Employment: Growth, Informalisation and Other Issues Class 12 Important Extra Questions Economics Chapter 7

Here we are providing Online Education Class 12 Economics Important Extra Questions and Answers Chapter 7 Employment: Growth, Informalisation and Other Issues. Economics Class 12 Important Questions are the best resource for students which helps in class 12 board exams.

Online Education for Class 12 Economics Chapter 7 Important Extra Questions Employment: Growth, Informalisation and Other Issues

Employment: Growth, Informalisation and Other Issues Important Extra Questions Very Short Answer Type

Question 1.
Define employment.
Answer:
Employment is a situation in which a person, who is able and willing to work at existing wage, gets work.

Question 2.
Who are workers?
Answer:
Workers are those who are engaged in economic activities and contribute to the Gross National Product.

Question 3.
Give the formula for calculating worker-population ratio.
Answer:
Worker-population ratio is calculated as:
\(\frac{\text { Total Number of Workers }}{\text { Total Population }} \times 100\)

Question 4.
What is the share of women in rural workforce.
Answer:
Women workers constitute one-third of the rural workforce.

Question 5.
Name different types of workers.
Answer:
The different types of workers are:
(i) Regular salaried employees
(ii) Casual workers
(iii) Self-employed

Question 6.
Why is the share of self-employed is greater in rural areas?
Answer:
The share of self-employed is greater in rural areas because majority of those depending on farming own plots of land and cultivate independently.

Question 7.
Give the distribution of workforce by industry in rural areas.
Answer:
The distribution of workforce by industry in rural areas during 201 I -12 is as below:
(i) Primary sector – 64.1 percent
(ii) Secondary sector – 20.4 percent
(iii) Tertiary sector – 15.5 percent

Question 8.
When does jobless growth take place?
Answer:
Jobless growth takes place when a country produces more goods and services without generating employment.

Question 9.
Define casualisation of workforce.
Answer:
Casualisation of workforce means movement from self-employment and regular salaried employment to casual wage work.

Question 10.
Which of these are unorganised sector activities?
(i) A teacher
(ii) A headload worker
(iii) A farmer
(iv) A doctor
(v) A daily wage labourer
(vi) A factory worker
Answer:
The headload worker, farmer, daily wage labourer and factory worker are involved in unorganised sector activities.

Question 11.
Define unemployment.
Answer:
Unemployment is a situation in which the person who is willing to work at the prevailing wages is unable to find jobs.

Question 12.
Suggest one way to resolve the problem of underemployment in rural areas.
Answer:
Government can identify, promote and locate industries in semi-rural areas to generate employment opportunities.

Question 13.
State the objective of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005.
Answer:
The objective of the NREGA 2005 is to provide 100 days of guaranteed wage employment to all rural households who volunteer to do unskilled manual work.

Employment: Growth, Informalisation and Other Issues Important Extra Questions Short Answer Type

Question 1.
Why is it important to study about working people?
Answer:
It is important to study about working people to:
(i) understand the quality and nature of employment in our country;
(ii) facilitate planning of our human resources; .
(iii) analyse the contribution of different industries and sectors towards national income; and
(iv) address social issues such as exploitation of backward sections of the society, child labour, etc.

Question 2.
Why are women employed in low paid work?
Answer:
Women are employed in low paid work due to the following reasons:
(i) There is division of labour between men and women due to historical and cultural reasons.
(ii) Literacy rate and skill formation is low among women.
(iii) Legal protection of women employees is meager.
(iv) Most women find jobs in which there is no job security.

Gender →	Male	Female	Total
Sector ↓	Male	Female	Total
Formal	24	6	30
Informal	310	133	443
Total	334	139	473

Out of 473 million workers in the country, about 30 million workers are engaged in the formal sector and 443 million workers are engaged in informal sector. Hence, workers in the formal sector constitutes only six percent of the total workforce. Of these 30 million formal sector workers, only 6 million, that is, only about 21 percent are women and 79 percent are men. In the informal sector, female and male workers account for 31 and 69 percent of the workforce respectively.

Question 3.
Explain the employment of people in various industries and their status.
Answer:
(i) There has been substantial shift from agriculture to industries and service sector. Although primary sector continues to remain the main source of employment of workers over the last six decades, its share has decreased from 74 percent in 1951 to 49 percent in 2012.

With the process of development in the country, the share of employment is increasing in secondary and tertiary sectors. The share of industries has increased from 11 to 24 percent and that of service sector has increased from 15 to 27 percent during 1950-2012.

(ii) The changes in the distribution of workforce in different status over the last four decades indicate that people have moved from self-employment and regular salaried employment to casual wage work.

Question 4.
Compare the employment conditions prevailing in the organised and unorganised sectors.
Answer:
Comparison between Organised Sector and Unorganised Sector

Basis of Comparison	Organised Sector	Unorganised Sector
Number of Workers	This sector employs 10 or more hired workers.	This sector employs less than 10 hired workers.
Payment	Workers get monthly salary on regular basis.	Workers get wages on daily basis.
Additional Benefits	Workers get additional benefits such as leaves, medical benefits, provident fund, gratuity, etc.	Workers do not get any additional benefits.
Working Hours	The number of working hours is fixed.	The number of working hours is not fixed.
Job Security	Workers enjoy job security. They cannot be laid off as and when the employer wants, There are certain rules and regulations.	Workers do not enjoy job security. They can be laid off anytime by the employer. No rules and regulations are followed in this sector.

Question 5.
Workers are exploited in the unorganised sector. Do you agree with this view? Give reasons in support of your answer.
Answer:
Unorganised sector comprises of small and scattered units, which are largely outside the control of the government. Workers in the unorganised sector are often exploited because of the following reasons:

No rules and regulations
Irregular and low-paid jobs
No provision for overtime, leaves, etc.
No job security
Social discrimination

Question 6.
What is meant by disguised unemployment? Explain giving an example.
Answer:
In disguised unemployment, more than required persons are engaged in a job. People appear to be employed but they are actually unemployed. This type of unemployment usually happens among family members engaged in agricultural activity. Suppose there are 7 members in a family.

Although the work requires the service of only 4 people, all-the members of a family find work on that agricultural plot. The output of the field will not decline if 3 members are removed from the process. These 3 members are disguisedly unemployed.

Question 7.
What is the difference between disguised unemployment and seasonal unemployment?
Answer :
Following are the main points of difference between disguised and seasonal unemployment:

Disguised Unemployment	Seasonal Unemployment
1. In disguised unemployment, more than required persons are engaged in a job.	Seasonal unemployment takes place when people are not able to find jobs during some months of the year.
2. It is mainly found in rural areas.	It is found both in rural as well as urban areas.
3. It is mostly found in agriculture.	It is mostly found in agro-based industries.

Question 8.
What are the disadvantages of unemployment? Explain.
Answer:
The main disadvantages of unemployment are:
(i) Increase in Poverty: The main cause of poverty is unemployment. People do not have enough money to support their family. This leads to the situation of poverty.

(ii) Wastage of Resource: Human capital is an important economic resource. Unemployment leads to wastage of manpower resource. People who are an asset for the economy turn into a liability. This creates a feeling of despair among the youth.

(iii) Increase in Dependent Population: Unemployment tends to increase the economic overload. The dependence of the unemployed on the working population increases.

Question 9.
What is unemployment? What are the most common types of unemployment found in India?
Answer:
Unemployment is a situation in which the people who are willing to work at the prevailing wages are unable to find jobs. The most common types of unemployment found in India are:

(i) Seasonal Unemployment: This type of unemployment takes place when people are not able to find jobs during some months of the year. The situation of seasonal unemployment arises mainly in agricultural sector people are busy during sowing, harvesting, weeding and threshing. However, there are certain months in which they do not get much work.

(ii) Disguised Unemployment: In disguised unemployment, more than required persons are engaged in a job. This type of unemployment usually happens among family members engaged in agricultural activity.

Employment: Growth, Informalisation and Other Issues Important Extra Questions Long Answer Type

Question 1.
What are the causes of informalisation of work force in India?
Answer:
The following are the causes of informalisation of work force in India:
(i) Close Down of the Enterprises: Many enterprises were incurring losses during 1980’s and 90’s and hence, were closed down. This had driven a large number of workers in informal sector. For example, in the early 1980’s, textile mills all over the country began to dose down.

In Mumbai, the mills closed rapidly. But in Ahmedabad. the close-down process spread over 10 years due to strong trade unions. Approximately 80,000 permanent workers and ever 50,000 non-permanent workers lost their jobs and were driven to the informal sector.

(ii) Losses Making Public Sector: Due to the losses incurred by public sector enterprise, the Government of India either disinvests or closes down these enterprises. This causes informalisation of the workforce. Increasing Population: Employment generation in the formal sector fail to match the needs of rapidly increasing population. As a result, people are forced to take up casual jobs to earn a living.

Question 2.
How are the activities in the economy classified on the basis of employment conditions?
Answer:
The activities in the economy on the basis of employment conditions are classified as organised sector and unorganised sector.

(i) Organised Sector: It covers those enterprises or places of work where the terms of employment are regular and therefore, people have assured work. Its features are:

Formal processes and procedures
Proper rules and regulations
Job security
Fixed number of job hours, paid overtime for working more
Get paid leave, payment during holidays
Get provident fund, gratuity and pensions on retirement
Safe working environment

(ii) Unorganised Sector: Unorganised sector comprises of small and scattered units, which are largely outside the control of the government. Its features are:

No rules and regulations
Irregular and low-paid jobs
No provision for overtime, leaves, etc.
No job security
Social discrimination

Question 3.
What are the causes of unemployment in India?
Answer:
The following are major causes of unemployment in India:
(i) Increase in Population: There has been tremendous increase in the population in India since : 1951. Consequently the number of working population has also increased. Thus, increasing pressure of population has accentuated the problem of unemployment.

(ii) Failure of Planning: Planning could not create as many jobs as the number of jobs-seekers. Thus, faulty planning is also responsible for unemployment.

(iii) Neglect ofAgriculture: Agriculture was not paid due attention during different plans. Comparatively less expenditure was made on this sector. As a result, agriculture could not develop fully.

(iv) Neglect of Small Scale and Cottage Industries: Small scale and cottage industries are labour intensive. But these industries could not develop in India appreciably. The plans laid more stress on capital intensive heavy, basic and large industries.

(v) Slow Industrial Growth: Industrial growth rate has been very slow in India due to vane reasons. It has increased urban unemployment.

(vi) Defective Education System: Our education system lays more emphasis on ‘general’ education rather than ‘vocational’ one. It is not job-oriented and this leads to rapid increase in white-collar unemployment.

Question 4.
Explain the various self-employment and wage generation programmes initiated by the government to solve the problem of unemployment.
Answer:
The various self-employment and wage generation programmes initiated by the government to solve the problem of unemployment are:
(i) Food for work Programme (FWP): FWP was launched in the 1970s for the upliftment of the poor. Under this programme, foodgrains are distributed against the wage work.

(ii) Prime Minister’s RozgarYojana (PMRY): This programme has been implemented by the Khadi and Village Industries Commission, which aims at creating self-employment opportunities in rural areas and small towns. One can get financial assistance with bank loans to set up small enterprises under this programme.

Under PMRY, the educated unemployed from low-income families in both rural and urban areas can get financial help to set up any type of industry, which generates employment.

(iii) Swarna Jayanti Shahari RozgarYojana (SJSRY): It aims at creating employment opportunities, both self-employment and wage employment in urban areas. Individuals were given financial assistance under self-employment programmes.

(iv) Swarnajayanthi Gram SwarozgarYojana: Sawamajayanthi Gram Swarozgar Yojana was launched in April 1999 and is the only self-employment programme currently being implemented. It aims at promoting micro enterprises and to bring the assisted poor families (Swarozgcris) above the poverty line by organising them into Self-Help Groups through the process of social mobilisation, training and capacity building and provision of income generating assets through a mix of Bank Credit and Government subsidy.

(v) Sampoorna Grameen RozgarYojana (SGRY): SGRY was launched in September 2001. The schemes Jawahar Gram Samridhi Yojana and Employment Assurance Scheme have been fully integrated with SGRY. The objective of the scheme is to provide additional wage employment along with food security, creation of durable community, social and economic assets and infrastructure development in the rural areas. The scheme envisages generation of 100 man-days of employment in a year.

(vi) National Food for Work Programme (NFWP): National Food for Work Programme was launched on November 14, 2004 in 150 most backward districts of the India, It is implemented as a 100 percent centrally sponsored scheme and the food grains are provided to States free of cost. The objective of the programme was to intensify the generation of supplementary wage employment.

Employment: Growth, Informalisation and Other Issues Important Extra Questions HOTS

Question 1.
Disguised unemployment is not prevalent in agriculture alone. Comment.
Answer:
Disguised unemployment is the characteristic feature of the Indian agriculture. It is almost rampant for owing to heavy pressure of population, joint family system and the lack of vocational avenues outside agriculture. However, it is a phenomenon not confined in agriculture alone.

A deeper look into the functioning of public sector enterprises shows lots of people sitting idle all the time. It is a point to the fact the more people are employed than actually needed. Surely, it is a sign of disguised unemployment.

Question 2.
Population of India is increasing at a much faster rate as compared to employment opportunities.
Give some suggestions to rectify the situation.
Answer:
The following steps can be taken to increase employment opportunities:

Increase in productivity
Increase in production
Educational reforms
Help to self-employed persons
Focus on vocational training

Question 3.
What are the causes of informalisation of work force in India?
Answer:
The following are the causes of informalisation of work force in India:
(i) Close Down of the Enterprises: Many enterprises were incurring losses during 1980’s and 90’s and hence, were closed down. This had driven a large number of workers in informal sector. For example, in the early 1980’s, textile mills all over the country began to dose down. In Mumbai, the mills closed rapidly.

But in Ahmedabad. the close-down process spread over 10 years due to strong trade unions. Approximately 80,000 permanent workers and ever 50,000 non-permanent workers lost their jobs and were driven to the informal sector.