:
True

Question 5.
Head count ratio and poverty incidence ratio are identical terms.
Answer:
True.

Very Short Answer Type Questions

Question 1.
What is the proportion of world’s poor which live in India?
Answer:
One fifth of the world’s poor live in India.

Question 2.
How many children under the age of five die annually in India according to UNICEF?
Answer:
About 2.3 million children.

Question 3.
What was the percentage of population below poverty line in 2011-12 in India?
Answer:
21.7 per cent.s

Question 4.
Write the types of poverty.
Answer:
Types are:

  1. Absolute poverty
  2. Relative Poverty.

Question 5.
What is Calorie?
Answer:
Calorie is the energy given to a person by a full day’s food.

Question 6.
State the full form of NSSO.
Answer:
National Sample Survey Organisation.

Short Answer Type Questions

Question 1.
Why do different countries use a different poverty line?
Answer:
Each country uses an imaginary line that is considered appropriate for its existing level of development and its accepted minimum social norms. For example, a person not having a car in the United States may be considered poor. In India, owning of a car is still considered a luxury.

Question 2.
What is ‘National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) 2005’?
Answer:
The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act provides 100 days assured employment every year to every rural household in 200 districts. Later, the scheme will be extended to 600 districts. Now this scheme is implemente. in all the districts of the country.

PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Chapter 3 Poverty: Challenge Facing India

Question 3.
Give an account of Inter-state disparities of poverty in India.
Answer:
This proportion of poverty is not the same in every state. Although state level poverty has witnessed a secular decline from the level of early seventies, the success rate of reducing poverty varies from state to state.

In India, Odisha and Bihar continue to be the two poorest states with poverty ratios of 47% and 43% respectively, while poverty ratios of Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab is 3.5% and 6.2% respectively.

Question 4.
What is ‘National Food-for-Work Programme’ (NFWP)?
Answer:
National Food-for-Work Programme was launched in 2004 in 150 most backward districts of the country. The programme is open to all rural poor who are in need of wage employment and desire to do manual unskilled work. It is implemented as a 100 per cent centrally sponsored scheme and foodgrains are provided free of cost to those districts.

Question 5.
What is ‘Rural Employment Generation Programme’?
Answer:
Rural Employment Generation Programme was launched in 1995. The aim of the programme is to create self-employment opportunities in rural areas and in small towns. A target for creating 25 lakh new jobs has been set for the programme under the Tenth Five Year Plan.

Question 6.
Write a short note on ‘Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana-(SGSY) and ‘Pradhan Mantri Gramodaya Yojana (PMGY).
Answer:
1. Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY). It was launched in 1999. The programme aims at bringing the assisted poor families above the poverty line by organising them into self-help groups through a mix of bank credit and government subsidy.

2. Pradhan Mantri Gramodaya Yojana (PMGY). It was implemented in 2000. Additional central assistance is given to states for basic service such as primary health, primary education, rural shelter, rural drinking water and rural-electrification.

Question 7.
Write any two main features of the NREGA which help in alleviating poverty.
Answer:
Following are the main features of NREGA :

  1. This Act Provides 100 days assured employment every year to every rural household in all districts. One third of the proposed jobs would be reserved for women.
  2. Under the programme, if an applicant is not provided employment within fifteen days he will be entitled to a daily unemployment allowance.

PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Chapter 3 Poverty: Challenge Facing India

Question 8.
Name two social and two economic groups that are most vulnerable to poverty. When does the situation for such a group become more acute?
Answer:
Two social groups which are most vulnerable to poverty are Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe households. Similarly, among the economic groups, the most vulnerable groups are the rural agricultural labour households and the urban casual labour households.

The situation of such a group becomes more acute when women, elderly people and female infants are systematically denied equal access to resources available to the family.

Question 9.
Describe global poverty trends.
Answer:
The proportion of people in developing countries living in extreme economic poverty defined by the World Bank as living on less than $1 per day has fallen from 28 per cent in 1990 to 21 per cent in 2001. Although there has been a substantial reduction substantially in China and South-East Asian countries as a result of rapid economic growth and massive investments in human resources development.

Question 10.
What poverty really means to people?
Answer:
The official definition of poverty however captures only a limited part of what poverty really means to people. It is about a “minimum” subsistence level of living rather than a “reasonable” level of living. Many scholars advocate that we must broaden the concept into human poverty. Worldwide experience shows that with the increase in development, the definition of poverty also changes.

Question 11.
Explain any three features of Public Distribution System.
Answer:
Following are the features of PDS.

  1. It is used as an important activity of the state to ensure food security to the people, particularly the poor ones.
  2. The prices of the goods sold through PDS in fair prices shops will be less than that of the market price. The cost of this price difference will be borne by the government. This amount is known as subsidy.
  3. This system controls unscrupulous rise in prices for essential goods in the markets.

Question 12.
How is poverty line fixed in India?
Answer:
While fixing the poverty line in India, a minimum level of food requirement, clothing, foot-wear, educational and medical requirements are determined for subsistence. These physical quantities are multiplied by their prices in rupees. The present formula for food requirement while estimating the poverty line is based on the desired calories requirement. The calories vary depending on age, sex and the type of work that a person does. The accepted average calories requirement in India is 2400 calories per person per day in rural areas and 2100 calories per person per day in urban areas. On the basis of these calculations, for the year 2000, the poverty line for a person was fixed at ₹ 328 per month for the rural areas and ₹ 454 for the urban areas.

PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Chapter 3 Poverty: Challenge Facing India

Question 13.
Explain the following issues on the basis of textbook :
(a) Landless
Answer:
Landless: Landless is that person who does not own any land. Lakha Singh is treated as landless.

(b) Unemployment
Answer:
Unemployment: Unemployment is a situation in which those people who are able and willing to work at existing wage rate cannot get work. Ram Saran and Lakha Singh’s families are unemployed or under-employed.

(c) Size of families
Answer:
Size of Families: By the size of families we mean the number of persons in a family. Generally the size of poor families like Ram Saran and Lakha Singh are very large.

(d) Illiteracy
Answer:
Illiteracy: Person who cannot read and write is treated as illiterate poor person.

(e) Poor health/Malnutrition.
Answer:
Poor health/Malnutrition: Poor health means who have no access to health care and remain ill. Malnutrition means undernourishment.

Question 14.
Examine the concept of social exclusion of poverty.
Answer:
According to this concept, poverty must be seen in terms of the poor having to live only in poor surroundings with other people, excluded from enjoying social equality of better-off people in better surroundings. Social exclusion can be both a cause as well as a consequence of poverty in the usual sense. Broadly, it is a process through which individuals or groups are excluded from facilities, benefits and opportunities that other (their ‘betters’) enjoy. A typical example is the working of the caste system in India in which people belonging to certain castes are excluded from equal opportunities. Social exclusion thus may lead to, but can cause more damage than, having a very low income.

PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Chapter 3 Poverty: Challenge Facing India

Question 15.
Examine the ‘Vulnerability’ to poverty.
Answer:
Vulnerability to poverty is a measure, which describes the greater probability of certain communities (say, members of a backward caste) or individuals (such as a widow or a physically handicapped person) of becoming or remaining poor in the coming years. Vulnerability is determined by the option available to different communities for finding alternative living in terms of asset’s, education, health and job opportunities. Further, it is analysed on the basis of the greater risks these groups face at the time of natural disasters, terrorism, etc. Additional analysis is made of their social and economic ability to handle these risks. In fact, vulnerability describes the greater probability of being more adversely affected than other people when bad time comes for everybody, whether a flood or an earthquake or simply a fall in the availability of jobs.

Question 16.
What are the main causes of poverty in India?
Or
Explain any three causes for the widespread of poverty in India.
Answer:
The main causes of poverty in India are the following :

  1. Underdeveloped Nature of the Economy. India’a economy is an underdeveloped economy. Its per capita income is low. Thus, its underdeveloped nature is closely associated with poverty.
  2. Rapid Growth of Population. Rapid growth of population in overpopulated countries like India is the main cause of poverty. In these countries, the national income increases but the per capita income remains more or less the same due to the increase in population.
  3. Casual Nature of Employment. Most of the Indian population lives in rural area. The nature of employment in rural, as well as urban areas, is casual and intermittent which is closely related to poverty.
  4. Predominance of Agriculture. Agriculture is the principal means of livelihood. It is the primary asset to rural people. Productivity of land is an important determinant of material well being, but the productivity of land in India is very low. Thus, people remain struck in poverty.

Question 17.
Explain any five measures to reduce poverty in India.
Or
How poverty can be removed in India?
Answer:
Following are the measures by which poverty can be reduced in India :
1. Population Control. Growing population is a major cause of poverty in India. So, it ig necessary to control it. Family planning programme should be implemented effectively to control population explosion.

2. Creation of More Employment Opportunities. Though it has been stated in our constitution that the government would provide employment opportunities to all, but unemployment is still a big problem in India. It is also responsible for poverty. Hence, it is essential to promote employment through intensive development technology.

3. Check on Price Rise. Price rise is also, responsible for poverty in India. It decidedly goes against the interests of the poor. So, price rise must be checked through proper, fiscal and monetary policies and other measures.

4. More Emphasis on Small, Rural and Cottage Industries. Small scale and cottage industries have not developed fully in India, It is essential to develop such industries as their development will help the poor. So, government should adopt effective methods to expand small scale and cottage industries which will increase the self-employment opportunities.

5. Stepping up Capital Formation. Low rate of capital formation is a major hindrance in the way of fast economic development. The rate of capital formation, therefore, must be increased. As it basically depends on the saving rate, ever possible effort should be made to increase savings and their mobilisation.

Question 18.
Explain five important anti-poverty measures undertaken by the Government of India.
Answer:

  1. National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) 2005. The act provides 100 days assured employment every year to every rural household in 200 districts.
  2. National Food for Work Programme (NFWP) 2004. It was launched in 150 most backward districts of the country. It was open to all rural poor who were in need of wage employment.
  3. Prime Minister Rozgar Yogana (PMRY) 1993. The aim is to create self-employment opportunities for educated youth in rural areas and small towns.
  4. Rural Employment Generation Programme (REGP) 1995. The aim is to create self-employment opportunities in rural areas and small towns.
  5. Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY) 1999. It aims at bringing assisted poor families above the poverty line, by organising them into self-help groups through bank credit and government subsidy.

Long Answer Type Questions

Question 1.
How is poverty line Fixed in India?
Answer:
Following are the important method to fix the poverty line in India :

  1. In order to estimate the consumption cut-off, the private consumption expenditure is taken into consideration.
  2. In case of private consumption expenditure, both food and non-food items of rural and urban areas are taken into consideration.
  3. The per capita consumption of calories is considered for the food items. In case of non-food items, only socio-economic factors such as literacy level health, life expectancy, birth rate, death rate, etc., are shown. For this purpose, a Frequency distribution is constructed and class interval range denotes the level of calorie consumption. The lower class indicates lower level of calorie consumption whereas the higher class show higher range of calorie consumption.
  4. Every frequency counts the number of calories belonging to the respective consumption class.
  5. The Head Count Ratio is calculated to find out the percentage of poor and non-poor population for the rural and urban areas, particularly the Below Poverty Line population.

PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Chapter 3 Poverty: Challenge Facing India

Question 2.
Suggest measures to remove poverty in India.
Answer:
Measures to Remove Poverty. Removal of poverty is a big problem before India. This problem should be solved as soon as possible. Unless we are able to provide the public all the necessities of life, our political freedom is useless and any development is also meaningless. The problem of poverty is a big danger to the unity of India. As we have seen, not only one reason but many like economic, social, and political reasons are responsible for it. So, we have to adopt many programmes, covering different aspects together, in order to remove poverty.

The following suggestions can be made to remove poverty :
1. Population Control. A growing population is a major cause of poverty in India. So, it is necessary to control it. A family planning programme should be implemented effectively.

2. Creation of More Employment Opportunities. Though it has been stated in our Constitution that, the government would provide employment opportunities to all, but unemployment is still a big problem in India. It is also responsible for poverty. Hence, it is essential to promote employment through intensive development technology.

3. Increase in Production. Industrial and agricultural production should be increased to remove poverty. Present capacity should be utilized fully and new techniques should be adopted. Proper coordination should be there between large-scale and small-scale industries. Superior seeds, manures, fertilizers, and modern methods of production should be adopted for agricultural development. Necessary irrigation facilities should be made available and social structures in rural areas should also be modified. Land reforms should be implemented sincerely. All these suggestions can be helpful in increasing agricultural and industrial production.

4. Check on Price Rise. Price rise is also responsible for poverty in India. It decidedly goes against the interests of the poor. So, price rises must be checked through proper fiscal and monetary policies and other measures.

5. More Emphasis on Small, Rural, and Cottage Industries. Small scale and cottage industries have not developed fully in India. It is essential to develop such industries as their development will help the poor. So, Govt. should adopt effective methods to expand small and cottage industries which will increase the self-employment opportunities for the poor.

PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Chapter 2 Human Resources

Punjab State Board PSEB 9th Class Social Science Book Solutions Economics Chapter 2 Human Resources Textbook Exercise Questions and Answers.

PSEB Solutions for Class 9 Social Science Economics Chapter 2 Human Resources

SST Guide for Class 9 PSEB Human Resources Textbook Questions and Answers

I. Fill in the Blanks :

Question 1.
India stands __________ in the world as regards to the size of the population.
Answer:
Second

Question 2.
Uneducated people become a __________ for the society rather than an asset.
Answer:
Liability

Question 3.
The size of population of a country along with its efficiency, education qualification, productivity etc. is termed as __________
Answer:
Human resources

Question 4.
In __________ sector production activities are done by using natural resources.
Answer:
Primary

PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Chapter 2 Human Resources

Question 5.
__________ activities helps in the production of goods and services :
Answer:
Economic.

II. Multiple Choice Questions :

Question 1.
Agriculture economy is an example of which sector?
(a) Primary
(b) Tertiary
(c) Secondary.
Answer:
(a) Primary

Question 2.
In agriculture sector there is unemployment for 5 to 7 months. Name this unemployment.
(a) Disguised unemployment
(b) Seasonal unemployment
(c) Educated unemployment.
Answer:
(b) Seasonal unemployment

Question 3.
What is the working age for population in India ?
(a) 15-59 years
(b) 18-58 years
(c) 6-60 years.
Answer:
15 – 59 years

Question 4.
How much is the population of India according to census 2011 ?
(a) 1210.19 million
(b) 130 million
(c) 121.19 million.
Answer:
1210.19 million.

III. True/False :

Question 1.
Working of a housewife in home is an economic activity.
Answer:
False

Question 2.
There is more disguised unemployment in cities.
Answer:
False

PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Chapter 2 Human Resources

Question 3.
A country develops by investing in human capital.
Answer:
True

Question 4.
The population of a country should be healthy for its economic growth.
Answer:
True

Question 5.
In India literacy rate increased from 1951 to 2011.
Answer:
True

IV. Very Short Answer Type Questions :

Question 1.
Name two natural resources.
Answer:
Two natural resources are:

  1. Air
  2. Minerals.

Question 2.
How did countries like Germany and Japan make rapid economic development?
Answer:
The countries like Germany and Japan made rapid economic development only due to investment in human resources, specially in th6 field of education and health.

Question 3.
What are economic activities?
Answer:
Economic activities are those activities which are performed to earn money.

Question 4.
What are the two economic activities done by Gurpreet and Mandeep?
Answer:
Gurpreet works in the field and Mandeep gets a job in a private company.

PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Chapter 2 Human Resources

Question 5.
Give two examples of secondary sector.
Answer:
Two examples of secondary sector are :

  1. Manufacturing of jaggery from sugarcane.
  2. Manufacturing of cotton cloth from raw cotton.

Question 6.
What are non-economic activities ?
Answer:
Non-economic activities are those activities which do not give income in return.

Question 7.
Give two determinants of the quality of population.
Answer:

  1. Good education
  2. Health of people.

Question 8.
Name the state with the highest literacy rate.
Answer:
Kerala.

Question 9.
Name the step taken to provide elementary education to all children in the age group of 6 – 14 years.
Answer:
Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan.

PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Chapter 2 Human Resources

Question 10.
What is the age limit of the work force population in India?
Answer:
15 – 59 years.

Question 11.
Name two programmes undertaken by the government of India to generate employment opportunities.
Answer:

  1. Swaran Jayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SJGSY)
  2. Sampoorna Gramin Rozgar Yojana (SGRY).

V. Short Answer Type Questions

Question 1.
What do you mean by human resources?
Answer:
The size of the population of a country along with its efficiency, educational qualities, productivity, etc. is known as human resources. Human resource 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.

Question 2.
How human resources is superior to other resources like land and physical capital?
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 3.
What is the difference between economic activities and non-economic activities?
Answer:

Economic Activities

Non-Economic Activities

1. All those activities which are performed to earn money are called economic activities. 1. All those activities which do not give income in return are non economic activities.
2. Economic activities add value to the national income. 2. Non economic activities do not add value to the national income.
3. Economic activities contribute to the flow of goods and services in an economy 3. They do not contribute to the flow of goods and services in the economy.
4. Examples. Mandeep doing a job in a private company, teacher teaching in a school 4. Examples. Housewives stitch their own suits, teacher teaches his son at home.

PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Chapter 2 Human Resources

Question 4.
What is the role of education in human capital formation?
Answer:
Education is an important input for the growth of human capital. It provides new aspirations and develops values of life. Education contributes towards the growth of not only of a single person but also towards the growth of society as a whole. We get an opportunity to study in a school which helps us to become a good citizen and enables to earn a good salary in the future which in turn increases the national income and hence helps the economy to develop. Thus education plays a vital role in human capital formation.

Question 5.
What are the steps taken by the Government of India to spread education?
Answer:
The following steps are taken by the Government of India to spread education :

  • Number of educational institutions have been established.
  • The Primary school system has expanded to over more than 5,00,000 villages in India.
  • Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan’ has been launched to provide compulsory elementary education to all children in the age group of 6-14 years.
  • Mid-day meal scheme has been implemented to improve the nutritional status of the children.
  • Navodaya Vidyalayas are being established in each district.
  • Vocational streams have been introduced to impart training to students for self-employment.

Question 6.
Explain the term unemployment. Which groups of people are not included while determining a country’s unemployment rate?
Answer:
The term unemployment refers to a situation in which people are willing to work at the current wages but cannot find work. The work force population includes people from 15 years to 59 years. Person beyond this age limit, people looking after the household chores, children, old people are not to be called unemployed as they all contribute to the flow of goods and services.

Whenever a country’s unemployment is determined, persons who are not able to work, for example, patients, old people, small children, students etc. are not included.

Question 7.
Give two reasons for unemployment in India.
Answer:

  1. The rapidly increasing number of schools and colleges tend to increase unemployment as the job opportunities have not increased in the same rate.
  2. Rapidly increasing population leads to unemployment in the country. In the rural areas there is seasonal and disguised unemployment. Urban areas have educated unemployment.

Question 8.
Distinguish between disguised unemployment and seasonal unemployment.
Answer:
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 India, 30 percent of the total working rural population is disguised unemployed.

Seasonal unemployment means when people find jobs during some months and during remaining months they are unemployed. In the agriculture sector people remain unemployed for nearly 5, to 7 months.

Question 9.
Why is educated unemployment rapidly increasing in urban areas?
Answer:
Unemployment is more in urban areas as compared to rural areas. In case of urban areas the rapidly increasing number of schools and colleges lead to educated unemployment as the job opportunities have not increased in the same rate.

PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Chapter 2 Human Resources

Question 10.
How does literate and ill health affect the growth of the economy?
Answer:
The quality of population decides the growth rate of the economy. Literate population is an asset to the economy and ill health is a liability for the economy. Literate persons are important input for the grow of the economy. It provides new aspirations and develops values of life. Literate person contributes towards the growth of not only of a single person but also towards the growth of society as a whole. On the other hand ill health is a condition in which a person is not mentally and physically fit.

VI. Intext Questions and Answers

Question 1.
Visit your village or your colony and find out:
(i) Whether the women in different houses work at home or go outside to work?
Answer:
In my village some of the women work at home and others go outside to work. They go to work in the fields, offices and for cleaning other’s house.

(ii) Their work is an economic or non economic activity?
Answer:
The women who are doing household chores are doing non-economic activities. On the other hand who work in the fields, offices and cleaning other’s house are doing economic activities.

(iii) Give two examples each of economic activity and non-economic activity.
Answer:
Economic activities,
(a) Raj doing a job in a multinational company
(b) Doctor serving the patients in a hospital.

Non-Economic activities,
(a) Domestic work done by housewife
(b) A teacher teaching his son at home.

(iv) Work done by your mother is an economic or non-economic activity.
Answer:
My mother is a teacher in a government school. So she is doing economic activity.

Question 2.
Literacy rates in India
PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Chapter 2 Human Resources 1
Study the graph and answer the following questions :
(i) Has literacy rate increased between year 1951 to year 2011?
Answer:
Yes, the literacy rate has increased between year 1951 to year 2011 as it is evident from the bar diagram.

(ii) In which year India crossed the literacy rate of 50%?
Answer:
In the year 2001, India crossed the literacy rate of 50%.

(iii) In which year India has the highest literacy rate?
Answer:
In the year 2011, India has the highest literacy rate.

(iv) In which year the literacy rate among the women is the highest?
Answer:
The literacy rate among the woman is the highest in the year 2011.

(v) Why literacy rate is low among the women as compared to the men of India? Discuss with your teacher.
Answer:
The literacy rate is low among the women as compared to men of India because people send their girl child in less number as compared to boy. They engage girls in household chores.

PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Chapter 2 Human Resources

Question 3.
Table Health Services in India
PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Chapter 2 Human Resources 2
Source: National Health Profile, 2010 D/O Ayush, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. National Health Profile, 2013.

Let’s Discuss
Read the table and answer the following questions :
(i) Number of dispensaries and hospitals increased in 1951-2010.
Answer:
It is clear from the table that the number of dispensaries and hospitals did not increase in 1951-2010.

(ii) Number of doctors increased in 2001-2013.
Answer:
Yes, the number of doctors increased in 2001-2016.

(iii) Number of beds qued in health institution 1951-2013.
Answer:
Yes, the number of beds qued in health institution increased in 1981-2016.

(iv) Visit your village or a nearby village dispensary and find out which facilities are provided and which are needed more.
Answer:
By visiting my village dispensary, it is found that there is a shortage of staff. Even doctor has not joined the dispensary. Only one pharmasist was looking after the dispensary. Other facilities were in good condition.

PSEB 9th Class Social Science Guide Human Resources Important Questions and Answers

Multiple Choice Questions :

Question 1.
Population can be for the economy.
(a) Asset
(b) Liability
(c) Both asset and ability
(d) None of these.
Answer:
(c) Both asset and ability

Question 2.
In which field, the investment formulates human capital?
(a) Education
(b) Health
(c) Training
(d) All of these.
Answer:
(d) All of these.

Question 3.
Which does indicate the human capital formation in India?
(a) Green Revolution
(b) I.T. Revolution
(c) Labour Revolution
(d) White Revolution.
Answer:
(b) I.T. Revolution.

Question 4.
Cooking the food, cleaning the clothes and utensils by Sheela is what kind of activity?
(a) Economic activity
(b) Non-economic activity
(c) Wealth activity
(d) None of these.
Answer:
(b) Non-economic activity.

PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Chapter 2 Human Resources

Question 5.
Agriculture, forestry and dairy come under which sector?
(a) Primary
(b) Secondary
(c) Tertiary
(d) None of these.
Answer:
(a) Primary

Question 6.
Construction and manufacturing comes under sector.
(a) Secondary
(b) Tertiary
(c) Primary
(d) All of these.
Answer:
(a) Secondary.

Question 7.
Trade, transport, communication and banking etc. come under which sector?
(a) Primary
(b) Secondary
(c) Tertiary
(d) None of these.
Answer:
(c) Tertiary.

Question 8.
What is the life expectancy at birth in India?
(a) 66 years
(b) 70 years
(c) 55 years
(d) 15.8 years.
Answer:
(d) 15.8 years.

Question 9.
What is the crude birth rate per thousand in India?
(a) 26.1
(b) 28.2
(c) 20.4
(d) 35.1.
Answer:
(a) 26

Question 10.
What is the death rate per thousand in India?
(a) 9.8
(b) 8.7
(c) 11.9
(d) 25.1.
Answer:
(b) 8.7.

PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Chapter 2 Human Resources

Question 11.
What was the literacy rate of India in 2001?
(a) 65%
(b) 75%
(c) 60%
(d) 63%.
Answer:
(a) 65%.

Question 12.
What type of unemployment exists in rural areas of India?
(a) Seasonal
(b) Disguised
(c) Both seasonal and disguised
(d) Voluntary.
Answer:
(c) Both seasonal and disguised.

Question 13.
What type of unemployment mainly remains in the urban areas?
(a) Seasonal
(b) Voluntary
(c) Disguised
(d) Educated.
Answer:
(d) Educated.

Question 14.
Shifting of labours from rural area to urban area in search of work is known as
(a) Migration
(b) Immigration
(c) Invention
(d) None of these.
Answer:
(a) Migration

Question 15.
In which Held, the investment increases the production capacity of country?
(a) Land
(b) Physical capital
(c) Human capital
(d) All of these.
Answer:
(d) All of these.

Question 16.
Which one is the example of primary sector?
(a) Agriculture
(b) Manufacturing
(c) Communication
(d) Trade.
Answer:
(a) Agriculture.

PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Chapter 2 Human Resources

Question 17.
Which one is the example of secondary sector?
(a) Agriculture
(b) Manufacturing
(c) Communication
(d) Banking.
Answer:
(b) Manufacturing.

Question 18.
Which one is the example of tertiary sector?
(a) Agriculture
(b) Manufacturing
(c) Banking
(d) None of these.
Answer:
(c) Banking

Question 19.
In which year, India achieved the highest literacy rate?
(a) 2001
(b) 1991
(c) 2000
(d) 1981.
Answer:
(a) 2001.

Question 20.
What kind of people are the liability for the economy?
(a) Educated
(b) Healthy
(c) Unhealthy
(d) None of these.
Answer:
(c) Unhealthy.

Question 21.
When was the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan launched in India?
(a) 2008
(b) 2010
(c) 2007
(d) 2005.
Answer:
(b) 2010.

Question 22.
Which is not associated with primary sector?
(a) Agriculture
(b) Forestry
(c) Education
(d) Mining.
Answer:
(c) Education.

Question 23.
Which of the following is not an activity of tertiary sector?
(a) Transport
(b) Banking
(c) Manufacturing
(d) Tourism.
Answer:
(c) Manufacturing.

Fill in the Blanks:

Question 1.
China stands __________ in the world as regards to the size of the population.
Answer:
First

Question 2.
Ill health people become a __________ for the society rather than an asset.
Answer:
Liability

PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Chapter 2 Human Resources

Question 3.
Japan made investment in __________ resources.
Answer:
Human

Question 4.
Domestic work done by housewife __________ is activity.
Answer:
Non-economic

Question 5.
__________ had the lowest literacy rate in India in 2011.
Answer:
Bihar

Question 6.
According to census 2011 total literacy rate in India is __________ per cent.
Answer:
74.

True/False:

Question 1.
Literate and healthy population are liability.
Answer:
False

Question 2.
According to 2011 census. Literacy among men is 82.10 percent.
Answer:
True

Question 3.
Average unemployment rate of India during the period of 1983 to 2011 remained at 9 percent.
Answer:
True

Question 4.
Quality of population does not depend upon good health and education.
Answer:
False

PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Chapter 2 Human Resources

Question 5.
Mining and forestry are the activities of secondary sector.
Answer:
False.

Very Short Answer Type Questions

Question 1.
In which fields, does investment formulate human capital?
Answer:
In fields such as education, health, training etc. the investment formulates human capital.

Question 2.
What is unemployment?
Answer:
Unemployment is a situation under which people are willing to work at the prevailing wages but are unable in find any work.

Question 3.
What type of unemployment exists in rural areas of India?
Answer:
In rural areas of India, both seasonal and disguised unemployment exist. Question 4. Which is the most labour absorbing sector of the Indian economy? Answer:Agriculture is the most labour absorbing sector of the Indian economy.

Question 5.
What is seasonal unemployment?
Answer:
When people work for a few months but are not able to find jobs during the remaining months of the year, it is called as seasonal unemployment.

Question 6.
What do you understand by ‘people as resources’?
Answer:
‘People as Resources’ is a way of referring to a country’s working people in terms of their existing productive skills and abilities.

PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Chapter 2 Human Resources

Question 7.
What are market activities?
Answer:
Market activities involve remuneration to anyone who works, i.e., activities performed for pay or profit are called market activities.

Question 8.
What do you understand by the concept of Non-marketing activities?
Or
What are non-marketing activities?
Answer:
Non-marketing activities are those activities which do not involve remuneration to anyone who performs. These activities are performed for self¬consumption and are not for sale.

Question 9.
What are the two major determinants of earning?
Answer:
Two major determinants of earning for any individual are education and skill.

Question 10.
Which type of unemployment mainly exists in urban areas of India?
Answer:
Educated unemployment mainly exists in the urban areas of India.

Question 11.
Define the concept of migration.
Answer:
The concept of migration refers to the movement of people from one region to another in search of work or for better future prospects.

Question 12.
What are the various types of economic activities? Name them.
Answer:
There are two types of economic activities. These are :

  1. Marketing activities
  2. Non-marketing activities.

PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Chapter 2 Human Resources

Question 13.
What is National Income?
Answer:
It is a sum of total goods and services produced in a country within a year.

Question 14.
What do you know about Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan?
Answer:
It is a scheme under which elementary education is to be provided to all children in the age group of 6 to 14 years.

Question 15.
Write any two types of urban unemployment.
Answer:
Two types of urban unemployment are :

  1. Educated unemployment
  2. Industrial unemployment.

Question 16.
What kind of people are a liability for the economy?
Answer:
Illiterate and unhealthy people are a liability for the economy.

Question 17.
Define the concept of’Birth Rate’.
Answer:
The Birth Rate refers to the number of live births for every 1000 population during a particular period of time.

Question 18.
What is ‘Death Rate’?
Answer:
The Death rate refers to the number of deaths per thousand population, during a particular period of time.

PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Chapter 2 Human Resources

Question 19.
Cooking food, cleaning clothes and utensils by Sheela in her home is what kind of activity?
Answer:
It is a non-economic activity.

Question 20.
Trade, transport, communication and banking, etc., belong to which sector?
Answer:
They belong to the Tertiary sector.

Question 21.
What does CHC stand for?
Answer:
CHC stands for Community Health Centre.

Question 22.
What is the full form of GNP?
Answer:
The full form of GNP is Gross National Prodilct.

Question 23.
What does the acronym PHC stand for?
Answer:
The acronym PHC stands for Primary Health Centre.

Question 24.
Which sector is also known as the service sector?
Answer:
Tertiary sector is also known as the service sector.

Question 25.
Which state has the highest percentage of literacy in India?
Answer:
Kerala has the highest percentage of literacy in India.

Question 26.
What is the life expectancy rate of India?
Answer:
Life expectancy rate of India was 67.80 years in 2011.

Question 27.
What was death rate and birth rate of India in 2011?
Answer:
In 2011, death rate was 7.2 and birth rate was 22 per thousand in India.

Question 28.
What are the activities included in a primary sector?
Answer:
The primary sector includes agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, fishing, poultry farming and mining.

Question 29.
Which factors are responsible for non-market activities?
Answer:
Factors such on processing of primary products, subsistence farming, etc., are responsible for non-market activities.

PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Chapter 2 Human Resources

Question 30.
State one example of tertiary sector.
Answer:
Banking.

Question 31.
What was the literacy rate of India in 2011?
Answer:
The literacy rate of India was 74.04% in 2011.

Question 32.
On what factors does the quality of population depend?
Answer:
The quality of population depends upon the literacy level, health of an individual in terms of life expectancy and skills developed by the people of a country.

Short Answer Type Questions

Question 1.
Explain the quality of population.
Answer:
The quality of population depends upon the health of a person, life expectancy, skill formation acquired and the literacy rate. The quality of population decides the growth rate of the country. Literate and healthy people are an asset for the economy. On the other hand, illiterate and unhealthy people are a liability.

Question 2.
Explain in brief the importance of education.
Answer:
Education is important due to the following reasons :

  • Education is an important input for the growth of everyone.
  • It provides new aspiration and develops values of life.
  • It enhances the national income, cultural richness of the country.
  • It increases the efficiency of governance.
  • It helps in getting good job and salary.

Question 3.
Define unempolyment. What are its consequences?
Answer:
Unemployment is said to exist when people who are willing to work at the existing wages cannot find jobs.

Following are the consequences of unemployment.

  • It leads to wastage of manpower resource.
  • It leads to increased overlead. As a result the dependence of unemployed on the working populatison increases.
  • Increase in unemployment is an indicator of a depressed economy.
  • It increases many social evils among the young generation.

Question 4.
What is meant by disguised unemployment?
Answer:
In case of disguised unemployment people appear to be employed. They have agricultural plot where they find work. This usually happens among family members engaged in agricultural activity. The work requires the service of five people but engages eight people. If three people are removed, the productivity of the field will not decline. The field requires the service of five people and the three extra people are disguisedly unemployed.

Question 5.
What is meant by seasonal unemployment?
Answer:
Seasonal unemployment happens when people are not able to find jobs during some months of the year. People dependent upon agriculture usually face such kind of problem. There are certain busy seasons when sowing, harvesting, weeding, threshing is done. Certain months do not provide much work to the people dependent on agriculture.

Question 6.
What is meant by educated unemployment?
Answer:
In case of urban areas educated, unemployment has become a common phenomenon. Many youth with matriculation, graduation and post graduation degrees are not able to find job. A paradisiacal manpower situation is witnessed as surplus of manpower in certain categories exsists with shortage of manpower in others.

PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Chapter 2 Human Resources

Question 7.
State the meaning of market and non-market activities.
Answer:
Market activities involve remuneration to any one who performs i.e. activity performed for pay or profit. These include production of goods and services while the non-market activities are the production for self-consumption. There can be consumption and processing of primary product and own account production of fixed capital.

Question 8.
Define population as a human resource.
Answer:
This is the positive side of a large population that is often overlooked when we look only at the negative side, considering only the problems of providing the population with food, education and access to health facilities. When the existing ‘human resource’ is further developed by becoming more educated and healthy, we call it ‘Human Capital Formation’.

Question 9.
What are the various activities undertaken in the secondary and tertiary sectors?
Answer:
In the secondary sector, the quarrying and manufacturing activities are done. In the tertiary sector trade, transport, communication, banking, education, health, insurance, etc. activities are done.

Question 10.
State the role of health in human capital formation.
Answer:
Health plays a very important role in human capital formation. The health of a person helps him to realise his potential and the ability to fight illness. An unhealthy person becomes a liability for an organisation. Health is an indispensable basis for realising one’s well being.

Question 11.
What are economic activities? Explain.
Answer:
Economic activities are those activities that contribute to the flow of goods and services in the economy. These activities add value to the national income.

Economic activities have two parts

  1. Market activities and
  2. Non-market activities.

1. Market activities. It involves remuneration .to anyone who performs i.e., activity performed for pay or profit.
2. Non-market activities. Non-market activities are the production of goods for self-consumption. There can be consumption and processing of primary products and own account production of fixed assets.

Question 12.
Distinguish between market and non-market activities.
Answer:
Following are the main differences between market and non-market activities.

Market Activities

Non-market Activities

1. Market activities involve remuneration to any one who performs i.e., activity performed for pay or profit. 1. None market activities are the production of self consumption.
2. These include production of goods or services including government service. 2. These can be consumption, processing of primary product and own account .production of fixed assets.
3. A worker working in a mine, teacher teaching in a school etc. are some examples of market activities. 3. Processing of primary products, subsistence farming, etc. are non market activities.

PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Chapter 2 Human Resources

Question 13.
(i) What is Gross National Product?
Answer:
Gross national product is the money value of all goods and services produced by the residents of the country. It includes all final goods and services produced by the residents of the country anywhere in the world.

(ii) Countries like Japan did not have any natural resources, still they are developed countries. Give reasons.
Answer:
(a) Japan has invested on human capital especially in the field of education and health.
(b) The skilled and trained people have made efficient use of other resources like land and capital.
(c) Efficiency and technology evolved by people have made these countries developed.

Question 14.
(i) Name any two types of unemployment which prevail in rural areas.
Answer:
(a) Disguised unemployment and
(b) Seasonal unemployment mostly prevails in the rural areas

(ii) Mention any four factors on which the quality of population depends.
Answer:
(a) Health
(b) Life expectancy
(c) Education
(d) Skill

(iii) Which sector (in the primary sector) is the most labour absorbing sector of the economy?
Answer:
Agriculture sector is the most labour absorbing sector of the economy.

Question 15.
(i) Mention any two activities which are included in the primary sector.
Answer:
(a) Fishing
(b) Mining

(ii) Mention any two activities which are included in the service sector.
Answer:
(a) Banking
(b) Insurance

(iii) Mention any two activities which are included in the secondary sector.
Answer:
(a) Quarrying
(b) Manufacturing.

Question 16.
(i) Name any four factors which can improve the quality of human resources.
Answer:
(a) Education
(b) Health
(c) Technology
(d) Training.

(ii) Name any four factors of production.
Answer:
(a) Land
(b) Labour
(c) Capital
(d) Entreprenuer.

PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Chapter 2 Human Resources

Question 17.
What is ‘Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan’?
Answer:
‘Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan’, is a step towards providing elementary education to all children in the age group of 6 – 14 by 2010. It is a time bound initiative of the central government in partnership with the states, the local government and the community for achieving the goal of universalisation of elementary education.

Question 18.
(i) What types of unemployment are found in agriculture?
Answer:
Disguised and seasonal unemployment are found in agriculture.

(ii) State the meaning of disguised unemployment.
Answer:
Disguised unemployment is that type of unemployment under which people appear to be employed but they are not.

Question 19.
‘Improvement in the health status of the population has been the priority of a country.’ Give reasons.
Answer:

  • Good health increases the efficiency of the worker.
  • An unhealthy worker becomes a liability for the country.
  • Healthy citizens are the basic factors of production.
  • The health of a person helps him to realise the potential and the ability to fight illness.

Question 20.
‘Investment in human capital yields a return just like investment in physical capital.’ Explain.
Answer:

  • Human capital increases the productivity of the workers.
  • Human capital adds to the quality of labour.
  • Educated, trained and healthier people can use natural resources in a better way.
  • A country can earn foreign exchange by exporting services of human resources.

Question 21.
Group the following activities into primary, secondary and tertiary activities.
Banking, insurance, dairy, quarrying, mining, communication, education, fishing, poultry farming, agriculture, manufacturing, forestry, tourism and trade.
Answer:

Primary

Secondary

Tertiary

1. Dairy 1. Quarrying 1. Banking
2. Mining 2. Manufacturing 2. Insurance
3. Fishing 3. Communication
4. Poultry Farming 4. Education
5. Agriculture 5. Tourism
6. Forestry 6. Trade

Question 22.
What are the objectives of the Tenth Five Year Plan with reference to education?
Answer:
Following are the main objectives of the Tenth Five Year Plan with reference to education.

  1. The Tenth Five Year Plan endeavoured to increase the enrolment in higher education of the 18 – 23 year age group from the present 6-9 percent, by the end of the plan period.
  2. The Tenth Five Year Plan also focuses on distant education, convergence of formal, non-formal, distant and IT education institutions.
  3. The strategy focus on increasing access, quality, adoption of states-specific curriculum modification, vocationalisation and networking on the use of information technology.

Question 23.
Define unemployment. What are the major types of unemployment prevailing in India?
Answer:
Unemployment is a situation in which a person is willing to work at the prevailing wages, but does not find any gainful work.

  1. Seasonal unemployment
  2. Educated unemployment
  3. Disguised unemployment
  4. Structural unemployment
  5. Technical unemployment.

Question 24.
What are the two types of unemployment which are prevailing in rural areas? Write any four factors responsible for this.
Answer:

  1. Seasonal unemployment and
  2. Disguised unemployment are prevailing in rural areas.

Causes :

  • Lack of diversification of agriculture.
  • Lack of capital.
  • Large families due to overpopulation.
  • Underdevelopment of cottage and small scale industries.

Question 25.
Distinguish between disguised unemployment and educated unemployment.
Answer:
Following are the main differences between disguised and educated unemployment :

Disguised Unemployment

Educated Unemployment

1. Disguised unemployment is that type of unemployment under which people appear to be employed, but they are not. 1. Educated unemployment is that type of unemployment under which people are educated but are unable to find a job.
2. It is mainly found in rural areas. 2. It is mainly found in urban areas.

Question 26.
Explain the employment scenario in the three sectors.
Answer:

  1. Primary sector. In India, agriculture is the most labour absorbing sector of the economy. But it is facing disguised unemployment. It does not have any capacity to absorb more workers. So surplus workers are moving to the secondary and the tertiary sectors.
  2. Secondary sector. In secondary sector, small scale manufacturing is also labour absorbing Industry. Cottage industry should also be set up in rural areas.
  3. Tertiary sector. Tertiary sector is the most important sector which can help in removing the unemployment problem.

Question 27.
What is seasonal unemployment? What are the factor responsible for this unemployment?
Answer:
Seasonal unemployment is that type of unemployment in which a worker is employed during some parts of the year and remains without work during the rest of the year.

Causes

  • Lack of multiple cropping.
  • Lack of small scale and cottage industries in rural areas.
  • Lack of commercialisation of agriculture.

Question 28.
What is disguised unemployment? Explain with the help of an example.
Answer:
Disguised unemployment is a situation in which more workers are working in an activity than required. The people, who are actually engaged in such an activity appear to be employed, but are not fully employed. For example, if for the cultivation of one hectare land 12 workers are required, but instead of 12 workers, 20 workers are working. In this case, 8 workers are disguised unemployed. In such cases, even if the surplus workers are removed the production does not suffer.

PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Chapter 2 Human Resources

Question 29.
Why is human capital the most important factor of production? Give three reasons.
Answer:
Human capital is the most important factor of production because:

  1. Some production activities need literate people.
  2. Some production activities need physical labour.
  3. Human capital has only entrepreneurial ability.

Question 30.
How have countries like Japan become rich and developed? Explain three reasons.
Answer:

  1. They have invested in human capital especially in the field of education and health.
  2. They have efficiently used the other resources like land and physical capital.
  3. They have developed the technology and efficiency.

Long Answer Type Questions

Question 1.
What are the main problems of human capital formation in India?
Answer:
The following are the problems of human capital formation in India :
1. High cost of Human Capital Formation. In India the cost of human capital formation is very high. Due to high pressure of population, government is investing more in human capital but the returns are very low. Government is opening a large number of educational institutions. In this process high cost of human capital formation is creating problems.

2. Low Level of Adult Education and Agricultural Education. Another problem of human capital formation in India is the low level of adult and agricultural education. Adult education is helpful in changing the attitudes of people. There are only few programmes related to agricultural education. These problems resulted in low productivity.

3. Less Priority to Secondary Education. Government gives less priority to secondary education than primary education and the expenditure on primary education is also high which is unproductive. One can get efficiency in technical knowledge after secondary education. This attitude creates problems in human capital formation.

4. Total Stock of Human Capital Formation. India is a developing country, as a result, there remains great demand of human capital formation in every field. But the total stock of human capital formation is less, due to less resources which creates problems in the country.

PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Chapter 2 Human Resources

Question 2.
Explain the role of human capital formation in economic development.
Answer:
Role of Human Capital Formation in Economic Development:
Economic backwardness is the main feature of underdeveloped countries and the main cause for this backwardness is the problem of human capital formation. But the economic development can be achieved by human capital formation.

There are the following advantages of human capital formation in economic development :
1. Increase in the Efficiency of Labour. Economic development can be attained through an increase in the efficiency of labour. The efficiency of labour is increased through human capital formation by investing in education, health, training, etc.

2. Training and Technical Knowledge. It is necessary for the labour to be trained and educated for economic development. Thus through human capital formation, the level of education, technical knowledge, efficiency, and health of the labour can be raised, and hence the path of economic development can be achieved.

3. To Enlarge the size of the Business. The size of a business can be enlarged by efficient entrepreneurs and innovators. An entrepreneur becomes efficient by investment in human capital and this efficiency ultimately leads to economic development.

4. Increase in Production. An increase in production leads to economic development. Human capital formation produces able and efficient persons who increase production.

5. Change in the Religious, Social, Cultural, and Institutional setup. For economic development change in religious, social, cultural, and institutional setup is necessary. These changes are only possible through human capital formation.

6. To Decrease Production Cost. Reduction in the production cost is essential for economic development. Human capital formation helps to decrease the production cost.
Thus the role of human capital formation in economic development is very significant.

PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Chapter 1 Story of a Village

Punjab State Board PSEB 9th Class Social Science Book Solutions Economics Chapter 1 Story of a Village Textbook Exercise Questions and Answers.

PSEB Solutions for Class 9 Social Science Economics Chapter 1 Story of a Village

SST Guide for Class 9 PSEB Story of a Village Textbook Questions and Answers

I. Fill in the Blanks :

Question 1.
Human wants are ___________
Answer:
Unlimited

Question 2.
___________ bears risk.
Answer:
Entrepreneur

Question 3.
___________ is a natural factor of production.
Answer:
Land

Question 4.
To grow more than one crop on a piece of land during a year is known as ___________
Answer:
Multiple cropping

Question 5.
Some labourers who migrate from one state to other state for work are called ___________
Answer:
Migrant Labourers

PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Chapter 1 Story of a Village

Question 6.
Punjab is known as ___________ of country.
Answer:
Food Basket.

II. Multiple Choice Questions :

Question 1.
Which factor of production is immobile?
(a) Land
(b) Labour
(c) Capital
(d) Entrepreneur.
Answer:
(a) Land

Question 2.
Economic activity which is concerned with increasing utility or value of the goods and services is called :
(a) Production
(b) Consumption
(c) Distribution
(d) Labour.
Answer:
(a) Production

Question 3.
Extraordinary increase in agriculture production especially in wheat and rice is called
(a) Green Revolution
(b) Wheat Revolution
(c) Rice Revolution
(d) White Revolution.
Answer:
Green Revolution

PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Chapter 1 Story of a Village

Question 4.
What is the currency of England known ___________ as?
(a) Rupees
(b) Dollar
(c) Yen
(d) Pound.
Answer:
Pound.

III. True/False :

Question 1.
Supply of land is limited.
Answer:
True

Question 2.
Limited wants of human beings are satisfied by unlimited resources.
Answer:
False.

Question 3.
Supply of labour cannot be increased or decreased.
Answer:
False.

Question 4.
Entrepreneur bears risks.
Answer:
True

Question 5.
Work done by machines and animals is called labour.
Answer:
False.

PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Chapter 1 Story of a Village

Question 6.
When price of goods in the market is high then the demand for these goods is also high.
Answer:
False.

IV. Very Short Answer Type Questions :

Question 1.
What is the meaning of economics?
Answer:
Economics is the study of unlimited human wants and the activities done to satisfy these wants through limited resources.

Question 2.
Which is the main productive activity of the villages of India?
Answer:
Farming is the main productive activity of the villages of India.

Question 3.
Name two sources of irrigation in the villages.
Answer:

  1. Tubewells,
  2. Canals.

Question 4.
What is the meaning of labour in Economics?
Answer:
In economics labour means all human efforts, physical as well as mental, done for the sake of monetary gain.

Question 5.
The activity done by a mother while teaching her son is considered labour or not.
Answer:
This activity is not considered as labour because it is not done for the sake of monetary gain.

Question 6.
In what form do the labourers get their wages?
Answer:
The labourers get their wages in form of cash or kind such as rice or wheat.

PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Chapter 1 Story of a Village

Question 7.
Give two non-farm activities done by the villagers of a village.
Answer:
Following are the two non-farm activities :

  1. Dairy,
  2. Poultry farming.

Question 8.
From where do the large and small scale farmers get capital needed for farming?
Answer:
The large farmers get capital needed for farming out of their own savings from farming while small farmers have to take loans on high ratess of interest from the large farmers.

Question 9.
Write any one feature of land.
Answer:
Land is a free gift of nature.

Question 10.
Why do labourers migrate from one state to other state?
Answer:
Labourers migrate from one state to other state in search of work for their livelihood.

Question 11.
Why do farmers burn Stubble?
Answer:
Formers burned stubble after harvest to dispose of the left over straw and to control disease and past problems of the field. They used to improve the health of the field.

V. Short Answer Type Questions:

Question 1.
Why do we study Economics?
Answer:
We study economics because it 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. So by studying economics we can satisfy our unlimited wants with limited and scarce resources.

PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Chapter 1 Story of a Village

Question 2.
What is an economic activity? Give one example.
Answer:
An activity which is carried out by a person to satisfy his unlimited wants by using limited and scarce resources is known as economic activity. This activity is undertaken to earn wealth.
Example : A teacher is teaching in a school.

Question 3.
Explain the difference between economic and non-economic activities.
Answer:
Economic activities are those activities which are concerned with consumption, production, exchange and distribution of wealth.

Non-Economic activities are undertaken for the welfare of a country, family well being, social cause, health, entertainment etc. Economic activities are undertaken to earn wealth but the non-economic activities are undertaken not for earning wealth.

Question 4.
Explain two different ways of increasing production on the same piece of land.
Answer:
To grow more than one crop on a piece of land during a year is known as multiple cropping. It is the most common way of increasing production on a given piece of land. This is possible by electric tubewells and continuous power supply being provided to the farmers.

The other way of increasing production from the same piece of land is by using modem farming methods such as use of high-yielding varieties of seeds, adequate amount of chemical or bio fertilizers, pesticides, improved agricultural implements etc.

Question 5.
What is Multiple cropping? Explain it.
Answer:
To grow more than one crop on a piece of land during a year is known as mulitple cropping. It is the most common way of increasing production on a given piece of land. This is possible by electric tubewells aifd continuous power supply being provided to the farmers. A small water cannal also passes by the fields which provides water for agriculture. With the help of multiple cropping system, the farmers are able to grow three crops in a year. Due to developed irrigation system and good electricity supply, no land is left idle.

PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Chapter 1 Story of a Village

Question 6.
What is Green Revolution? How was it possible?
Answer:
An extraordinary increase in agricultural production especially in wheat and rice is known as Green Revolution. The year 1966-67 was the initial year of Green Revolution. This was made possible due to the adoption of new techniques of HYV seeds, more use of chemical fertilizers, more irrigations facilities etc. Farmers of Punjab, Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh were the first to try out the modern farming methods.

Question 7.
What are the adverse effects of modern farming methods and tube- well irrigation on land?
Answer:
Land being a natural resource, the modern farming methods have reduced its soil fertility. By the use of modern farming methods total crop yield may increase in the initial stage but it will gradually decrease with increased use of chemical fertilizers.

The water level below the ground is reducing by the continuous use of water for irrigation by tubewells. Every year the farmers of Punjab have to dig their tubewells deeper. In these conditions there is a fear of complete loss of water in the next 20 years.

Question 8.
Why do the quality of soil deteriorate due to fuming of agricultural waste in the fields?
Answer:
There is no denying the fact that the quality of soil deteriorate with the burning of agricultural waste in the fields. Actually soil contains many practicles, nutrients and living organisms which are required for the continuity of productivity of soil. If farmers with burn agricultural waste in the fields, all those nutrients, living organisms etc. will also remain no more. It will reduce the feltility of soil and there is a danger of becoming that land into a barren land. So, agricultural waste must not be burnt. Some other way out should be devised you its disposal.

Question 9.
In what way is the land distributed amongst the farmers of a village?
Answer:
In this village, unfortunately not all the people engaged in agriculture have sufficient land for cultivation. Only about 20 families own majority of the land in the village and 100 families own medium size agriculture fields. Some families own very small size fields. There are 50 such families who own no agriculture land at all. They earn their living by working in the fields of other families.

Question 10.
Give two sources of labour for farming in the village.
Answer:
Farmers 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 farm labourers of other states such as Bihar and Uttar Pradesh have also migrated to this village to work in the fields of landlords. These are called migrant labourers.

PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Chapter 1 Story of a Village

Question 11.
What are the main features of labour?
Answer:
The main features of labour are :

  • Labour is the only active factor of production.
  • Supply of labour can be increased or decreased.
  • Labour is available in abundance in India.
  • Labour means all human efforts done for the sake of monetary gain.
  • Labour can be bought or sold.
  • Labour is mobile.

Question 12.
How do the small farmers arrange capital needed for farming?
Answer:
The small farmers arrange capital needed for farming by taking loans on high rates of interest from the large scale farmers or the village money lenders or the traders. Sometimes they have to mortgage their houses or small land holdings to repay the loans. If they are unable to repay the loans, their property is seized. Sometimes they also arrange capital needed for farming from institutional sources.

Question 13.
What do the large-scale farmers do with the surplus farm products?
Answer:
The large-scale farmers sell the surplus farm products in a near by Mandi (market). The large-scale farmers supply crops to the market. They earn a lot by selling a part of these products and use the savings for lending to small farmers who are in need of loan. They also use a part of the savings to arrange for working capital for farming in the next season which increases their fixed capital.

Question 14.
What are the different non-farm activities being carried out in the rural areas of India?
Answer:
The different non-farm activities being carried out in the rural areas of India are dairy, poultry farming, keeping of bees, some families work as carpenters, weavers and some are even running small general stores in their houses. Some families are producing jaggery and sell them to the traders. Some very poor families earn their livelihood by ferrying people and goods from one place to another through rickshaws, tongas, bullock carts etc. At present, the non-farm sector in the village is not very large. Out of every 100 workers in the rural areas in India, only 24 are engaged in non-farm activities.

PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Chapter 1 Story of a Village

Question 15.
What can be done so that non-farm production activities can be started in villages?
Answer:
Non-farm production activities require little land. At present, the non-farm sector in the village is not very large. Out of every 100 workers in the rural areas in India, only 24 are engaged in non-farm activities. People can set up non-farm activities either from their savings or by taking loans. As more villages get connected to towns and cities through good roads, transport and telecommunication, it is possible that the opportunities for non-farm activities in the village would increase in the coming years.

VI. Intext Questions and Answers:

Question 1.
Visit your nearby fields, talk to some farmers and try to find out.
The kind of farming methods that the farmers are using i.e., traditional or modern or both and the reasons for using these methods.
Answer:
In my nearby fields some farmers having low small holding were using traditional methods of farming but some farmers with larger size of holding were also using modern farming methods. Farmers with smaller size of holding were not able to adopt modern methods of farming due to their low income level. On the other hand, farmers with larger size of holding were able to adopt modern methods of farming due to their high level of income.

Question 2.
What are the main sources of irrigation being used in the village?
Answer:
In my village most of the farmers are dependent on rain for irrigating their fields. But some big farmers are using tubewells and pump sets for irrigation.

Question 3.
Kinds of crops sown by the farmers and also the time of sowing and harvesting of these crops.
Answer:
The farmers of my village sow both Kharif and Rabi crops. In Kharif season crops of maize, sunflower and rice are sown and harvested before winter. They sow wheat, barley, gram, mustard in winter and harvest in the month of April.

Question 4.
Name the fertilizers and pesticides used by the farmers.
Answer:
Fertilizers

  • Urea
  • Vermicompost
  • Gypsum

Pesticides

  • Emanectin Benzoate
  • RDX Bio Pesticide
  • Bifenthrin 2.5% EC
  • Star one.

PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Chapter 1 Story of a Village

Question 5.
Visit your village’s field or a near by village’s field and find out whether the farmers are burning the stubble in the filed and if they are doing so then explain to them about the bad consequences of doing so.
Answer:
I visited my near by village’s field and found that farmers were in hury to prepare the field for next crop, specially after harvesting rice crop and before sowing of wheat crop. The farmers were forced to burn the stubble due to non-availability of any quick solution for the management of solid waste. I explained them about the bad consequences of doing so, as burning of stubble leads to serious environment pollution as well as ecological imbalance. Due to increase in temperature of top soil, different kinds of bacteria, fungi, friendly beasts die and important minerals of the soil are destroyed.

Question 6.
Why do farmers with small land holdings have to work in the fields of big landlords as labourers?
Answer:
The farmers with small land holdings have to work in the fields of big land¬lords as labourers because they have to give up their land to big landlords for repayment of their loans taken from the big landlords. So they have to work as labourers in the fields of big landlords to earn their living.

Question 7.
Do the farm labourers get employment for the whole year?
Answer:
No, the farm labourers do not get employment for the whole year. They are employed on a daily basis or for one particular farm activity like harvesting, sowing etc. Thus they are seasonally employed.

Question 8.
In what form do the farm labourers get their wages?
Answer:
The farm labourers get their wages in cash or in kind. For example rice, wheat etc.

Question 9.
Who are migrant labourers?
Answer:
Some farm labourers of other states migrate to the village to work in the fields of landlords. These are called mirgant labourers.

PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Chapter 1 Story of a Village

Question 10.
Why do labourers migrate? Discuss with your teachers.
Answer:
Labourers migrate due to the non-availability of work at their own place of living. We often see some people from other states to come to our place of living in search of work. They are called migrant labourers.

PSEB 9th Class Social Science Guide Story of a Village Important Questions and Answers

Multiple Choice Questions:

Question 1.
Which one is the function of money?
(a) Medium of Exchange
(b) Measure of Value
(c) Store of Wealth
(d) All of the above.
Answer:
(d) All of the above.

Question 2.
Which one is not a part of goods?
(a) Physical
(b) Equilibrium
(c) Perishable
(d) Durable.
Answer:
(b) Equilibrium.

Question 3.
Which one is a reward of Entrepreneur?
(a) Profit
(b) Reject
(e) Wages
(d) Interest.
Answer:
(a) Profit.

PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Chapter 1 Story of a Village

Question 4.
Interest is given for:
(a) Land
(b) Entrepreneurship
(c) Capital
(d) Labour.
Answer:
(c) Capital,

Question 5.
The income received by a firm from selling its product is known as the ___________ of the firm.
(a) Revenue
(b) Utility
(c) Demand
(d) Cost.
Answer:
(a) Revenue.

Question 6.
Scarcity signifies the __________________ of supply relative to demand.
(a) Shortage
(b) More
(c) Equal
(d) None of these.
Answer:
(a) Shortage.

Question 7.
State the formula to calculate Average Income.
(a) \(\frac{\text { Output }}{\text { Total Income }}\)
(b) \(\frac{\text { Total Income}}{\text { Output }}\)
(c) Total Income × Output
(d) None of these.
Answer:
(b) \(\frac{\text { Total Income}}{\text { Output }}\)

Question 8.
Which one is the feature of Perfect Competition?
(a) Homogeneous product
(b) Same price
(c) Perfect knowledge
(d) All of the above.
Answer:
(b) Same price.

Fill in the Blanks:

Question 1.
All those items which fulfill the human wants are called ___________
Answer:
Goods

Question 2.
___________ cost is the overall cost per unit of output.
Answer:
Average

Question 3.
Under Perfect Competition, AR and MR happen to be ___________ to each other.
Answer:
Equal

Question 4.
Factors of production are of types.
Answer:
Four

Question 5.
___________ signifies a market situation in which there is a large number of sellers of a homogeneous product.
Answer:
Perfect Competition

Question 6.
Economic rent is the price paid for the use of ___________
Answer:
Land

Question 7.
___________ signifies the shortage of supply relative to demand.
Answer:
Scarcity

PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Chapter 1 Story of a Village

Question 8.
___________ is a basic unit of production which utilizes Various means of production to produce.
Answer:
Firm

Question 9.
___________ is a market in which there is a single seller.
Answer:
Monopol

Question 10.
___________ is that power of a commodity which statisfies human wants.
Answer:
Utility.

True/False:

Question 1.
Currency of USA is Dollar.
Answer:
True

Question 2.
Teacher teaching his son at home is an economic activity.
Answer:
False

Question 3.
Supply of land is unlimited.
Answer:
False

Question 4.
One acre is equal to 8 kanals.
Answer:
True

PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Chapter 1 Story of a Village

Question 5.
Only 40% of the total cultivated area is irrigated in our country.
Answer:
True

Question 6.
Punjab is a land of five rivers.
Answer:
True

Question 7.
Underground water level in Punjab is increasing.
Answer:
False

Question 8.
In India about 70% of the farms are even less than 2 hectares.
Answer:
True

Question 9.
Labour cannot be bought or sold.
Answer:
False

Question 10.
Capital involves depreciation.
Answer:
True

Very Short Answer Type Questions

Question 1.
Define Utility.
Answer:
Utility may be defined as the want-satisfying power of a commodity.

Question 2.
Define Marginal Utility.
Answer:
Marginal utility is the addition in total utility when one more unit of the commodity is consumed.

PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Chapter 1 Story of a Village

Question 3.
Define Goods.
Answer:
In the words of Marshall, “All those items which fulfil human wants are called Goods in Economics.”

Question 4.
Explain Intermediate Goods and Final Goods.
Answer:
Intermediate goods are those goods which are used in the production of other goods. Final goods are used for consumption.

Question 5.
Define Capital Goods.
Answer:
Those goods which help in the production of other goods are called capital goods e.g., raw material, machinery, etc.

Question 6.
Distinguish between Goods and Services.
Answer:
Those items which can be seen, touched and transferred from one place to another are called goods whereas services cannot be seen, touched and transferred.

Question 7.
Define Wealth.
Answer:
All those goods and services which possess the qualities of utility, scarcity and transferability are called wealth.

Question 8.
Explain the term Scarcity.
Answer:
Scarcity signifies the shortage of supply relative to demand.

PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Chapter 1 Story of a Village

Question 9.
Are BA, degree and Business Goodwill, Wealth?
Answer:

  1. The degree of BA is not wealth because it lacks the attribute of transferability.
  2. Credibility (goodwill) of business is wealth because it possesses all the three attributes of wealth i.e., utility, scarcity and transferability.

Question 10.
Define Money.
Answer:
Money is anything which is generally acceptable as a medium of exchange and acts as a store of value.

Question 11.
What do you mean by the term demand?
Answer:
Demand for anything is the amount of it which a consumer is willing and able to buy at a given price during some specified period of time.

Question 12.
What do you mean by the term Supply?
Answer:
Supply of a commodity is that amount of it which a seller is willing to sell at a given price during some specified period of time.

Question 13.
Define Monetary Cost.
Answer:
Monetary cost signifies that aggregate money expenditure which is incurred on the production of a specified quantity of commodity.

Question 14.
Define Marginal Cost.
Answer:
Marginal cost is the addition in total cost when one more unit of the commodity is produced.

Question 15.
What do you mean by Average Cost?
Answer:
Average cost is the overall cost per unit of output. It can be obtained by dividing the total cost by the corresponding output.

Question 16.
Define Revenue.
Answer:
The income received by a firm from selling its product is known as the revenue of the firm.

PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Chapter 1 Story of a Village

Question 17.
Define Marginal Revenue.
Answer:
Marginal revenue is the addition in total revenue when one more unit of the output is sold.

Question 18.
Define Price.
Answer:
The amount of money paid for a unit of a commodity is called its price.

Question 19.
Explain the relationship between Marginal Revenue and Average Revenue under perfect competition.
Answer:
Under perfect competition, AR and MR happen to be equal to each other.

Question 20.
Explain the relationship between Marginal Revenue and Average Revenue under Monopoly.
Answer:
Under monopoly, AR slopes downward from left to right and MR also slopes downward from left to right and lies below AR.

Question 21.
Define Perfect Competition.
Answer:
Perfect competition signifies a market situation in which there is a large number of sellers of a homogeneous product and price is determined by the industry.

Question 22.
Define Monopoly.
Answer:
It is a market situation in which there is a single seller selling a commodity which has no close substitutes.

PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Chapter 1 Story of a Village

Question 23.
Define Market.
Answer:
By the term ‘market’, we mean the whole of any region in which buyers and sellers are in such a free intercourse with one another that the prices of the same goods tend to equalise, easily and quickly.

Question 24.
What do you understand by factors of production?
Answer:
Those goods or services which help in the production of wealth are called agents or factors of production.

Question 25.
Define Land.
Answer:
By the term land is meant not only land in the strict sense but whole of the material or the other forces which nature gives freely for man’s aid in land and water, in air, light and heat.

Question 26.
What do you mean by Labour?
Answer:
In Economics labour implies all such physical or mental exertion which is undertaken in order to earn income.

Question 27.
Define Capital.
Answer:
In the words of Marshall, “Capital consists of those kinds of wealth, other than the free gifts of nature, which yield income.”

Question 28.
What do you mean by Entrepreneur?
Answer:
An entrepreneur is one who combines other factors of production (Land, Labour and Capital), makes economic decisions and bears risks of business.

PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Chapter 1 Story of a Village

Question 29.
Give traditional definition of Rent.
Answer:
According to the classical economists, rent is the price paid for the use of land.

Question 30.
Give modern definition of Rent.
Answer:
Economic rent is a surplus return to any factor of production whose supply is less than perfectly elastic.

Question 31.
Define Wages.
Answer:
In Economics, wage means the payment or reward to the workers in return for all mental or physical exertions.

Question 32.
What do you mean by Real Wages?
Answer:
Real wage includes money wage and other tangible as well as intangible benefits that accrue to a worker for his services.

Question 33.
What do you mean by Money Wages?
Answer:
Money wages are those which are paid to the workers in terms of money.

Question 34.
Define Interest.
Answer:
Interest is the payment by the borrower to the lender for the use of a sum of money over a specified period of time.

Question 35.
Distinguish between Gross Interest and Net Interest.
Answer:
Gross interest is the total amount received by the owner of capital by way of interest. Net interest, on the other hand, is the payment made to the capitalist purely for the use of capital.

PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Chapter 1 Story of a Village

Question 36.
What do you mean by the term Profit?
Answer:
Profit is the residual payment which is left as the producer’s income after all other payments have been met.

Question 37.
Distinguish between Gross Profit and Net Profit.
Answer:
Gross Profit = Total Revenue – Total Explicit Costs
Net Profit = Total Revenue – Total Costs (Explicit Costs + Implicit Costs)

Question 38.
Define Gross Profit.
Answer:
Gross profit is the amount which an entrepreneur receives when all the expenses of production like rent, wages, interest, expenses on raw material, cost of fuel and power, etc. are deducted out of the total revenues of the firm.

Question 39.
What do you mean by Net Profit?
Answer:
Net profit is the reward or payment purely for the services of an entrepreneur.
Net Profit = Gross Profit – Implicit Cost – Insurance and Depreciation.

Short Answer Type Questions
Answer the following questions within 50-60 words :

Question 1.
Define Utility. Explain its features.
Answer:
Definition of Utility. Utility is that power of a commodity which satisfies human wants.

Features of Utility: Utility has the following features:

  • Utility is Subjective. Utility is subjective because it deals with the mental satisfaction of a man.
  • Utility is Relative. Utility of a commodity is not always consistent. It changes with time, place and individual.
  • Utility differs from usefulness.
  • Utility is not concerned with Good and Bad.

Question 2.
Explain Total Utility and Average Utility with the help of the examples.
Answer:
The total utility is derived from the consumption of different quantities of a commodity. For example, you consume 6 Bananas at one sitting. The sum of the utilities you got from the consumption of these 6 Bananas will be called the total utility.

Average utility is derived by dividing total utility with number of units consumed.
For example, by the consumption of 10 Rasgullas at one sitting a person gets 50 units of utility. Then the average utility will be 5 units.
Average utility = \(\frac{\text { Total utility }}{\text { No. of units consumed }}\)
A.U. = \(\frac{50}{10}\) = 5 units.

Question 3.
Define Goods and give its classification.
Answer:
Definition of Goods. In the words of Dr. Marshall, “Goods are desirable things. All things that satisfy human wants are called goods.”

Classification of Goods. The goods can be classified in the following ways :

  • Public Goods: All those goods which are owned by the government are called public goods such as Roads, Parks, etc.
  • Private Goods: All those goods which are owned by an individual privately are called private goods such as a pen, a shirt, etc.
  • Economic Goods: Economic goods are’ those which are in limited supply, so they command prices.
  • Non-Economic or Free Goods: Free goods are those which are unlimited in supply and which don’t have any price.
  • Consumer Goods: Consumer goods are those which satisfy the consumer’s wants directly.
  • Producer Goods: Producer goods are those goods which help in the production of other goods.
  • Perishable Goods; These are the goods which perish in a short time and can be used only once.
  • Durable Goods: These are the goods which can be used for a long period of time.
  • Intermediate Goods: These goods are purchased for resale.
  • Final Goods: These goods are purchased for final consumption and not for resale.
  • Natural Goods: All those goods which are produced by nature are called natural goods such as land, forest, minerals etc.
  • Man Made Goods: All those goods which are produced by man are called man made goods such as furniture, cloth etc.

PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Chapter 1 Story of a Village

Question 4.
Define Money. What are the main functions of money?
Answer:
Definition of Money. In the words of Crowther, “Anything that is generally accepted as a means of exchange and at the same time acts as a measure and a store of value.”

Functions of Money. The main functions of money are as below :

  1. Medium of Exchange: Every commodity is bought and sold with money.
  2. Measure of value: To measure the value of all goods and services, money is used.
  3. Standard of Deferred Payments: Money also facilitates borrowing and lending.
  4. Store of Value: It is very convenient to store wealth in terms of money.
  5. Transfer of Value: With the help of money it is very easy to transfer wealth from one place to another.

Question 5.
What do you mean by demand? Explain the term demand with the help of a table and a diagram.
Answer:
Meaning of Demand. In the words of Benham, “The demand for anything at a given price is the amount of it which will be bought per unit of time at that price.”

Explanation: The term demand can be explaind with the help of following :
Demand Schedule: Demand schedule is a schedule which establishes a relationship between price and quantity bought.

Demand Schedule

Price (₹)

Quantity Demanded (kg.)

1 40
2 30
3 20
4 10

It is clear from the above table that as the price of the commodity rises, its quantity demanded falls.

Demand Curve is the graphic presentation of demand schedule.
Clearly, when price is Re. 1, quantity demanded is 40 kg. and when price rises to Rs. 4, quantity demanded falls to 10 kg. The demand curve DD slopes downward from left to right which indicates that with the fall in price, quantity demanded rises and with rise in price, quantity demanded decreases.
PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Chapter 1 Story of a Village 1

PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Chapter 1 Story of a Village

Question 6.
Define Supply. Explain the term diagram.
Answer:
Definition of Supply. Supply of a commodity is the amount of it which a seller is willing to sell at a given price during some specified period of time.

In the words of Thomas, “The supply of good is the quantity offered for sale in a given market at a given time at various prices.”

Explanation. The term supply can be explained in the following way :
Supply Schedule. Supply schedule is a schedule which establishes a relationship between price and quantity supplied.

Supply Schedule

Price of X per unit(₹) Quantity Supplied of X (kgs.)
1 0
2 10
3 20
4 30

Clearly with the increase in price of X, quantity supplied of X rises and with the decrease in price, quantity supplied decreases.
PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Chapter 1 Story of a Village 2
Supply Curve. Supply curve is the graphic presentation of supply schedule. In the figure, SS is the supply curve which is positively sloped indicating thereby that when price rises, supply rises and vice-versa.

Question 7.
Define Cost. Explain the concepts of Total Cost, Marginal Cost and Average Cost.
Answer:
Definition of Cost: Cost signifies that aggregate money expenditure which is incurred on the production of a specified quantity of a commodity.

Total Cost: Total cost signifies the total expenditure incurred on the production of a specified quantity of commodity.

Average Cost: Average cost is the overall cost per unit of output.
Average Cost = \(\frac{\text { Total cost }}{\text { No. of units of output }}\)

Marginal Cost. Marginal cost is the addition in total cost when one more unit of the commodity is produced. Thus MCn = TCn – TCn-1
MCn = Marginal cost of nth unit
TCn = Total cost of n units
TCn-1 = Total cost of (n – 1)th unit.

PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Chapter 1 Story of a Village

Question 8.
Define Revenue. Explain Total Revenue, Marginal Revenue, and Average Revenue.
Answer:
Definition of Revenue. In the words of Dooley, “The revenue of a firm is its sales, receipts or income.”
Total Revenue. The whole income received by the seller from selling a given amount of the product is called total revenue.
Marginal Revenue. Marginal revenue is the addition in total revenue when one more unit of the product is sold. In other words :
MRn = TRn – TRn-1
MRn = Marginal revenue of nth unit
TRn = Total revenue of n units
TRn-1 = Total revenue of (n – 1) units.

Average Revenue: Average revenue is nothing but the per unit revenue.
Average Revenue = \(\frac{\text { Total revenue }}{\text { Total output sold }}\)

Question 9.
Define Firm. Explain the functions of a firm as a Producer.
Answer:
Definition of Firm. In the words of Watson, “A firm is a unit engaged in the production for sale at a profit and with the objective of maximizing the profit.”

Functions of Firm as a Producer. As a producer, firm produces and sells goods and services. A firm tries to minimise its production cost and hence intends to get maximum profits. As a producer, firm and entrepreneur may be used interchangeably. All the major decisions are taken by the entrepreneur.

Question 10.
Define Market. What are the main features of Market?
Answer:
Definition of Market. According to Cournot, “Economists understand by the term ‘Market’ not any particular market place in which things are bought and sold, but the whole of any region in which buyers and sellers are in such a free intercourse with one another that the prices of the same goods tend to equalise easily and quickly.”

Features of Market: The main features of market are as follow :

  1. Region. Market, in Economics, does not refer to a particular place, rather it refers to the whole of the region where buyers and sellers are in contact with one another and exchange the goods and the services.
  2. One Commodity. There is a certain commodity which has to be transacted between the buyers and sellers.
  3. Buyers and Sellers. Both buyers and sellers are important and integral parts of a market.
  4. Free Competition. There should be free competition among the buyers and sellers in a market.
  5. Tendency towards the same price. As the buyers and sellers are in free competition with one another, the price of a commodity tends to be the same over the whole of the region.

PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Chapter 1 Story of a Village

Question 11.
What do you understand by the term Equilibrium? Explain its features.
Answer:
Meaning of Equilibrium. Equilibrium is a state in which forces making for change in opposing directions are perfectly in balance so that there is no tendency to change.

Features: State of equilibrium is marked by the following features :

  1. The opposing forces e.g., demand and supply are equal to each other.
  2. No tendency towards change.
  3. Economic units are either getting maximum profits or incurring minimum losses.
  4. Equilibrium is a tendency.
  5. Equilibrium has nothing to do with morality.

Question 12.
Define perfect competition. Explain its features.
Answer:
Definition of Perfect Competition. Perfect competition signifies a market situation in which there is a large number of buyers and sellers of a homogeneous product. Firm under perfect competition is a price-taker and not a price-maker.

Features of Perfect Competition: Perfect competition is characterised by the following features :

  • Large number of buyers and sellers.
  • Homogeneous Product.
  • Perfect knowledge.
  • Freedom of entry and exit of firms.
  • Same price.
  • Perfect mobility of factors of production.
  • Absence of selling and transport costs.
  • Same Average and Marginal Revenue.

Question 13.
Define Monopoly. Explain its features.
Answer:
Definition of Monopoly. Monopoly signifies a market situation in which there is a single seller of a particular product.

Features of Monopoly: The monopoly market has the following main features :

  • Single seller and large number of buyers.
  • Restriction upon entry of new firms.
  • No close substitutes.
  • Control over price.
  • Different Average and Marginal Revenue curves.

Question 14.
What are the economic activities? What are their major types?
Answer:
Meaning of Economic Activities. Economic activities are those activities which are related with the consumption, production, exchange and distribution of wealth. Earning of money income is the basic objective of all economic activities.

Kinds or Types of Economic Activities: Prof. Boulding has divided economic activities into following parts :

  1. Consumption. Consumption is one of the basic economic activities. Consumption is the direct and final use of goods and services in satisfying the wants of human beings.
  2. Production. The process of creating utility or increase in utility is called as production.
  3. Exchange. Exchange is that economic activity which is related with the sale and purchase of commodities.
  4. Distribution. Distribution is concerned with the determination of the prices of factors of production.

PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Chapter 1 Story of a Village

Question 15.
Distinguish between economic activities and non-economic activities.
Answer:
Any activity undertaken with a view to earn income is called economic activity. On the contrary, if the same activity is undertaken for the sake of entertainment or from religious point of view or with a view to serve the nation or on account of affection, love, sacrifice or sympathy then it will be called non-economic activity.

Question 16.
Define Land. What are its main features?
Answer:
Definition of Land. Land is a factor which is freely available from nature. Main Features of Land.

The main features of land are as follow :

  1. Supply of land is fixed.
  2. Land is a primary factor of production.
  3. Land is immobile.
  4. Land differs infertility.
  5. Land is limited.
  6. Value of land depends upon its fertility.
  7. Land is a free gift of nature.

Question 17.
Define Labour. What are its main features?
Answer:
Meaning of Labour. In Economics, labour implies all such physical or mental exertion which is undertaken in order to earn income.

Features of Labour:
Labour has the following features :

  • Labour differs inefficiency.
  • Labour is mobile.
  • Labour is human factor which is an active factor.
  • Labourer sells his labour and himself.
  • Labour is perishable.

Question 18.
Define Capital. What are its main features?
Answer:
Definition of Capital. Capital is that part of wealth which yields income and is helpful in production e.g. Machines, fertilizers, seeds and tractors, etc.

Characteristics of Capital: Main features of capital are as follow :

  1. Capital is a passive factor of production.
  2. Capital is productive.
  3. Capital is highly mobile.
  4. Capital is man-made.
  5. Capital is depreciated with use.
  6. Capital is stored up labour.
  7. Supply of capital can be varied.

PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Chapter 1 Story of a Village

Question 19.
Explain the term entrepreneur. Discuss its functions.
Answer:
An entrepreneur is a person who starts a business, exercises control over it, makes innovations, undertakes risk and takes upon himself the responsibility of profit or loss. That is why he is rightly called as the captain of industry.

Functions of an entrepreneur :

  1. To prepare a plan of production.
  2. Scale of production.
  3. Ideal proportion of factors of production.
  4. Decision regarding the location of production unit.
  5. Selection of item.
  6. Distribution of reward.
  7. Risk-bearing.

Question 20.
What do you mean by Rent?
Answer:
Meaning of Rent. According to Prof. Caver, “Rent is the price paid for the use of land only.” However, according to the modern economists, rent is not associated with land a/one.According to the them, rent is the difference between the actual earning and transfer earning of a factor. In other words,
Rent = Actual Earning – Transfer Earning.

Question 21.
Define Wages. Distinguish between Real wages and Nominal wages.
Answer:
Definition of Wages. In Economics, wages mean the payment or reward given to the workers in return for all mental or physical exertions.

Nominal or Money wages. Money wages refer to the amount of wages paid in terms of money. Money wages may be given daily, weekly, fortnightly or monthly.

Real wages. Wages received by a worker in the form of goods and services can be regarded as real wages. In other words,
Real wages = Money wages + other facilities

Question 22.
Define Interest. Distinguish between Gross Interest and Net Interest.
Answer:
Definition of Interest. Interest is the payment by the borrower to the lender for the use of a sum of money over a specified period of time.

Gross Interest. Gross interest is the total amount received by the owner of capital by way of interest.
Net Interest. Net interest is the payment made to the capitalist purely for the use of capital (or money). In the words of Chapman, “Net interest is the payment for the loan of capital, when no risk, no inconvenience and no work is entailed on lender.”

PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Chapter 1 Story of a Village

Question 23.
What do you mean by Profit? Distinguish between Gross Profit and Net Profit.
Answer:
Meaning of Profit. Profit is the reward which an entrepreneur gets for bearing the risk of business.

Distinction Between Gross Profit and Net Profit:
The surplus, which we get after deducting explicit costs out of total revenues of the firm, is called gross profit. Similarly, the surplus left after deducting both explicit and implicit costs out of total revenues of the firm is called net profit. In other words,
Gross Profit = Total Revenue – Explicit Costs
Net Profit = Total Revenue – (Explicit Costs + Implicit Costs)
Or
Net Profit = Gross Profit – Implicit Cost – Insurance and depreciation.

Question 24.
Explain the standard unit of measuring land in Punjab.
Answer:
In Punjab the standard unit of measuring land is hectare. One hectare is equal to the area of half acre. One acre is equal to 8 kanals, one kanal is equal to 20 marlas and one maria is equal to 25 sq. yards. In other Indian villages, local units such a bigha, guintha etc. area also in use.

Question 25.
What is the situtation of irrigation in India and Punjab? Explain in brief.
Answer:
Not all villages in India have such high levels of irrigation. Coastal regions in our country are well irrigated due to heavy rains. Plateau regions have low levels of irrigation. Only 40 per cent of the total cultivated area is irrigated in our country. Even today, farming is largely dependent on rainfall. Punjab, being a land of five rivers, irrigation through canals, tubewells and pumping sets is commonly being used.

Long Answer Type Questions

Question 1.
What is market? Give main bases of distribution of market.
Answer:
Market. Market is that whole area where buyers arid sellers come in close contact. Basis of classification of market. Market can be divided in following parts :

  1. Perfect competitive
  2. Monopoly
  3. Monopolistic competition.

Following are the basis of this distribution :
1. Number of buyers and sellers in Market. If number of purchasers and sellers is very high in the market then it is market of perfect competition or monopolistic competition. But in monopolistic competition number of sellers remains less than perfect competition. If there is only sellers of commodity in market and number of buyers is high then it will monopolistic market. If there are little (some) sellers of commodity then it will oligopolistic market.

2. Nature of Commodity. If commodity selling in market is same or homogeneous then it will be position of perfect competitive market, and product differentiation in its opposition is considered the base of monopolistic competition.

3. Degree of Price control. If a firm has full control on the price of selling commodity in market then it will be monopolistic. If control is partial then it will be monopolistic competition and its control is zero then it will be perfect competition.

4. Knowledge of the Market. If sellers and purchasers have full knowledge of situation of market then it will be perfect competition. In its opposite imperfect knowledge is speciality of monopoly and monopolistic competition.

5. Mobility of Factors. Production factors have full mobility in situation of perfect competition. But mobility of factors is general in other forms of market.

PSEB 9th Class SST Solutions Economics Chapter 1 Story of a Village

Question 2.
Define money. Explain its main functions.
Answer:
Money is any commodity a metal or even piece of paper which is generally acceptable by people as a medium of exchange, a measure of value, store of value, and transfer of value.

The function of money: The following are the functions of money:

  1. Money as a medium of exchange. Goods and services are exchanged with money. So money acts as a medium of exchange.
  2. Measurement of value. The price of the goods and services is fixed in terms of money. So money measures the value of any commodity and service.
  3. Store of wealth. Money acts as a store of wealth. In the barter system, it was very difficult to store perishable goods. But now money has solved this problem.
  4. Standard of deferred payment. If we want to repay our loan we can return it in money term. So money acts as a standard of deferred payment.
  5. Transfer of value. Money can transfer value from one place to another.
  6. Money also acts as a unit of account, basis of credit, measurement of productivity, measurement of utility, basis of the income distribution, and as a liquid form of wealth.