Q.1     What do you understand by ’people as a resource’?
Sol.     People who are part of the workforce are called human resource. By contributing in productivity, the human resource plays a significant role in the economy of a country. Any other resource becomes useful only because of the input by the human resource.

Q.2     How is human resource different from other resources like land and physical capital?
Sol.     Human resource is different from other resources in many senses. Human resources need education, training and healthcare to develop. On the other hand, land and physical capital need money and physical inputs to develop. Land and physical capital are useless without human resources.

Q.3     What is the role of education in human capital formation?
Sol.     Education plays an important role in human capital formation. Education improves the quality of human resources. An educated person is likely to contribute to the economy in a better way than an uneducated person. We should keep in mind that education does not only mean a formal education to obtain degrees but also means skill development.

Q.4     What is the role of health in human capital formation?
Sol.     Health plays an important role in human capital formation. A healthy person is more likely to realize his full potential and can become an asset for the economy. An unhealthy person is less likely to realize his potential and can become a liability for the economy.

Q.5     What part does health play in the individual’s working life?
Sol.     A healthy person will not have to take frequent breaks from his work. By working on full
schedule, a healthy person can improve his earnings and can live a better life. Moreover, he will also be in a position to save on medical bills. The money thus saved can be utilised for creating some assets.

Q.6     What are the various activities undertaken in the primary sector, secondary sector and tertiary sector?
Sol.     Primary Sector: Agriculture, poultry farming, fishing, horticulture, animal husbandry, mining, quarrying, etc.
Secondary Sector: Manufacturing
Tertiary Sector: Banking, transport, finance and different types of services

Q.7     What is the difference between economic activities and non-economic activities?
Sol.     An activity which is done with the aim of monetary return is called an economic activity, while an activity which is not done with the aim of monetary return is called a non-economic activity. The most quoted example to understand this is that of a teacher. When a teacher teaches students in a school, he is doing economic activity. When the same teacher teaches his son, he is doing non-economic activity.

Q.8     Why are women employed in low paid work?
Sol.     Our society has evolved in such a way, that a woman’s work is given less importance. Bias against women is the prime reason of lower wages given to women.

Q.9     How will you explain the term unemployment?
Sol.     When a person is actively seeking a job but is unable to get employed, he is called an unemployed person. This condition is called unemployment.

Q.10     What is the difference between disguised unemployment and seasonal unemployment?
Sol.       Disguised employment is the situation when more people are working on something which can be efficiently done by less number of people. Seasonal employment is the situation in which people remain without work in certain months of a year.

Q.11     Why is educated unemployed, a peculiar problem of India?
Sol.       India has a huge population and every year a large number of people graduate from schools and colleges. Employment generation in various sectors is not keeping pace with the number of educated people coming out of educational institutions. Due to this, educated unemployed is a peculiar problem of India.

Q.12     In which field do you think India can build the maximum employment opportunity?
Sol.       Service sector can generate the maximum employment opportunity.

Q.13     Can you suggest some measures in the education system to mitigate the problem of the educated unemployed?
Sol.       The current curriculum is based on theoretical learning and no emphasis is being given on skill development. There should be more emphasis on vocational training so that people can become employable. People in India have a greater inclination towards joining a job rather than becoming entrepreneurs. There is a need for change in such a mindset.

Q.14     Can you imagine some village which initially had no job opportunities but later came up with many?
Sol.       There can be many examples of such villages. When an infrastructure project or some industry develops near a village, employment generation takes place. Gurgaon can be a very good example. Before the beginning of the Maruti Udyog Limited, Gurgaon used to be a small village. Subsequent development of industry changed the situation in Gurgaon.

Q.15     Which capital would you consider the best: land, labour, physical capital and human capital? Why?
Sol.       Human capital is the best because other resources are useless without human capital.