Class 12 Economics (Indian Economic Development) Chapter 6 Employment: Growth, Informalisation and Other Issues

Key Concept: Data Sources

c) NITI Aayog

[Solution Description] The sources of unemployment data in India include the Census of India, National Statistical Office, Periodic Labour Force Survey, and Directorate General of Employment and Training. Therefore, NITI Aayog is not a source of unemployment data.

Key Concept: Employment Programs

d) MGNREGA

[Solution Description] The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) is an Indian labor law and social security measure that aims to guarantee the ‘right to work.’ It provides at least 100 days of wage employment in a financial year to every rural household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work.

Key Concept: Urban Employment

b) 20%

[Solution Description] According to the syllabus, the service sector provides employment to about 20% of rural workers.

Key Concept: Scenario Analysis

d) Seasonal Unemployment

[Solution Description] This scenario represents seasonal unemployment as the workers are employed based on seasonal demand at tourist destinations and return to their hometowns when the tourist season ends.

Key Concept: Gender in Sectors

a) Primary

[Solution Description] In India, traditionally, women have had greater representation in the primary sector, particularly in agriculture-related activities. This is largely due to socio-cultural factors and the prevalence of subsistence farming.

Key Concept: Gender Participation

c) 18

[Solution Description] According to data on gender participation in rural areas, typically fewer women than men are engaged in the employment market. Commonly cited statistics for this context show that out of every 100 men, about 18 women participate.

Key Concept: Employment Categories

c) Self-employed

[Solution Description] A person running their own business, such as a vegetable shop, is considered self-employed because they own and operate an enterprise to earn their livelihood.

Key Concept: Government Employment Programs

c) To generate employment and alleviate poverty

[Solution Description] Government employment programs are aimed at generating employment and alleviating poverty.

Key Concept: Simple Cause and Effect

d) Economic recession and public disturbances.

[Solution Description] The closure of textile mills in Ahmedabad led to economic recession and public disturbances due to the loss of jobs for many workers, affecting their livelihood and stability.

Key Concept: Sectoral Shifts

d) Services

[Solution Description] Over the past two decades, there has been a notable shift from agriculture to other sectors such as services and manufacturing. The service sector has seen the most significant growth in workforce participation. This is due to rapid economic development and increased demand for service-based roles.

Key Concept: Trends in Employment Patterns

c) Increase in service sector employment

[Solution Description] A significant trend observed during the period 1972–2018 was the increase in employment within the service sector. Over these years, there has been a gradual shift from agriculture and manufacturing to services due to various economic and technological advancements.

Key Concept: Gender Participation Gap

a) Emphasis on women’s role in household duties

[Solution Description] Societal norms such as gender roles can restrict women’s availability for work outside the home, leading to lower participation in formal employment sectors.

Key Concept: Gender Gap Analysis

b) 2%

[Solution Description]

From the syllabus content, it mentions that 23% of men and 21% of women are engaged in regular salaried employment. The gender gap can be calculated by subtracting the percentage of women from the percentage of men:

$23% – 21% = 2%$

Hence, the gender gap between men and women in regular salaried employment is 2%.

Key Concept: Major Employer

b) Public sector

[Solution Description] In India, the public sector acts as the major employer in the formal sector due to its extensive network of government jobs and services.

Key Concept: Contextual Analysis

c) They lack job security and benefits

[Solution Description] Casual wage laborers are often seen as vulnerable because they lack job security and benefits such as health insurance or retirement plans that regular employees might have. This vulnerability arises from their temporary nature of employment, irregular hours, and dependency on daily wages without long-term commitments from employers.

Key Concept: Basic Characteristics

b) Surplus labor

[Solution Description] A basic characteristic of disguised unemployment is the involvement of surplus labor, typically seen in agriculture, which leads to low productivity.

Key Concept: Basic Characteristics

a) Seasonal unemployment

[Solution Description] Seasonal unemployment is common during off-seasons in agriculture when demand for labor is lower.

Key Concept: Rural vs. Urban

a) Rural areas

[Solution Description]

Employment in the primary sector, which includes agriculture and related activities, is more common in rural areas. This is due to the availability of natural resources like land and water, and the traditional reliance on agriculture.

Key Concept: Analytical Reasoning

b) Greater reliance on manual labor

[Solution Description] In rural areas, economic activities often rely less on technology and more on labor-intensive work. This can lead to a higher need for human resources compared to urban areas where technological advancements may reduce the demand for workers. Additionally, limited educational opportunities might push more people into the workforce at an earlier age in rural areas.

Key Concept: Definition Check

c) All engaged in economic activities

[Solution Description] According to the definition in the syllabus, a worker includes all individuals engaged in economic activities that contribute to the gross national product.

Key Concept: Government Role

b) Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act

[Solution Description] The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) was introduced by the government to provide enhanced livelihood security to rural households by guaranteeing at least 100 days of wage employment in a financial year.

Key Concept: Sectoral Employment

c) Service sector

[Solution Description] Recent trends show a shift from reliance on the primary sector, like agriculture, to increasing employment in secondary and service sectors, such as manufacturing and IT services.

Key Concept: Definition of Work

b) Cooking

[Solution Description] Traditional definitions may not recognize household chores such as cooking, despite their significant economic value.

Key Concept: Sectoral Shift Analysis

c) Tertiary

[Solution Description] The tertiary sector has experienced significant growth in urban areas due to increased demand for services such as IT, finance, and retail. This shift corresponds with global trends of urbanization and economic development focusing on service industries.

Key Concept: Casual Wage Labourers

b) 25%

[Solution Description] According to available data, casual wage labourers make up approximately 25% of India’s workforce. This includes individuals who work on a day-to-day basis without any long-term contract.

Key Concept: Sector Shift

a) Primary sector

[Solution Description] Government initiatives such as MGNREGA are primarily focused on rural development and employment generation in the primary sector, which includes agriculture and other related activities. These programs aim to reduce dependency on urban migration by creating more jobs within rural settings, thereby increasing employment in the primary sector.

Key Concept: Sector Shift

a) From primary to secondary and tertiary sectors

[Solution Description] Economic development typically results in a shift from agriculture (primary sector) to industry and services (secondary and tertiary sectors). Initially, most of the workforce is engaged in agriculture. As development progresses, industries and service sectors start growing, providing more employment opportunities. Eventually, a larger portion of the workforce moves to these sectors, leaving fewer workers in agriculture.

Key Concept: Sector Shift

c) Tertiary sector

[Solution Description] As economies develop, there is often a shift from primary sectors such as agriculture to secondary and tertiary sectors. The notable increase is typically seen in the service or tertiary sector due to industrialization and technological advancements.

Key Concept: Definition Recall

c) Regular salaried jobs

[Solution Description] Regular salaried jobs provide employees with a fixed, stable income at periodic intervals such as monthly payments. This provides economic security compared to other types like casual wage labour or self-employment.

Key Concept: Casualisation of Workforce

b) Shift from self-employment to casual wage work

[Solution Description] Casualisation refers to the increasing trend towards informal or casual employment. More workers are moving from formal, permanent jobs to those with less security and benefits, such as temporary or part-time positions, indicating a shift towards a more informal economy.

Key Concept: Definition Recall

c) Lacks social security benefits

[Solution Description] Employment in the informal sector is generally not regulated by the government, lacks social security benefits, and does not provide regular income or job security.

Key Concept: Impact of Seasonal Work

c) It causes economic instability

[Solution Description] Rural areas face economic instability due to seasonal unemployment. During off-seasons, many people have reduced income, which impacts local economies and can increase migration to urban areas for finding temporary work.

Key Concept: Sectoral Shift Analysis

a) Primary

[Solution Description] As economies develop, they often transition from being primarily agrarian to industrial and then to service-based. This results in a decline in the proportion of the workforce employed in the primary sector.

Key Concept: Sectoral Shift

a) Primary

[Solution Description] When an economy shifts towards industrial activities, the primary sector or agriculture tends to lose its share of total employment first. The transformation involves moving people from farming into manufacturing and services.

Key Concept: Urban Employment

b) Expansion of trade, transport, and other services.

[Solution Description] The dominance of the service sector in urban areas is largely attributed to the expansion of trade, transport, storage, and various services that thrive in urban settings where infrastructure supports such activities. This leads to about 60% of the workforce being employed in the service sector in cities.

Key Concept: Definition Recall

b) Unemployment where individuals are actively seeking work

[Solution Description] Open unemployment is a situation where individuals are actively seeking work but are unable to find employment.

Key Concept: Urban vs Rural Employment

b) Regular salaried employees

[Solution Description] In urban areas, regular salaried employees are more common due to the higher concentration of offices and formal sector jobs as compared to rural areas where self-employment and casual labour might be more prevalent.

Key Concept: Gender Roles in Employment

c) Traditional gender roles within families

[Solution Description] Many families prefer women to stay at home due to traditional gender roles which view men as the primary breadwinners, and there’s also a cultural emphasis on women managing household responsibilities.

Key Concept: Employment Sectors

c) Service

[Solution Description] There has been a significant shift towards the service sector for new job creation due to factors like urbanization and technological advancements.

Key Concept: Indirect Employment

b) Private companies purchasing steel

[Solution Description] Indirect employment generation occurs when activities initiated by the government lead to additional job opportunities in related private sectors. An increase in output from a government-owned steel company can lead to increased demand for steel by private companies that purchase steel, hence generating more employment in those purchasing companies.

Key Concept: Basic Concepts

b) By contributing to national income

[Solution Description] Employment contributes primarily by increasing the national income, as employed individuals generate goods and services that add value to the economy.

Key Concept: Scheme Purpose

c) Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act

[Solution Description] The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005 aims to enhance livelihood security by providing at least 100 days of guaranteed wage employment in a financial year to every rural household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work.

Key Concept: Definition Recall

c) No social benefits

[Solution Description] Workers in the informal sector typically lack job security, meaning they do not have long-term contracts or guarantees of continued employment.

Key Concept: Definition Recall

a) Formal sector

[Solution Description] The formal sector is known for providing social security benefits as part of the employment package, which commonly includes aspects such as pensions and health insurance. In contrast, the informal sector typically lacks these provisions.

Key Concept: Gender Employment

b) 57.1%

[Solution Description] A significant portion of the female workforce in India is employed in agriculture due to traditional roles and economic opportunities. According to recent statistics, approximately 57.1% of the female workforce is involved in this sector.

Key Concept: Basic Calculation

d) 33.33%

[Solution Description] To calculate the worker-population ratio:

$\text{Worker-Population Ratio} = \left( \frac{\text{Total number of workers}}{\text{Total population}} \right) \times 100 = \left( \frac{300}{900} \right) \times 100 = 33.33%$

Therefore, the worker-population ratio is 33.33%.

Key Concept: Worker Definition

b) A person working at a factory

[Solution Description] An individual who contributes to economic activities is typically engaged in work that adds value to the economy and is included in the Gross National Product (GNP). Here, working in a factory involves production that contributes directly to the GNP.

Key Concept: Basic Statistics

d) Over 90%

[Solution Description] Typically, a significant portion of the Indian workforce, often over 90%, is employed in the informal sector, due to historical trends and socio-economic factors.

Key Concept: Casualisation

c) It promotes a shift from self-employment to casual wage labourers

[Solution Description] Casualisation affects employment status by increasing the proportion of workers engaged in temporary or irregular employment arrangements, often at the expense of traditional self-employment or permanent salaried positions. This trend can lead to less job security and fewer benefits for workers as they are more likely to be employed on a short-term basis without long-term contracts.

Key Concept: Gender Employment

a) Primary Sector

[Solution Description] Traditionally, most female workers in India have been employed in the primary sector, particularly agriculture, due to cultural and economic reasons.

Key Concept: Source of Data

b) National Statistical Office

[Solution Description] The National Statistical Office (NSO) conducts the Periodic Labour Force Survey, which provides comprehensive data on employment and unemployment in India.

Key Concept: Quality of Employment

c) Regular salaried employment

[Solution Description] Regular salaried employment typically offers greater job security, fixed working hours, and additional benefits such as health insurance and retirement plans, compared to casual labor or self-employment.

Key Concept: Employment Status

c) 52%

[Solution Description] According to the data for the year 2017-18, the self-employed category constituted a significant portion of India’s workforce. This includes those engaged in their own business or working independently.

Key Concept: Employment Programs

c) Enhancing rural livelihood security

[Solution Description] The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) aims to enhance livelihood security by providing at least 100 days of wage employment in a financial year to every rural household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work.

Key Concept: Basic Cause and Effect

b) Jobless growth

[Solution Description]

Rapid GDP growth without matching employment growth often leads to jobless growth, where economic prosperity does not translate into increased job opportunities for the populace.

Key Concept: Rural vs Urban Employment

b) Because of independent farming

[Solution Description] In rural areas, self-employment is more prevalent due to independent farming, which is a primary occupation for many individuals.

Key Concept: Definition Recall

a) Engaging in economic activities that contribute to the gross national product

[Solution Description] Employment is defined as engaging in economic activities that contribute to the gross national product.

Key Concept: Workforce Shift

a) Primary

[Solution Description] The primary sector typically sees a reduction in workforce share as economies develop. Initially, the majority of workers are engaged in agriculture and related activities. Over time, as the secondary and tertiary sectors grow, these become more attractive due to higher wages and better working conditions.

Key Concept: Employment Trends

c) Service

[Solution Description] The service sector is known for providing numerous job opportunities in informal settings due to its nature of work which doesn’t always require formal contracts or long-term commitments. This has been a trend in recent years as economies grow and diversify.

Key Concept: Gender Participation

c) 23%

[Solution Description] According to the syllabus information on gender distribution in the workforce, women constitute 23% of the workforce in India.