PEOPLE AS A RESOURCE
i) Investment in human capital yields a return just like investment in physical
capital.
ii) A large population can be turned into an asset by investing a human
resource.
iii) Total productivity adds to the growth of the economy.
iv) Countries like Japan are developed as they have heavily invested in human
resource.
ECONOMIC ACTIVITES:
i) The 3 main sectors of economic activities are primary, secondary and tertiary.
ii) Primary activities include agriculture, forestry and, animal husbandry,
fishing, poultry, farming etc.
iii) Secondary activities include manufacturing.
iv) Tertiary activities include trade, transport, banking, communication,
education, health, tourism, services etc.
v) This results in the production of goods and services.
vi) Economic activities are divided into – market and non-market activities.
vii) Market activities are performed for pay or profit while Non-market
activities are performed for self-consumption.
viii) Education and skill are the major determinants of the earning of any
individual.
QUALITY OF POPULATION:
1. EDUCATION:
i) Education of a citizen enhances the national income, cultural richness and
increases the efficiency of governance.
ii) Sarva Siksha Abhiyan is a significant step towards providing elementary
education to all children in the age group of 6-14 years by 2010.
iii) Mid-day schemes have been introduced to increase the attendance of
children.
iv) Over the past 60 years, there has been a significant growth in the number of
university and institutions of higher learning in specialized areas.
2. HEALTH
i) The health of a person helps him to realise his/her potential and the ability
to fight illness.
ii) There are only 542 medical colleges in the country and 313 dental colleges.
UNEMPLOYEMENT
i) Unemployment is said to exist when people who are willing to work at the
going wages cannot find jobs.
ii) The workforce population includes people from 15 years to 59 years.
iii) Urban areas mostly have educated unemployment while rural areas have
seasonal and disguised unemployment.
iv) Seasonal unemployment happens when people are not able to find jobs
during some months of the year.
v) In case of disguised unemployment people appear to be employed.
vi) Educated unemployment takes place when educated people aren’t able to
find a job.
vii) Unemployment leads to wastage of manpower resource.
viii) Unemployment tends to increase economic overload.
Poverty as a Challenge
Social Exclusion:
i) According to this concept, poverty must be seen in terms of
the poor having to live only in a poor surrounding with other
poor people, excluded from enjoying social equality of better-off
people in better surroundings.
Vulnerability:
i) Vulnerability to poverty is a measure, which describes the
greater probability of certain communities or individuals of
becoming, or remaining, poor in the coming years.
Poverty Line:
i) The minimum level of income required to fulfill a person’s
basic needs is called Poverty Line.
ii) 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.
iii) On the basis of these calculations, for the year 2011–12, the
poverty line for a person was fixed at Rs 816 per month for
rural areas and Rs 1000 for urban areas.
iv) The poverty line is estimated periodically (normally every
five years) by conducting sample surveys (by NSSO).
v) The World Back uses a uniform standard for the poverty line
which is 1.90 per person per day.
Vulnerable Groups
i) Social groups, which are most vulnerable to poverty are Scheduled Caste and
Scheduled Tribe households.
ii) Similarly, among the economic groups, the most vulnerable groups are the
rural agricultural labour households and the urban casual labour households.
iii) Apart from these social groups, there is also inequality of incomes within a
family. In poor families all suffer, but some suffer more than others.
Inter-State Disparities
i) Recent estimates show while the all India Head Count Ratio (HCR) was 21.9
per cent in 2011-12 states like Madhya Pradesh, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar
and Odisha had above all India poverty level.
ii) Bihar and Odisha continue to be the two poorest states.
iii) In comparison, there has been a significant decline in poverty in Kerala,
Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and West Bengal.
iv) States like Punjab and Haryana have traditionally succeeded in reducing
poverty with the help of high agricultural growth rates.
v) Kerala has focused more on human resource development.
vi) In West Bengal, land reform measures have helped in reducing poverty.
v) In Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu public distribution of food grains could
have been responsible for the improvement.
Global Poverty Scenario
i) Although there has been a substantial reduction in global poverty.
ii) Poverty declined substantially in China and Southeast Asian countries as a
result of rapid economic growth and massive investments in human resource
development.
Causes of Poverty
