Class 9

1. Core Concept: People as a Resource

• Definition: "People as Resource" refers to a country's working population in terms of their existing productive skills and abilities.
• Human Capital: This occurs when investments are made in the population through education, training, and medical care. It is the stock of skill and productive knowledge embodied in people.
• Human Capital Formation: This is the process of further developing human resources by making them more educated and healthy, which adds to a country's productive power similar to physical capital formation.
• Superiority of Human Resource: Human capital is superior to other resources like land and physical capital because it can make use of them; land and capital cannot become useful on their own.

2. Investment and Productivity

Investment in human capital yields a return similar to physical capital, manifesting in higher incomes due to increased productivity.

• Cycles of Development: Educated parents often create a virtuous cycle by investing heavily in their children's education and health. Conversely, disadvantaged parents may create a vicious cycle where children remain similarly disadvantaged.

3. Economic Activities: Sectors and Division

Economic activities add value to national income and are classified into three sectors:

• Primary Sector: Agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, fishing, poultry farming, mining, and quarrying.
• Secondary Sector: Manufacturing.
• Tertiary Sector: Trade, transport, communication, banking, education, health, tourism, and insurance. Market vs. Non-Market Activities:
• Market Activities: Performed for pay or profit, including production of goods/services and government service.
• Non-Market Activities: Production for self-consumption, such as processing primary products or own-account production of fixed assets.

4. Quality of Population: Education and Health

The growth rate of a country is determined by the quality of its population, specifically literacy rates, health (life expectancy), and skill formation

A. Education

• Trends: Literacy rates in India increased from 18% in 1951 to 85% in 2018.
• Disparities: Literacy is higher in males (by ~16.1% over females) and in urban areas (by ~14.2% over rural areas).
• Government Initiatives:
  • Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan / Samagra Shiksha: Aims for universal elementary education.
  • Mid-day Meal Scheme: Implemented to improve nutritional status and encourage school attendance.
  • Expenditure: Education expenditure as a percentage of GDP rose from 0.64% in 1951-52 to 3.1% in 2019-20.

B. Health

• Infrastructure Improvement: India has developed a vast health infrastructure at primary, secondary, and tertiary levels.
• Key Health Indicators (2020-2021 Data):
  • Life Expectancy: Increased to over 67.2 years.
  • Infant Mortality Rate (IMR): Dropped from 147 in 1951 to 28 in 2020.
  • Birth Rate: Dropped to 20.0.
  • Death Rate: Dropped to 6.

5. Unemployment: Types and Impacts

Unemployment exists when people willing to work at going wages cannot find jobs

• Rural Unemployment:
  • Seasonal: Occurs when people cannot find work during certain months of the year (common in agriculture).
  • Disguised: When more people are engaged in an activity than required, meaning their marginal productivity is zero.
• Urban Unemployment: Characterized by educated unemployment, where individuals with degrees are unable to find gainful employment. Consequences of Unemployment:
• Leads to wastage of manpower resources.
• Turns a potential asset into a liability.
• Increases economic overload as the dependent population grows.
• Adversely affects the quality of life and leads to a decline in health status.

6. Sectoral Employment Trends

• Agriculture: Historically the most labour-absorbing sector, though dependence is declining due to disguised unemployment.
• Secondary Sector: Small-scale manufacturing is significantly labour-absorbing.
• Tertiary Sector: New services like Information Technology (IT) and biotechnology are creating modern employment opportunities.