Text Book Solutions All Class

4. Food Security in India – Extra Question and answer- 1

October 15, 2025 by khushikhanera

Q1. What does ‘Food Security’ mean?

Food security means availability, accessibility and affordability of food to all people at all times.

Q2. On what factors does food security depend?

Food security depends on the Public Distribution System (PDS) and government vigilance and action at times when this security is threatened.

Q3. Explain the three dimensions of food security.

Availability of Food means food production within the country

Accessibility means food within reach of every person

Affordability is that an individual has enough money to buy sufficient safe food

Q4. How is food security ensured in a country?

Food security is ensured in a country only if enough food is available for all persons, all persons have the capacity to buy food of acceptable quality and there is no barrier to access to food.

Q5. What kind of people faces food insecurity?

The poorest section of the society might be food insecure most of the times while persons above the poverty line might also be food insecure when the country faces a national disaster/calamity like drought, flood, tsunami, widespread failure of crops causing famine, etc.

Q6. How is food security affected during a calamity?

Due to a natural calamity, the total production of food grains decreases.

It creates a shortage of food in the affected area.

Due to a shortage of food, the prices go up.

At higher prices, some people cannot afford to buy food.

If such a calamity occurs in a widespread area, it may cause a situation of starvation.

A massive situation of starvation might turn into a famine.

Q7. How does the situation of starvation arise?

If any calamity happens in a very widespread area or is stretched over a large time period, it may cause a situation of starvation. A massive starvation might take the form of famine.

Q8. How do famines lead to widespread deaths?

A famine is characterised by widespread deaths due to starvation and epidemics caused by forced use of contaminated water or decaying food and loss of body resistance due to weakening from starvation.

Q9. Which was the most devastating famine to have occurred in India?

The most devastating famine that had occurred in India was the famine of Bengal in 1943. This famine killed thirty lakh people in the province of Bengal.

Q10. In which areas of India even today famine has caused starvation deaths?

Even today there are places like Kalahandi district and Kashipur tehsil in Raigarh district of Odisha where Some starvation deaths have been reported due to famine like conditions. Starvation deaths are also reported in Baran district of Rajasthan and Palamao district of Jharkhand.

Q11. What kind of people in rural areas is food insecure?

The worst affected groups are landless people with little or no land to depend upon, traditional artisans, providers of traditional services, petty self employed workers and destitutes including beggars.

Q12. What type of people in urban areas is food insecure?

In the urban areas, the food insecure families are those whose working members are generally employed in ill-paid occupations and the casual labour markets. These workers are largely engaged in seasonal activities and are paid very low wages that just ensure basic survival.

Q13. Which other parts of society are prone to food insecurity?

The SCs, STs and some sections of OBCs who have either poor land base or very low land productivity are prone to food insecurity.

Q14. How people affected by natural disasters are food insecure?

The people affected by natural disasters, who have to migrate to other areas in search of work, are also among the most food insecure people, since they are not settled in their life.

Q15. Is it true that a high incidence of malnutrition prevails among women?

This is a matter of serious concern as it is true. It puts even the unborn baby at risk of malnutrition. A large proportion of pregnant and nursing mothers and children under the age of 5 years constitute an important segment of food insecure population.

Q16. In which regions are food insecure people disproportionately large in our country?

The food insecure people are disproportionately large in some regions of the country, such as economically backward states with a high incidence of poverty, tribal and remote areas, regions more prone to natural disasters, etc.

Q17. Which states of India account for the largest number of food insecure people?

The states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, parts of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra account for the largest number of food insecure people in the country.

Q18. Does hunger cause food insecurity?

Hunger is another aspect indicating food insecurity, arising from poverty.

Q19. How does ‘chronic hunger’ occur?

Chronic hunger is a consequence of having persistently inadequate diet in terms of quantity and quality. Poor people suffer from chronic hunger because of very low income and, in turn, inability to buy food even for survival.

Q20. What do you understand by ‘seasonal hunger’?

Seasonal hunger is related to cycles of food production. This happens in rural areas because of the seasonal nature of agricultural activities and in urban areas because of the casual labourers who get less work during rainy season.

Q21. What policies were adopted by Indian government to remove food insecurity?

After Independence, Indian policy makers adopted all measures to achieve self sufficiency in food grains, for that a new strategy of ‘Green Revolution’ was introduced to increase production of wheat and rice in our country.

Q22. How was the success of ‘Green Revolution’ felicitated by Indira Gandhi?

Indira Gandhi, the then Prime Minister, officially recorded the impressive strides of the Green Revolution in agriculture by releasing a special stamp entitled ‘Wheat Revolution’ in July 1968.

Q23. Which states achieved the highest rate of growth in food grain production during Green Revolution?

Punjab and Haryana achieved the highest rate of growth in the production of wheat.

Q24. Which states continued to lag behind in food production despite Green Revolution?

Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha and the northeastern states lagged behind in food production, despite Green Revolution.

Q25. How did India become self sufficient?

India has become self sufficient in food grains during the last thirty years because of a variety of crops grown all over the country.

Q26. What is buffer stock?

Buffer stock is the stock of food grains, namely wheat and rice procured by the government through Food Corporation of India (FCI).

Q27. What is the Minimum Support Price?

The FCI purchases wheat and rice from the farmers in states where there is surplus production. The farmers are paid a pre-announced price for their crops. This price is called Minimum Support Price.

Q28. How does FCI purchase grains from the farmers?

The Minimum Support Price (MSP) is declared by the government every year before the sowing season to provide incentives to the farmers for raising the production of these crops. The purchased food grains are stored in granaries.

Q29. Why is buffer stock created by the government?

Buffer stock is created to distribute food grains in the deficit areas and among the poorer strata of society at a price lower than the market price also known as issue price. It also helps resolve the problem of shortage of food during adverse weather conditions or during the periods of calamity.

Q30. What is Public Distribution System?

The food procured by the FCI is distributed through government regulated ration shops among the poorer section of the society. This is called the public distribution system (PDS).

Q31. What are Fair Price Shops?

Ration Shops, also known as Fair Price Shops, keep stocks of food grains, sugar, kerosene oil, etc. These items are sold to people at a price lower than the market price.

Q32. Which families can buy from these Ration Shops?

Any family which is below the poverty line gets a ration card. A ration card can buy them a stipulated amount of certain essential commodities like food grains or kerosene, every month from a nearby ration shop.

Q33. When was rationing system introduced in India?

The rationing system introduced in India in 1940s after the disastrous Bengal famine occurred.

Q34. When was rationing system revived after Bengal famine?

The rationing system was revived in the wake of an acute food shortage during the 1960s prior to the Green Revolution.

Q35. Which important food intervention programmes were introduced by Indian government after NSSO report?

Public Distribution System – for food grains.

Integrated Child Development Service – in 1975 on experimental basis.

Food for Work-Introduced in 1977-78.

Q36. How do PAPs enhance food security?

Poverty Alleviation Programmes such as PDS, mid-day meals, etc. are exclusively food security programmes. Most of these PAPs are meant for rural areas and enhance food security.

Q37. What do you know about National Food for Work Programme?

This programme was launched on November 14, 2004 in 150 most backward districts of the country with the objective of intensifying the generation of supplementary wage employment.

Q38. What is RPDS?

Over the years, the policy related to PDS has been revised to make it more efficient and targeted. In 1992 Revamped Public Distribution System was introduced in 1,700 blocks in the country. The target was to provide the benefits of PDS to remote and backward areas

Q39. What is TPDS?

From June 1997, in a renewed attempt. Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) was introduced to adopt the principle of targeting the ‘poor in all areas’. It was for the first time that a differential price policy was adopted for poor and non-poor.

Q40. Which two schemes were linked with the PDS system by the government?

In 2000, two special schemes were launched – Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) and the Annapurna Scheme with special target groups of ‘poorest of the poor’ and ‘Senior Citizens’, respectively.

Q41. What are the benefits of PDS?

The PDS has proved to be the most effective instrument of government policy over the years in stabilising prices and making food available to the poor at affordable prices.

Q42. How has Minimum Support Prices supported the farmers?

The minimum support prices and procurement has contributed to an increase in food grain production and provided income security to farmers in certain regions.

Q43. Why has PDS been facing severe criticism?

Instances of hunger are prevalent despite overflowing granaries. FCI god owns are overflowing with grains, with some rotting away and some being eaten by rats.

Q44. What is a ‘Subsidy’?

‘Subsidy’ is a payment that a government makes to a producer to supplement the market price of a commodity. Subsidies can keep consumer prices low while maintaining a higher income for domestic producers.

Q45. Why is a high level of buffer stock undesirable?

There is a general consensus that high level of buffer stocks of food grains is very undesirable and can be wasteful. The storage of massive food stocks has been responsible for high carrying cost, in addition to wastage and deterioration in grain quality.

Q46. What is the impact of intensive utilisation of water in the cultivation of rice on the environment?

The intensive utilisation of water in the cultivation of rice has also led to environmental degradation and fall in the water level, threatening the sustainability of the agricultural development in the states of Punjab and Haryana.

Q47. What kind of malpractices are there among PDS dealers?

PDS dealers are sometimes found resorting to malpractices like diverting the grains to open market to get better margins, selling poor quality grains at ration shops, irregular opening of the shops, etc.

Q48. What is the role of cooperatives in food security?

The cooperatives are also playing an important role in food security in India especially in southern and western parts of the country. The cooperative societies set up shops to sell low priced goods to poor families.

Q49. Give some important cooperatives running successfully.

In Delhi, Mother Dairy is making efforts in providing milk and vegetables to the consumers at controlled rates decided by the government of Delhi.

Amul is a successful cooperative in milk and milk products from Gujarat.

Q50. Why do we need ‘food security’?

Food security is needed because:

The poorest section of the society might be food insecure most of the times.

People above the poverty line might also be food insecure when the country faces a national disaster or calamity like an earthquake, drought, flood, tsunami, etc.

There can also be a widespread failure of crops causing famines, etc.

3. Poverty as a Challenge – Extra Question and answer- 2

October 15, 2025 by khushikhanera

54) Describe the term ‘NFWP’.

Answer: (i) This scheme is known as the National Food for Work Programme, launched in 2004 in 150 most backward districts of the country.

(ii) The programme is open to all rural people who are in need of wage employment and desire to do manual unskilled work.
(iii) It is implemented as a 100 per cent centrally sponsored scheme and food grains are provided free of cost to the states.

55) What is the status of poverty in scheduled caste, or scheduled tribe?

Answer: (i) 50 per cent of casual workers in urban areas are below poverty line. About 50 per cent of landless agricultural workers and 43 per cent of scheduled caste are also poor. (ii) The double disadvantage of being a landless casual wage labour household in the socially disadvantaged social groups of the scheduled caste or the scheduled tribe population highlights the seriousness of the problem.
(iii) Some recent studies have shown that except for scheduled tribe households all the other three groups that is, scheduled caste, rural agricultural labour and the urban casual labour have seen a decline in poverty.
56) How is the poverty line determined? Or Describe how the poverty line is estimated in India.

Answer: (i) In India, a minimum level of food requirement, clothing, footwear, fuel and light, educational and medical requirement, etc., are determined for subsistence.
(ii) These things are multiplied by their prices in rupees.
(iii) The desired calorie requirements are seen depending on age, sex and the type of work that a person does.
(iv) The accepted average calorie requirement in India is 2,400 calories per person per day in rural areas and 2,100 calories per person per year in urban areas.
(v) Since people living in rural areas are considered to be higher than urban areas.
(vi) The monetary expenditure per capita needed for buying these calorie requirements is revised time to time, keeping in mind the rise in prices.
(vii) On the basis of these calculations, for the year 2000, the poverty line for a person was fixed at ` 328 per month for the rural areas and ` 454 for the urban areas.

57) Which groups are most vulnerable to poverty? Or Identify social and economic groups are most vulnerable to poverty in India.

Answer: (i) The social groups which are most vulnerable to poverty are those belonging to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
(ii) Among the economic groups, the most vulnerable groups are the rural agricultural labour households and the urban casual labourers.
(iii) About 51 out of 100 people belonging to the Scheduled Tribes are not able to meet their basic needs.
(iv) Similarly, 50 per cent of the casual workers in urban areas are below the poverty line.

58) What is the global poverty scenario?

Answer:Although there has been a substantial reduction in global poverty, it is marked with great regional differences.
(i) Poverty declined substantially in China and south-east Asian colonies as a result of rapid economic growth and massive investment in human resource development.
(ii) In the south Asian countries, the decline has not been as rapid. Despite decline in the percentage of poor, the number of poor has declined from 475 million in 1981 to 428 million in 2001.
(iii) In Sub-Saharan Africa, poverty in fact rose from 41 per cent in 1981 to 46 per cent in 2001.
(iv) In Latin America, the ratio of poverty remained the same.
(v) Poverty has also resurfaced in some of the former socialist countries like Russia.

59) What are the main causes of poverty? Or Describe the major reasons for poverty in India.

Answer: The main causes of widespread poverty are:
(i) The low level of economic development under the British colonial administration was one of the main causes of poverty. The policies of the colonial government ruined traditional handicrafts and discouraged the development of industries like textiles.
(ii) High growth rate of population also contributed towards rise in poverty levels. It made the growth rate of per capita income very low.
(iii) With the growth in irrigation and the Green Revolution, many job opportunities were created in the agricultural sector. But the effects were limited to some parts of India.
(iv) Unable to find proper jobs in cities, many people started working as rickshaw pullers, vendors, construction workers, domestic servants, etc., with irregular and small income. These people lived in slums on the outskirts of the cities.

60) What is the current anti-poverty strategy of the government for the promotion of economic growth?

Answer: (i) Over a period of thirty years lasting up to the early eighties, there was little per capita income growth and not much reduction in poverty.
(ii) Since the eighties, India’s economic growth has been one of the fastest in the world. (iii) The growth rate jumped from an average of about 3.5 per cent a year in the 1970s to about 6 per cent.
(iv) Higher growth rates have helped significantly in the reduction of poverty. So, there is a strong link between economic growth and poverty reduction. However, the poor may not be able to take direct advantage from the opportunities created by economic growth.

61) Mention some anti-poverty programmes undertaken by the government.

Answer: (i) The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act was passed in September 2005. The act provides 100 days assured employment every year, to every rural household, in 200 districts.
(ii) The central government will also establish National Employment Guarantee Funds. Similarly, state governments will establish State Employment Guarantee Funds for implementation of the scheme.
(iii) Under the programme, if an applicant is not provided employment within 15 days he or she will be entitled to a daily unemployment allowance.
(iv) Another scheme is the National Food for Work Programme (NFWP) which was launched in 2004, in 150 most backward districts of the country. The programme is open to all rural people who are in need of wage employment and desire to do manual unskilled work. Under this scheme, food grains are provided free of cost to the states.

62) State the various Poverty Alleviation Programmes introduced by the government to remove poverty.

Answer: (i) Prime Minister Rozgar Yojana (PMRY): It is a scheme started in 1993. The aim of the programme is to create self-employment opportunities for educated unemployed youth in rural areas and small towns. They are helped in setting up small businesses and industries.
(ii) Rural Employment Generation Programme (REGP): It was launched in 1995. The aim of the programme is to create self-employment opportunities in rural areas and small towns. A target for creating 25 lakh new jobs has been set for the programme.
(iii) Swamajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY): It was launched in 1999. The programme aims at bringing the assisted poor families above the poverty line by organising them into self-help groups through a mix of bank credit and government subsidy.
(iv) Pradhan Mantri Gramodaya Yojana (PMGY): It was launched in 2000. Under this programme, additional Central assistance is given to states for basic services such as primary health, primary education, rural shelter, rural drinking water and rural electrification.

63) What is the concept of poverty line? How does it vary with time and place?

Answer: (i) A poverty line is an indicator of poverty, i.e., it is a level of income which barely meets sustenance. A common method used to measure poverty is based on the income or consumption level.
(ii) A person is considered poor, if his or her income or consumption level falls below a given ‘minimum level’ necessary to fulfil basic needs.
(iii) What is necessary to satisfy basic needs is different at different times and in different countries.
(iv) Therefore, poverty line may vary with time and place. Each country uses an imaginary line that is considered appropriate for its existing level of development and its accepted minimum social norms.
(v) For example, a person not having a car in the US may be considered poor. In India, owing of a car is still considered a luxury.

64) What is the methodology of calculating poverty line?

Answer: (i) On the basis of calorie intake for the year 2000, the poverty line for a person was fixed at ` 328 per month for the rural areas and ` 454 for the urban areas.
(ii) Despite less calorie requirement, the higher amount for urban areas has been fixed because of high prices of many essential products in urban centres.
(iii) In this way in the year 2000, a family of five members living in rural areas and earning less than about 1,640 per month was below the poverty line.
(iv) A similar family in the urban areas needed a minimum of `2,270 per month to meet their basic requirements.
(v) The poverty line is estimated periodically by conducting sample surveys. Many international organisations like the World Bank use a uniform standard for the poverty line.

65) How is the poverty line determined? Or Describe how the poverty line is estimated in India.

66) Which groups are most vulnerable to poverty? Or Identify social and economic groups are most vulnerable to poverty in India.

67) What is the global poverty scenario?

Answer: Although there has been a substantial reduction in global poverty, it is marked with great regional differences.
(i) Poverty declined substantially in China and south-east Asian colonies as a result of rapid economic growth and massive investment in human resource development.
(ii) In the south Asian countries, the decline has not been as rapid. Despite decline in the percentage of poor, the number of poor has declined from 475 million in 1981 to 428 million in 2001.
(iii) In Sub-Saharan Africa, poverty in fact rose from 41 per cent in 1981 to 46 per cent in 2001. (iv) In Latin America, the ratio of poverty remained the same.
(v) Poverty has also resurfaced in some of the former socialist countries like Russia.

68) What are the main causes of poverty? Or Describe the major reasons for poverty in India.

69) What is the current anti-poverty strategy of the government for the promotion of economic growth?

70) Mention some anti-poverty programmes undertaken by the government.

71) State the various Poverty Alleviation Programmes introduced by the government to remove poverty.

72) What is the concept of poverty line? How does it vary with time and place?

73) What is the methodology of calculating poverty line?

74) Give five indicators of poverty.

Answer: (i) Landlessness
(ii) Unemployment
(iii) Illiteracy
(iv) Child labour
(v) Malnutrition.

75) What is the criteria for poverty measurement in India?

Answer: (i) Low level of nutrition
(ii) Minimum level of subsistence does not exist
(iii) Calorie intake is low
(iv) Per capita income is low
(v) Basic needs should be satisfied.

76) Can you give five measures taken by the government to alleviate poverty?

Answer: (i) MGNREGA
(ii) Food for Work Programme
(iii) Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana
(iv) Pradhanmantri Gramodaya Yojana
(v) Antodaya Anna Yojana.

77) What challenges do you think India faces in years to come?

Answer: (i) Healthcare
(ii) Job security
(iii) Gender discrimination
(iv) Human misery
(v) Education.

78) On the basis of the survey 2000, the poverty line of a person in India was fixed at: (a) ` 328 per month for the rural areas and at ` 454 for the urban areas. (b) ` 320 per month for the rural areas and at ` 454 for the urban areas. (c) ` 318 per month for the rural areas and at ` 454 for the urban areas. (d) ` 322 per month for the rural areas and at ` 454 for the urban areas.

Answer:B

79) In which of the following states there is a significant decline in poverty? (a) West Bengal (b) Assam (c) Bihar (d) Tripura

Answer:A

80) Among which of the following countries, did the ratio of poverty remain the same? (a) India (b) South America (c) China (d) None of these

Answer:B

3. Poverty as a Challenge – Extra Question and answer- 1

October 15, 2025 by khushikhanera

1) What kind of people in India are considered poor?

Answer: In India, people who are considered poor can belong to various social and economic backgrounds.

They may include landless laborers in rural areas, individuals living in overcrowded slums or informal settlements in urban areas, daily wage earners at construction sites, child laborers in informal sectors, and beggars with families struggling to make ends meet.
Poverty in India is characterized by factors such as low income, lack of access to basic necessities like food, shelter, and healthcare, as well as limited opportunities for education and employment.

2) Has India the largest single concentration of the poor in the world?

Answer: Every fifth person inIndia is poor. This means, roughly 270 million (or 27 crore) people in India live in poverty . This means that India has the largest single concentration of the poor in the world.

3) What are the dimensions of poverty?

Answer:

The dimensions of poverty encompass various aspects, including:

Insufficient income and resources: Struggling to meet basic needs like food, clothing, and shelter.
Limited access to education: Inability to afford or access quality education, hindering personal and professional growth.
Poor health and lack of healthcare: Difficulty in accessing and affording medical treatment, leading to compromised health and well-being.
Inadequate housing and living conditions: Unsanitary surroundings and overcrowded homes, impacting physical and mental health.
Unemployment and underemployment: Lack of stable, well-paying jobs that provide financial security and social benefits.
Social exclusion and discrimination: Marginalization from mainstream society due to social, economic, or cultural factors, perpetuating poverty.
Disempowerment and helplessness: The persistent feeling of being unable to break free from the cycle of poverty and improve one’s situation.

4) What is one of the biggest challenges of independent India?

Answer: One of the most significant challenges faced by independent India has been the alleviation of extreme poverty among millions of its citizens. Mahatma Gandhi firmly believed that India’s true independence would only be achieved when its most impoverished individuals are liberated from the hardships of human suffering.

5) What are the social indicators of poverty as seen by social scientists?

Answer: Some social indicators of poverty as observed by social scientists include:

High illiteracy rates
Widespread malnutrition
Limited access to healthcare services
Inadequate job opportunities
Restricted access to basic amenities (e.g., safe drinking water and proper sanitation)
High crime rates
Homelessness
Social exclusion
Inequality in the distribution of resources

6) What is the concept of social reclusion?

Answer: The concept of social reclusion refers to the isolation and exclusion of individuals or groups, particularly the poor, from participating in and interacting with the rest of society. This concept emphasizes the idea that poverty is not just a lack of financial resources, but also the inability to engage with people from different socio-economic backgrounds and enjoy better surroundings. In this context, social reclusion highlights the barriers faced by the poor in accessing social, cultural, and economic opportunities, leading to a cycle of disadvantage and marginalization.

7) How is social exclusion practised in India?

Answer: Social exclusion in India is primarily practiced through the caste system, which categorizes people into different hierarchical groups based on their birth and ancestry. This system leads to discrimination and segregation, with certain castes being considered superior and others inferior. The lower castes, particularly the Dalits or “untouchables,” are often subjected to exclusion from education, job opportunities, and social interactions.

8) What is the vulnerability of poverty?

Answer: The vulnerability of poverty is a metric that assesses the increased likelihood of specific communities or individuals experiencing or continuing to face poverty in the future. This measure helps to identify and understand the factors that contribute to the persistence of poverty and enables policymakers and organizations to target interventions more effectively.

9) How vulnerability to poverty is determined?

Answer: Vulnerability is determined by the options available to different communities for finding an alternative living in terms of assets, education, health and job opportunities.

10) What is the ‘poverty line’?

Answer: The poverty line is a threshold used to define the minimum level of income necessary to meet basic needs such as food, shelter, clothing, and healthcare. It serves as a benchmark for determining the extent of poverty in a society, helping to identify those who are living in impoverished conditions and require assistance or support.

11) When is a person considered poor?

Answer: A person is considered poor when their income or consumption level falls below a specific threshold, known as the poverty line, which is defined as the minimum level necessary to fulfill basic needs.

12) How does a country measure its poverty?

Answer: A country measures its poverty by establishing a poverty line, which represents the minimum income or resources necessary to meet basic needs and maintain an acceptable standard of living. This poverty line varies depending on a country’s level of development and cultural norms.

For example, not owning a car may be seen as an indicator of poverty in the United States, while in India, car ownership is still considered a luxury. By comparing individuals’ or households’ incomes or resources to the established poverty line, a country can determine the proportion of its population living in poverty.

13) How is the poverty line determined in India?

Answer: A minimum level of food requirement, clothing, footwear, fuel and light, educational and medical requirement etc. are determined for subsistence. These physical quantities are multiplied by their prices in rupees.

14) How is the food requirement estimated in the poverty line?

Answer: The present formula for food requirement while estimating the poverty line is based on the desired calorie requirement; food items such as cereals, pulses, vegetables, milk, oil, sugar, etc. together provide these needed calories.

15) What is the accepted average calorie requirement in India?

Answer: The accepted average calorie requirement in India is 2,400 calories per person per day in rural areas and 2,100 calories per person per day in urban areas.

16) Why is the calorie requirement of rural areas more than that in urban areas?

Answer: Since people living in rural areas engage themselves in more physical work, calorie requirements in rural areas are considered to be higher than in urban areas.

17) How much amount is needed to fulfil the minimum calorie requirement in rural and urban areas?

Answer: On the basis of these calculations, for the year 2000, the poverty line for a person was fixed at `328 per month for the rural areas and ` 54 for the urban areas.

18) How is the poverty line estimated periodically?

Answer: The poverty line is estimated periodically (normally every 5 year) by conducting sample surveys. These surveys are carried out by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO).

19) Which social groups are most vulnerable to poverty?

Answer: The social groups most vulnerable to poverty are scheduled castes and scheduled tribes.

20) Among the economic groups which are most vulnerable to poverty?

Answer: Among the economic groups the most vulnerable to poverty are the rural agricultural households and the urban casual labor households.

21) How are women, children and old people the poorest of the poor?

Answer: Women, elderly people and female infants are systematically denied equal access to resources available to the family. Therefore, they are the poorest of the poor.

22) Which states of India are the poorest?

Answer: Odisha and Bihar continue to be the two poorest states with poverty ratios of 47 and 43 per cent respectively.

Poverty Index

23) Which states of India have seen a significant decline in poverty?

Answer: There has been a significant decline in poverty in Kerala, Jammu and Kashmir, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and West Bengal.

24) How have Kerala and West Bengal reduced their poverty?

Answer: Kerala has focused more on human resource development. While, in West Bengal land reform measures have helped in reducing poverty.

25) How has poverty reduced in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu?

Answer: Poverty reduction in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu can be attributed to the effective public distribution of food grains, which has played a significant role in improving the living conditions for the economically disadvantaged population.

26) How are China and South-Eastern Asian Countries able to control poverty?

Answer: Poverty declined substantially in China and South-East Asian countries as a result of rapid economic growth and massive investments in human resource development.

27) What is the historical cause of poverty in India?

Answer: It is the low level of economic development under the British Colonial administration. The policies of the colonial government ruined traditional handicrafts and discouraged the development of industries like textiles. This resulted in less job opportunities and a low growth rate of incomes. This was accompanied by a high growth rate of the population.

28) How did unemployment lead to poverty?

Answer: Unemployment led to poverty as many individuals struggled to find stable and well-paying jobs in urban areas. Consequently, they resorted to working in informal sectors such as rickshaw pulling, street vending, construction, and domestic service. These jobs often provided inconsistent and low incomes, making it difficult for people to afford adequate housing and maintain a decent standard of living. As a result, they began residing in slums and experienced impoverished living conditions.

29) What are the causes of huge income inequalities in rural areas?

Answer: One of the major reasons for this is the unequal distribution of land and other resources. Major policy initiatives like land reforms, which aimed at the redistribution of assets in rural areas, have not been implemented properly, leading to poverty in India.

30) What are the socio-cultural and economic factors responsible for poverty?

Answer: In order to fulfil social obligations and observe religious ceremonies, people spend a lot of money. Since poor people hardly have any saving, they borrow. Unable to repay because of poverty they become victims of indebtedness, an important cause of poverty.

31) Which are the two planks on which the anti-poverty strategy of the government is based?

Answer:

The anti-poverty strategy of the government is based on two main planks:

(i) Promotion of economic growth.
(ii) Targeted anti-poverty programmes.

32) How is economic growth linked with poverty reduction in India?

Answer: Economic growth widens opportunities and provides the resources needed to invest in human development. This also encourages people to send their children, including the girl child, to schools in the hope of getting better economic returns from investing in education.

33) What is the full form of MGNREGA?

Answer:MGNREGA is the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act of 2005

34) What are the conditions of MGNREGA?

Answer: Conditions of MNEREGA are :

The Act provides 100 days of assured employment every year to every rural household in 200 districts.
Under the programme, if an applicant is not provided employment within 15 days, he/she will be entitled to a daily unemployment allowance.

35) What was the National Food for Work Programme?

Answer: The National Food for Work Programme was an initiative launched in 2004, targeting the 150 most underdeveloped districts in India. This centrally sponsored scheme aimed to provide food grains to the states at no cost, offering them to impoverished individuals in need of wage employment and willing to perform manual unskilled labor.

36) What does PMRY stand for?

Answer: It stands for Prime Minister Rozgar Yojana, started in 1993. The aim of the programme is to create self-employment opportunities for educated unemployed youth in rural areas and small towns.

Prime Minister Rozgar Yojana

37) What is Rural Employment Generation Programme?

Answer: Established in 1995, the Rural Employment Generation Programme aims to generate self-employment opportunities in rural areas and small towns by promoting various income-generating activities, thereby fostering economic growth and sustainable development.

38) What were the targets of SGSY?

Answer: The Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana was launched in 1999. It aims at bringing up the assisted poor families above the poverty line by organizing them into self-help groups through a mix of bank credit and government subsidy.

39) What was PMGY?

Answer: It was Pradhan Mantri Gramodaya Yojna launched in 2000. Accordingly, additional central assistance is given to the states for basic services such as primary health, primary education, rural shelter, rural drinking water and rural electrification.

40) What is India’s most compelling challenge?

Answer: India’s most compelling challenge remains poverty reduction. Wide disparities in poverty are visible between rural and urban areas and among different states.

41) What are the bigger challenges before India?

Answer: Providing health care, education and job security for all and achieving gender equality and dignity for the poor are the bigger challenges before India. .

42) What does ‘social exclusion’ mean?

Answer:

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, and excluded from enjoying social equality with better-off people in a better surrounding.
Social exclusion can be both a cause as well as a consequence of poverty in the rural sense.
It is a process through which individuals or groups are excluded from facilities, benefits and opportunities that others enjoy. An example is the prevalence of the caste system in India in which people belonging to certain castes are excluded from equal opportunities.

43) How is vulnerability to poverty measured?

Answer:

Vulnerability to poverty is a measure that describes the greater probability of certain communities or individuals becoming or remaining poor in the coming years.
Vulnerability is determined by the options available to different communities for finding an alternative living in terms of assets, education, health and job opportunities.
Vulnerability describes the greater probability of being more adversely affected than other people when bad times prevails for everybody, whether a flood or an earthquake or simply a shortage in the availability of jobs.

44) What is the trend of poverty estimates since 1973? Or Describe poverty trends in India since 1973.

Answer:

There was a substantial decline in poverty ratios in India from about 55 per cent in 1973 to 36 per cent in 1993.
The proportion of people below the poverty line further came down to less than 20 per cent in the next few years.
Although the percentage of people living under poverty declined, the number of poor remained stable at around 320 million for a long time. The latest estimates indicate a significant reduction in the number of poor to about 260 million.

45) How do income inequalities exist within a family?

Answer:

In poor families all suffer, but some suffer more than others.
Women, elderly people and female infants are systematically denied equal access to resources available to the family.
Therefore, women, children and old people are the poorest of the poor.

46) Which states are most vulnerable to poverty in India?

Answer:

The proportion of poor people is not the same in every state.
Poverty is still existing in Orissa, Bihar, Assam, Tripura and Uttar Pradesh.
Bihar and Orissa continue to be the two poorest states with poverty ratios of 47 and 43 per cent, respectively. Along with rural poverty, urban poverty also exists in these states.

47) Which states report a significant decline in poverty?

Answer:

There is a significant decline in poverty in Kerala, Jammu and Kashmir, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and West Bengal.
States like Punjab and Haryana have traditionally succeeded in reducing poverty with the help of high agricultural growth rates.
Kerala has focused on human resource development.
In West Bengal, land reform measures have helped in reducing poverty.
In Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, public distribution of food grains could have been the cause for the decline in poverty.

48) What are the major reasons for the less effectiveness of poverty alleviation programmes?

Answer:

It is due to a lack of proper implementation and right targeting.
There also has been a lot of overlapping schemes.
Despite good intentions, the benefits of these schemes have not fully reached the poor.

49) What challenges are ahead of India with respect to poverty alleviation?

Answer:

Wide disparities in poverty are visible between rural are urban areas and among different states.
Certain social and economic groups are more vulnerable to poverty.
Poverty reduction is expected to make better progress in the next ten to fifteen years.

50) How is poverty reduction expected to be better?

Answer:

This would be possible due to higher growth in income.
Universal free elementary education would make people literate and enable them to earn.
Increasing empowerment of the women and the economically weaker sections of society.

51) What are the main features of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005?

Answer:

MGNREGA 2005 was passed in September 2005.
The act provides 100 days of assured employment every year to every rural household in 200 districts.
Later, the scheme will be extended to 600 districts. One-third of the jobs could be reserved for women. If the government failed to provide employment, the salary for 100 days would be given.

2. People as Resource – Extra Question and answer – 2

October 15, 2025 by khushikhanera

Q41. Visit a nearby village or a slum area and write down a case study of a boy or girl of your age facing the same condition as Vilas or Sakal.

A typical case study can be written as follows. I visited my ancestral village and found some families in a similar plight to Vikas. One boy, Puran, who is 15 years old, works as a farm labourer. In fact, all his family members are farm labourers, as they are landless and uneducated. Since there is no secondary school in the village, Puran did not study beyond class five. He does not have enough clothes and whatever clothes he is wearing are also torn and worn out with use. He and his family members are undernourished. His father has already become a patient of tuberculosis and may not live long. He feels he will forever remain a poor person.

Q42. Based on the picture can you classify these activities into three sectors?

Activities into three sectors:
(i) The photo at the top is depicting agriculture, which is a Primary sector activity.
(ii) The photo in the middle is depicting manufacturing, which is a Secondary sector activity.
(iii) The photo at the bottom is depicting shipping, which is a Tertiary sector activity.

Q43. Say whether these activities are economic or non-economic activities.
(a) Vilas sells fish in the village market.
(b) Vilas cooks food for his family.
(c) Sakal works in a private firm.
(d) Sakal looks after his younger brother and sister.

(a) Economic activity.

(b) Non-economic activity.

(c) Economic activity.

(d) Non-economic activity.

Q44. What is the role of health in human capital formation?

Role of health in human capital formation are as follow:

Only a healthy person can work efficiently and with full potential.

A healthy person can work in a more effective manner.

A healthy person can work in a productive way and in this way it can contribute better in the development of the economy of the country.

The unhealthy person becomes a liability for the organization and country.

Thus for the development of human capital and country the health is the most important component.

Q45. In which field do you think India can build the maximum employment opportunity?

India can build the maximum employment opportunities in the agricultural sector and its based industries. Agriculture is the most labour absorbing sector of the economy. When the efficient and quality packaging happen with agricultural products then it can generate a lot of employment opportunities.

Q46. Can you suggest some measures in the education system to mitigate the problem of the educated unemployed?

Measures in the education system to mitigate the problem of the educated unemployed:

Make education at the secondary level more career-oriented, which would endow individuals with not only education but also the requisite skills for gaining successful employment.

Create a sort of screening process whereby each individual chooses subjects that suit his or her abilities.

The introduction of newer subjects and fields of study at the school level should be accompanied by a growth of job opportunities in the sectors that would employ the students electing to study such subjects.

Q47. Can you imagine some village which initially had no job opportunities but later came up with many?

Rampur was a small village which initially depended on agriculture which was also dependent on rainfall:
(i) Then electricity reached the village and people could irrigate their fields and could grow 2 to 3 crops in a year and get work.
(ii) Some people set up small scale industries which could be run by electricity and provided employment to people.
(iii) A school was established and now the population started to become educated and as a result they could seek employment in and outside the village. The village became prosperous and soon had better health, education, transport and job facilities.

Q48. Which capital would you consider the best – land, labour, physical capital and human capital? Why?

Human Capital is the best resource.

Physical Capital and land resources need human capital to become useful, those resources cannot become useful on their own.

Human capital utilises the land, labour and physical capital to achieve higher growth of the economy.

The Green Revolution in India is an example of human capital having better knowledge which led to increased production and thereby helping to achieve self-sufficiency in the domain of agriculture in India.

The IT revolution in India was led by the human capital. This goes on to prove the superiority of human capital resources over other types of resources.

A country like Japan has very little resources, yet they are a very developed country, this is the result of investment on its people by Japan, through healthcare and education.

These educated citizens of Japan made efficient utilization of other resources like capital and land.

The investment in human capital is through healthcare, training and education.

A healthier and educated person not only helps himself by earning higher incomes, but society also gains indirectly.

Q49. Why is human resource considered to be the best resource? Explain. Or Why is human resource superior to any other resource? Explain with the help of three arguments.

Human resource is considered to the best resource because
(i) It is a way of referring to country’s working people in terms of their existing productive skills and abilities.
(ii) Looking at the population in form of human resource emphasises its ability to contribute to the creation of the Gross National Product.
(iii) When existing human resource is developed by becoming more educated and healthy, we call it ‘human capital formation’ that adds to the productive power of country just like ‘physical capital’ formation.

Q50. Why do educated parents invest more heavily in their children’s education? Give three reasons.

Educated parents invest more heavily in their children’s education because
(i) They know the value of education and understands that education is important for the development of children.
(ii) They usually plan their children’s education more efficiently as they are experienced and understand the process of development.
(iii) Educated parents know that intellectual and mental level of uneducated children is very low and they do not know anything about the world.
(iv) Analytical thinking of uneducated children is also very low.

Q51. What is meant by ‘People as Resource’? Explain how is human resource different from other resources like land and physical capitals?

People as Resource is a way of referring to a country’s working people in terms of their existing productive skills and abilities.
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.

Q52. What is meant by economic activities and how are these classified? Give one example of each. Or Distinguish between market and non-market activities with three points of distinction, Or What are the two types of economic activities? State two characteristics of each.

An economic activity is an activity of providing, making, buying, or selling of commodities or services by people to satisfy their day-to-day needs of life. Economic activities include any activity that deals with the manufacturing, distributing, or utilising of products or services.
Activities that involve money, or the exchange of products or services, are economic activities.
The three types of economic activities are as follows:

Business: This economic activity provides goods and services to satisfy human needs on a daily basis with the aim of earning profits.

Profession: It can also be defined as an occupation or a professional job that offers specialised services in return for professional charges.

Employment:This activity is based on a contract between the company and the employee. Here, the employee performs duties for the company, and is paid (with wages or a salary) in return.

Or
The activities which focus on the production of goods and services and add value to the national income are referred to as economic activities. It has two parts – the market and non-market activities.
Or
Economic activities are those activities which add value to the national income.
Economic activities have two parts:
(i) Market activities.
(ii) Non-market activities.
Market activities:
(i) These are the activities performed for payment or profit.
(ii) They include production of goods and services.
Non-market activities:
(i) These involve production for self-consumption.
(ii) It includes consumption of primary production and production of fixed assets.

Q53. Explain the four requirements for the production of goods and services. What are the items that come under physical capital ?

The four main requirements for the production of goods and services are

The first requirement is land and other natural resources.

The second is labour i.e., people who carry out the work for production.

The third is physical capital i.e., varieties of inputs that are required for production such as fixed capital (Building, equipment, machinery and tools, etc.) and working capital (cash, raw materials, etc).

The fourth requirement is human capital, which may include technology, qualified manpower, etc. The items under physical capital are fixed capital and working capital.

Q54. What are the two types of unemployment found in rural areas? How does unemployment affect the overall growth of an economy? Explain by giving four points.

Two types of unemployment found in rural areas are

Seasonal Unemployment Agriculture being a seasonal activity, most of the labour is required during sowing and harvesting. At other times the labour is unemployed.

Disguised Unemployment This occurs when all the members of a family of a small farmer are working in the fields, but all may not be required. For instance, the farmer may require only five labourers for the work, but because eight are available, all are working. Actually they are working at less than full productivity. Unemployment affects the overall growth of an economy as
i) it is a wastage of manpower resource.
ii) it increases the economic overload.
iii) it tends to increase the number of dependent population.
iv) increase in unemployment is an indicator of a depressed economy.

Q55. Why are women employed in low paid work?

Education is one of the major determinants of the earning of an individual in the market. As a majority of the women in India have lesser education and lesser skill training than men due to traditional reasons, they are paid less than men or are employed in low paid work. Another reason is that jobs involving physical labour are entrusted to men only due to their physique; here women cannot do as much physical work as men. Women also generally have an additional responsibility of bringing up their family and children and so they cannot be as regular as men in their duties. So, they are often given non-critical and low paid duties.

Q56. Why is educated unemployment, a peculiar problem of India ?

Educated unemployment is a peculiar problem of urban India. This is the situation wherein a number of youth with matriculation, graduation and post graduation degrees are not able to find suitable jobs. The education system is such that even after about 18 years of education, a person is practically ‘unskilled’. So, a large number of unskilled educated youth get churned out of educational institutions year after year, but only a fraction of them are able to find suitable jobs. Among the remaining, some remain unemployed while others get employed in activities that are not as per their potential, i.e., they are underemployed. In effect, it is wastage of the resources spent on educating them.

Q57. What are the objectives of India’s national policy on health? Suggest two ways in which the policy objectives can be met.

The objectives of the national health policy (2002) are as follow

Enhancing the contribution of Private sector in providing health service for people who can afford to pay.

Giving primacy for prevention and first line curative initiative.

Emphasising rational use of drugs.

Increasing access to tried systems of traditional medicine.

Some of the policy objectives can be met through the following methods.

Increasing the number of trained nurses or midwives to one per village.

Making available generic medicines (instead of branded medicines) at all government dispensaries. There are many other methods for fulfilling the other policy objectives.

Q58. What is the mid-day meal scheme? Explain its purpose.

The Mid-day meal scheme was started to provide a cooked Mid-day meal on every school day with nutritional content of 450 calories, 12 gms proteins and other micro nutrients to all children studying in classes I to VIII in government, local body and government aided schools, etc. The basic purpose of this scheme was to improve enrollment, retention and attendance of the children in school and simultaneously improving nutritional levels among them. This encouraged poor children, belonging to disadvantaged sections, to attend school more regularly and help them concentrate on classroom activities. An additional purpose was to provide nutritional support to children of primary classes in drought affected areas during summer vacation.

Q59. Study the graph and answer the following questions.
(a) Has the literacy rates of the population increased since 1951 ?
(b) In which year, India has the highest literacy rates?
(c) Why literacy rate is high among the males of India?
(d) Why are women less educated than men?
(e) How would you calculate literacy rate in India?

Yes, the literacy rates of the population have increased since 1951 as shown below.

Q60. What do you understand by ‘people as a resource’?

‘People as a resource’ is a way of referring to a country’s working people in terms of their existing productive skills and abilities. Because the humans contribute to GDP, they are also considered as a resource.

Q61. What is the difference between disguised unemployment and seasonal unemployment?

Q62. “Sakal was meritorious and interested in studies from the beginning. After sometime he got a job in a private firm….. His boss acknowledged his services and rewarded him with a promotion.” “Vilas’s father Mahesh was a fisherman, who passed away when he was only two years old. His mother Geeta sold fish to earn money to feed the family. She could earn only Rs. 20 to 30 a day by selling fish. Vilas……was not interested in studies. He helped his mother in cooking and also looked after his younger brother Mohan. After his mother died, Vilas, too, was forced to sell fish in the same village. He, like his mother, earned only a meagre income.” Sakal and Vilas are friends. What has Vilas not got which Sakal had? Is it possible for Vilas to improve his financial position now? If so how? Explain in about 120 words.

Answer: Vilas has not received the same educational opportunities and job prospects that Sakal had. Sakal’s merit and interest in studies led to him securing a job in a private firm and subsequently earning a promotion. In contrast, Vilas faced a disadvantaged upbringing, with his family struggling to make ends meet through low-income activities like selling fish. Vilas did not have the chance to pursue education and career advancement as Sakal did.

However, it is possible for Vilas to improve his financial position at this point in his life. He can consider the following steps:

Education: Vilas could explore opportunities for adult education or vocational training programs to acquire new skills and qualifications that would make him eligible for better job prospects.

Entrepreneurship: With his experience in the fishing industry, Vilas could explore the possibility of starting a small business related to fisheries or any other local venture. This could potentially increase his income.

Government Support: He could inquire about government welfare programs, scholarships, or subsidies for adult learners or individuals looking to start their own businesses.

Financial Planning: Vilas should focus on efficient financial management and savings to gradually improve his financial stability over time.

While Vilas faced initial challenges, with determination and the right support, he can work towards a better financial future and break the cycle of meager income.

Q63. How is human resources different from other resources like land and physical capital?

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.

Q64. The quality of a population depends on which factors?

The quality of a population depends on literacy, skill development, life expectancy and health.

Q65. Distinguish between physical and human capital.

Physical capital includes the variety of inputs required at all stages of a production activity. This includes fixed capital and working capital in the form of machinery, land and building, raw materials, cash in hand, etc. In contrast, human capital is the stock of competencies, knowledge, social and personality attributes, including creativity, embodied in the ability to perform labour so as to produce economic value. Here, it refers to the persons performing the economic activity like labourers, knowledge persons and others involved in the activity.

2. People as Resource – Extra Question and answer – 1

October 15, 2025 by khushikhanera

Q1. For better economic growth, which investments in human resources should be done, either in modern technology, in healthcare and education, in food and drink or in transportation?

Only healthcare and education relate completely to human resources and so investment in this should be done for better economic growth.

Q2. Construction is an activity of which sector?

Construction is an activity of the Secondary sector.

Q3. Sprinkling crops with insecticide is an activity of which sector?

Since this is an activity that is a part of agriculture, it is an activity of the Primary sector.

Q4. Navodaya Vidyalayas have been started for which kind of school children?

Navodaya Vidyalayas have been started for talented school children residing in rural areas.

Q5. Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan is meant to provide what kind of education?

Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan is meant to provide elementary education (up to class VIII) to children in the age group of 6 to 14 years.

Q6. What is the age group of the population which is treated as the workforce?

The workforce population in India includes people from the age of 15 to 59 years. In other countries, this may be slightly different. For instance, it is 16 to 65 years in the USA.

Q7. Unemployment wastes what resources?

Unemployment refers to human beings and thus it washes human resources,

Q8. In which category of activity will you place a social worker educating poor children for free?

Since the social worker is not earning any money, his activity will be classified as a non-market activity.

Q9. Why do educated parents invest more in their children’s education and health?

Educated parents invest more in their children’s education and health because they realise that poor education and indifferent health is detrimental to their children’s well-being and future.

Q10. Is it correct that disguised unemployment is very common in urban areas?

No, it is incorrect, as disguised unemployment is very common in rural areas, particularly in agriculture.

Q11. Why are rural women employed at very low wages?

In rural areas, girls are not given a proper education or given skill training for doing jobs due to being involved in household duties and the view that they should not go out of the home to work. Due to these factors, when they need a job, they are not able to demand as high wages as men can

Q12. When we refer to a woman as a ‘resource’, we are referring to which of her skills?

When a person is referred to as a resource, it refers to that person’s productive skills and abilities.

Q13. Begging is which category of activity?

Begging does not involve the production of any goods or services and also does not add to national income. So, it is a non-economic activity.

Q14. In which area of India is the literacy rate the lowest?

The literacy rate in some areas of Madhya Pradesh is below 30 per cent, the lowest in India.

Q15. Which sector of the Indian economy absorbs the maximum labour?

Agriculture is the most labour absorbing sector of the economy.

Q16. Can finished goods produced by industry be treated as fixed capital?

Finished goods will be sold and replaced by other finished goods in the future and thus cannot be treated as fixed capital,

Q17. How will you define the life expectancy of a newborn baby?

Life expectancy is defined as the average length of life a newborn baby will live.

Q18. What is the major reason for education having an important role in human capital formation?

Education broadens the knowledge of people and provides them training, thus having an important role in human capital formation.

Q19. Is it true that the literacy rate of a population is the population multiplied by 100 divided by the number of literate people?

The literacy rate of a population is the number of literate people multiplied by 100 divided by the total population. So, the definition given in the question is incorrect.

Q20. Is drinking tea from a tea stall in the market a non-economic activity?

No, because when we drink tea from a tea stall, we pay for the tea and thus this is an economic activity.

Q21. Which person out of a farm labourer, a construction worker and a miner is having seasonal employment?

Miners and construction workers normally work in all seasons. Only a farm labourer will work for some part of the year and thus is having seasonal employment.

Q22. What is the meaning of vocational education?

‘Vocational education’ means ‘training for a specific vocation’ i.e. training for being employed in a particular job. It is education catering to the requirements of the economy.

Q23. What do you understand by the term ‘human resource’?

Human resource is the term used for people who constitute work force for an organisation or country by their existing productive skills and abilities.

Q24. What is human capital?

When investment is made in form of education and medical care, the quality of population improves and it became a great asset it is called human capital.

Q25. A person is making envelops with the help of papers. In which sector should his activity be included?

If a person makes envelops with the help of paper his activities will be included in the Secondary sector.

Q26. Which state in India has the highest literacy rate?

Kerala has the highest literacy rate in India.

Q27. What do you understand by the term “Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan”?

Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan is a flagship programme of the Government of India that aims to provide elementary education to all children in the age group of 6 to 14 years.

Q28. What is the name of the school set in each district by the government for talented students of the rural area?

Navodaya Vidyalaya.

Q29. Which is the most labour absorbing sector of the economy?

Primary sector is the most labour absorbing sector of the economy.

Q30. Name the two types of unemployment that exist in rural India.

Two types of unemployment exist in rural India are “seasonal” and disguised unemployment.

Q31. Name the phenomenon of shifting of labourers from rural area to urban area in search of work.

Shifting of labourers from rural area to urban area in search of work is known as ‘migration’.

Q32. What is the full form of GNP?

The full form of GNP is Gross National Product.

Q33. What is the current literacy rate of India according to the Census of 2011?

According to the Census of 2011, the literacy rate of India is 74 per cent.

Q34. Why is human capital the most important factor of production? Give three reasons.

Human capital is the most important factor of production for the following reasons
(i) Human capital refers to the people who possess the knowledge and enterprise to put together the other factors of production.
(ii) Investment in human capital yields a return just like an investment in physical capital.
(iii) It is essential, as physical capital cannot produce goods and services on its own

Q35. What are various activities which are classified into the three main sectors? Name each sector with suitable examples.

The three sectors of economic activities are
(a)Primary Sector which harvests or extracts natural products from the Earth; it involves the production of raw materials and food products. Examples include agriculture, dairy farming, mining and quarrying.
(b) Secondary Sector which involves the manufacture of finished goods. Examples include manufacturing and construction.
(c) Tertiary Sector include activities which support the Primary and Secondary sectors with services. Examples are transportation, banking, trade, insurance, legal services, administration and government.

Q36. What is the difference between economic activities and non-economic activities?

Economic Activities Activities which result in the production of goods and services which add to the national income are called economic activities. The activities classified in the three sectors are economic activities. Non-Economic Activities Those activities which are not performed for pay or profit, e.g., parents looking after their children or a mother cooking food for her family is a non-economic activity, as it is neither performed for pay or profit and nor does it add to the national income.

Q37. What role does education play in the growth of society?

Investment in educating children is similar to investment in land and capital, as it results in higher earnings for them and a greater contribution to society. Educated people make better use of resources like land and capital, leading to the development of society. Even in employment, better-educated people perform better in their jobs, leading to more efficient working of the organisation where they work.

Q38. Why does unemployment have a detrimental effect on the overall growth of an economy?

Unemployment tends to increases economic overload, i.e., the dependence of the unemployed persons on the people who are working goes up. This adversely affects the quality of life of people, as they have to live at subsistence level, which leads to poor health and even an increase in school dropouts. Ultimately this has a detrimental effect on the growth of the economy if it continues, as it wastes resources who can be gainfully employed.

Q39. Explain why Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) and literacy rate are considered

to be indicators of human resource development.

Infant Mortality Rate is a factor that can be associated with the well-being of a population. High infant mortality rates could reflect improper childcare owing to poverty, lack of education and other factors. Similarly, the literacy rate reflects the quality of a population. An illiterate and unhealthy population shows poor human development, whereas a literate and healthy population shows proper human development. Thus, infant mortality rate and literacy rate are considered to be indicators of human resource development.

Q40. Do you notice any difference between the two friends Vilas and Sakal? What are those?

The differences between the two friends Sakal and Vilas were:-

(i) Vilas’s father died when Vilas was two years old whereas Sakal was living with his parents.

(ii) Sakal went to school, but Vilas did not go to school.

(iii) Sakal was interested in studies whereas Vilas was not interested in studies.

(iv) Sakal did a – course in computers and became employed whereas Vilas remained illiterate and was not employed.

(v) The condition of Sakal and his family became better whereas Vilas and his family lived in poverty.

1. The Story of Palampur – Extra Question and answer- 3

October 15, 2025 by khushikhanera

Q.90. What are the merits and demerits of the Green Revolution?
Ans. Merits of the Green Revolution:

Higher yields: The introduction of High Yielding Variety (HYV) seeds has significantly increased crop production.
Modern machinery: Equipment such as tractors and harvesters has made farming tasks like ploughing and harvesting quicker and easier.
Increased income: Farmers can sell surplus food, leading to higher earnings.
Pest control: The use of pesticides and insecticides helps protect crops from pests.
Improved irrigation: Effective irrigation systems have enhanced crop production.

Demerits of the Green Revolution:

Soil fertility loss: Overuse of chemical fertilizers has degraded soil quality.
Water table depletion: Continuous groundwater extraction for irrigation has lowered the water table.
Groundwater pollution: Soluble chemical fertilizers can contaminate groundwater.
Harmful to soil life: Chemicals can kill beneficial bacteria and microorganisms essential for soil health.
Soil alkalinity: Excessive fertilizer use can lead to soil becoming alkaline, making it unsuitable for farming.

Q.91. What are the different ways of increasing production? Give examples.
Ans. The different ways of increasing production include:

Multiple cropping: This method involves growing more than one crop on the same piece of land within a year. It is the most common technique for enhancing production, especially when a good irrigation system is in place. For example, farmers often grow potatoes between two seasonal crops like rice and wheat.
Modern farming methods:These methods utilise advanced techniques and inputs to boost yields:
- High Yielding Variety (HYV) seeds replace traditional seeds to increase output.
- Chemical fertilisers are used instead of natural manure.
- Farmers apply insecticides, pesticides, and herbicides for better crop protection.
- Machinery such as tractors, harvesters, and threshers is employed to enhance efficiency.

Regions like Punjab, Haryana, and Western Uttar Pradesh were pioneers in adopting these modern techniques, leading to significant increases in crop yields. For instance, in Palampur, wheat yields rose from 1300 kg to 3200 kg per hectare with the use of HYV seeds.

Q.92. How do medium and large farmers obtain capital for farming? How is it different from small farmers?
Ans.
(i) Most small farmers have to borrow money to arrange for the capital. They borrow from large farmers or the village moneylenders or the traders who supply various inputs for cultivation. The rate of interest on such loans is very high and these farmers are in great stress to repay loans.
(ii) In contrast to the small farmers, medium and large farmers have their own savings from farming. They use this saving to arrange for next year’s capital and make high profits by selling surplus production and earning higher amounts. Sometimes, they deposit their savings in a bank or lend their money to small farmers or save their savings or buy cattle, truck or to set up shops.

Q.93. Which non-farm activities are practised in Palampur? Write a short note.
Ans. The non-farm activities of Palampur are:
(a) Dairy farming:
(i) People feed their buffaloes with various kinds of grass, jowar, bajra that grows during the rainy season.
(ii) The milk is sold in nearby villages.
(iii) Some people have set up collection centers and chilling centers from where milk is transported to far away towns and cities.
(b) Small-scale manufacturing:
(i) Manufacturing in Palampur involves very simple production methods and are done on a small scale.
(ii) They are carried out mostly at home.
(iii) This is mostly done with the help of family labor. Labor is rarely hired.
(c) Shopkeeping:
(i) Shopkeepers buy various goods from the wholesale market in the cities and sell them in the village.
(ii) Small general stores in the village sell a wide range of items like rice, wheat, sugar, oil, biscuits, soap, batteries, candles, toothpaste, pens, pencils, notebooks, and even some clothes.
(iii) Some families whose houses are closer to the bus stand has used a part of the space to open small shops. They sell eatables here.
(d) Transport:
(i) Rickshawallahs, tongawallahs, jeep, tractor, truck drivers and people driving the traditional bullock carts and bogeys are the people in transport services.
(ii) They carry people and goods from one place to another and in return get paid for it.
(iii) The number of people in transport services has risen over the last several years.
(iv) Self-employed: Some people have opened coaching institutes for various kinds of arts like computer training centers or stitching classes, etc. to obtain profit from a non-farm activity and train more and more people for better opportunities in their life.

Q.94. How is multiple cropping practiced in Palampur?
Ans. In Palampur, all land is actively cultivated, ensuring no land remains idle. The farming practices include:

During the rainy season (kharif), farmers grow jowar and bajra, primarily for cattle feed.
Between October and December, potatoes are cultivated.
In the winter season (rabi), fields are sown with wheat. Farmers retain enough wheat for their family’s consumption and sell any surplus at the market in Raiganj.
A portion of the land is dedicated to sugarcane, harvested annually and sold to traders in Shahpur.

The ability to grow multiple crops each year is largely due to a well-developed irrigation system. The introduction of electricity transformed irrigation methods:

Initially, farmers used Persian wheels to draw water from wells.
With electric tubewells, larger areas of land can be irrigated more effectively.
By the mid-1970s, the entire cultivated area of 200 hectares was irrigated.

Such advanced irrigation is not common across all Indian villages, making Palampur’s farming practices unique.

Q.95. What kind of labor is found in Palampur?
Ans. Farm laborers come either from landless families or families cultivating small plots of land. Unlike farmers, farm laborers do not have a right over the crops grown on the land. Instead they are paid wages by the farmer for whom they work. Sometimes laborers get meals also. Wages vary widely from region to region, from crop to crop, from one farm activity to another. There is also a wide variation in the duration of employment. A farm laborer might be employed on a daily basis, or for one particular farm activity like harvesting, or for the whole year.

Q.96. The main activity of the village of Palampur is:
(a) Manufacturing
(b) Dairy farming
(c) Farming
(d) Cattle rearing
Ans. (c)
The primary activity in Palampur is farming, which engages the majority of its population. While dairy farming and cattle rearing are significant, they are secondary to the overall farming activity.

Q.97. Which Kharif crop is grown during the rainy season?
(a) Jowar
(b) Rice
(c) Millets
(d) Sugar
Ans. (a)
Rice is a primary Kharif crop that thrives in the rainy season, while Jowar and Millets are also grown but are less common during this period.

Q.98. HYV means:
(a) High Yoghurt Variety
(b) High Yielding Variety
(c) Highly Yellow Variety
(d) Highly Young Variety
Ans. (b)
HYV stands for High Yielding Variety, which refers to seeds that produce a greater yield compared to traditional varieties.

Q.99. Two major factors of production are:
(a) Land and capital
(b) Labor and land
(c) Capital and labor
(d) Land and technology
Ans. (a)
Labor and land are fundamental factors of production, as they are essential for any agricultural or industrial activity.

Q.100. What capital is needed to set up a jaggery manufacturing unit?
(a) Fixed capital
(b) Physical capital
(c) Working capital
(d) Recurring capital
Ans. (c)
Setting up a jaggery manufacturing unit primarily requires working capital to cover operational costs, such as raw materials and labor.

Q.101. If more than two crops are grown on the same piece of land during a year, it is called:
(a) Green Revolution
(b) Multiple Cropping
(c) Modern Farming
(d) Subsistence Farming
Ans. (b)
Multiple cropping refers to the practice of growing more than two crops on the same land within a year, enhancing productivity and resource use.

1. The Story of Palampur – Extra Question and answer- 2

October 15, 2025 by khushikhanera

Q.51. What does ‘yield’ mean?
Ans. Yield refers to the amount of crop produced on a specific piece of land during one growing season.

Q.52. How did Green Revolution benefit the Indian farmer?
Ans. The Green Revolution in the late 1960s significantly benefited Indian farmers by introducing high yielding variety (HYV) seeds. Key advantages include:

Increased Production: HYV seeds allowed farmers to grow much larger quantities of grain from the same piece of land.
Higher Surplus: Farmers could sell more surplus produce in the market, improving their income.
Modern Techniques: The revolution encouraged the use of irrigation, chemical fertilizers, and pesticides, which enhanced crop yields.

However, these methods also required more water and resources, leading to concerns about sustainability.

Q.53. How were higher yields of wheat and rice possible?
Ans. Higher yields of wheat and rice were achieved through several key factors:

High Yielding Variety (HYV) seeds: These seeds produce more grain per plant.
Irrigation: Reliable water supply is essential for crop growth.
Chemical fertilisers: These enhance soil nutrients, promoting better growth.
Pesticides: Used to protect crops from pests and diseases.

Farmers in regions like Punjab and Haryana were early adopters of these methods, leading to significant increases in wheat production.

Q.54. How is land resource affected by modem farming methods?
Ans. Land is a natural resource that must be used carefully. Modern farming methods have led to significant overuse of this resource.

Scientific reports indicate that these methods can degrade the natural resource base.
The Green Revolution has often resulted in a loss of soil fertility due to excessive use of chemical fertilisers.
Continuous extraction of groundwater for irrigation has caused a decline in the water table.
Environmental resources like soil and groundwater take years to build up, and once damaged, they are hard to restore.
It is crucial to protect the environment to ensure sustainable agricultural development.

Q.55. How do chemical fertilizers affect the soil?
Ans. Chemical fertilizers supply minerals that dissolve in water and are quickly accessible to plants. However, these nutrients:

Are not retained in the soil for long periods.
Can leach away, leading to pollution of groundwater, rivers, and lakes.
May harm beneficial bacteria and microorganisms in the soil.

As a result, the soil may become less fertile over time.

Q.56. Who are the farm laborers working for medium and large farmers?
Ans. Farm laborers come either from landless families or families cultivating small plots of land. Unlike farmers, farm laborers do not have a right over the crops grown on the land, they are paid wages by the farmer.

Q.57. How do farm laborers get wages in Palampur?
Ans. Wages can be in cash or kind (crop). Sometimes laborers get meals also. Wages vary widely from crop to crop, from one farm activity to another.

Q.58. How small farmers manage the capital needed for farming?
Ans. Small farmers have to borrow money to arrange for the capital.

Q.59. From where small farmers borrow money?
Ans. Small farmers either borrow from large farmers or the village moneylenders or the traders who supply various inputs for cultivation. The rate of interest on such loans is very high which makes it difficult for them to repay.

Q.60. How do medium and large farmers manage capital?
Ans. The medium and large farmers manage their capital effectively through the following methods:

They utilise their own savings from farming.
This allows them to arrange the necessary capital for future farming seasons.
By selling surplus produce, they generate additional income.
Some may also invest in non-farm activities to diversify their income sources.

Q.61. What is the basic difference between two factors of production-land and capital?
Ans. Land is a natural resource, while capital is man-made. Here are the key differences:

Land is fixed in supply; it cannot be increased.
Capital can be increased through investment and savings.
Proper management of land is essential for sustainable production.

Q.62. What do large and medium farmers do with their surplus farm products?
Ans. Large and medium farmers typically manage their surplus farm products in the following ways:

They sell the surplus products to generate income.
A portion of the earnings is saved for future investments.
These savings may be used to purchase capital for the next farming season.
Some farmers invest in cattle, trucks, or even set up shops.

This approach helps them build their capital for both farming and non-farming activities.

Q.63. Name the non-farm activities of Palampur?
Ans. Non-farm activities in Palampur include:

Dairy farming
Small-scale manufacturing
Trade and shopkeeping
Providing transport services

Q.64. How is dairy farming practiced in Palampur?
Ans. Dairy farming is a common practice among many families in Palampur. Here are some key points about how it is conducted:

Families primarily feed their buffalos with various grasses and crops like jowar and bajra, especially during the rainy season.
The milk produced is sold in Raiganj, a nearby village.
Traders from Shahpur have established collection and chilling centres in Raiganj.
From these centres, the milk is transported to distant towns and cities.

Q.65. What kind of manufacturing units are set up in Palampur?
Ans. In Palampur, manufacturing is characterised by:

Simple production methods that are easy to understand.
Small-scale operations, often conducted at home or in fields.
Reliance on family labour, with minimal hiring of external workers.

Q.66. What kinds of shops are set up in Palampur?
Ans. There are small general stores selling items like rice, wheat, sugar, tea, oil, biscuits, soaps, toothpaste, batteries, candles, notebooks, pens, pencils and even some clothes. There are shops for eatables too.

Q.67. Which means of transport are used by people of Palampur?
Ans. There are rickshawallahs, tongawallahs, jeeps, tractors, trucks, bullock carts and bogeys to transport goods and people to nearby village and towns of Palampur.

Q.68. Name the main and other activities of the village of Palampur.
Ans. Farming is the main activity in Palampur. Other activities are small -scale manufacturing, dairy, transport, etc. They also have small shops selling a wide range of items like rice, wheat, sugar, tea, oil, biscuits, soaps, etc.

Q.69. What all facilities are available in the village?
Ans. In Palampur, the following facilities are available:

Electricity: Most houses have electric connections, which power tubewells for irrigation and support small businesses.
Education: The village has two primary schools and one high school.
Healthcare: There is a government-run primary health centre and a private dispensary for medical treatment.
Transport: A well-developed system of roads connects Palampur to nearby towns, facilitating transport.

Q.70. What are the main factors for production of goods and services?
Ans. The main factors for the production of goods and services are:

Land: This includes natural resources such as water, forests, and minerals.
Labour: The workforce needed for production, which can vary from educated individuals to manual workers.
Physical Capital: This refers to the tools, machinery, and buildings used in production, divided into fixed capital (long-term assets) and working capital (raw materials and cash).
Knowledge and Entrepreneurship: The ability to combine land, labour, and capital effectively to produce goods or services.

Q.71. State the various ways of growing more crop from the same land by the people of Palampur.
Ans. To grow more than one crop on a piece of land during the year:
(i) Modern farming methods like HYV seeds, pesticides, chemical fertilizers, etc. were used.
(ii) Green Revolution in the late 1960s introduced to the farmers, the cultivation of wheat and rice by using high yielding variety seeds.

Q.72. What is the ‘multiple cropping’ system?
Ans. Multiple cropping is a farming practice that involves growing more than one crop on the same piece of land within a year. This method is widely used to:

Increase overall production from the land.
Maximise the use of available resources.
Enhance the farmers’ income.

In Palampur, for example, farmers typically grow at least two main crops each year, often adding potatoes as a third crop.

Q.73. State the main reasons why farmers are able to grow three different crops in a year in Palampur.
Ans. The main reasons farmers in Palampur can grow three different crops each year are:

Well-developed irrigation system: This allows for efficient water supply to crops.
Early electricity access: This transformed irrigation methods, replacing traditional Persian wheels.
Electric-run tubewells: These can irrigate larger areas more effectively than older methods.

By the mid-1970s, the entire cultivated area of 200 hectares was irrigated, enabling multiple cropping.

Q.74. What do you understand by the term ‘Green Revolution’?
Ans. The Green Revolution began in India in the late 1960s, transforming agriculture. Key points include:

Farmers adopted High Yielding Variety (HYV) seeds for crops like wheat and rice.
These seeds produced significantly higher yields compared to traditional seeds.
To achieve optimal results, farmers required ample water, chemical fertilizers, and pesticides.
While it increased food production, it also led to concerns about environmental sustainability.

Q.75. What are the harmful effects of chemical fertilizers?
Ans. Chemical fertilizers are designed to provide essential minerals that dissolve in water, making them readily available to plants. However, they can have several harmful effects:

Pollution: They may leach from the soil, contaminating groundwater, rivers, and lakes.
Soil Health: These fertilizers can kill beneficial bacteria and microorganisms in the soil, leading to reduced fertility.
Long-term Effects: Continuous use can degrade soil health, making it less fertile over time.

Ultimately, reliance on chemical fertilizers can harm the environment and agricultural sustainability.

Q.76. How did the spread of electricity help farmers in Palampur?
Ans. Electricity has significantly benefited farmers in Palampur in the following ways:

Tubewells powered by electricity have enhanced irrigation, leading to increased crop yields.
Higher yields result in more income for farmers, allowing for further investments.
Farmers have established shops, sugarcane machines, and small-scale industries to generate additional income.

Q.77. Is it important to increase the area under irrigation and why?
Ans. Increasing the area under irrigation is crucial for several reasons:

It leads to higher crop yields, helping to meet the food demands of the growing population.
Increased production can enhance farmers’ income, providing them with better financial stability.
More irrigation creates additional employment opportunities in farming and related sectors.
Supplementary income allows farmers to invest in non-farm activities, diversifying their sources of revenue.

Q.78. Why are the wages for farm laborers in Palampur less than the minimum wages?
Ans. The wages for farm labourers in Palampur are lower than the minimum wages due to several factors:

High competition for jobs: There are many labourers and not enough work, leading to lower wages.
Land ownership: Most land is owned by landlords who prefer to pay the least possible wages to maximise their profits.
Illiteracy: Many farmers are unaware of the minimum wage laws set by the government.

Q.79. Describe the work of a farmer with 1 hectare of land or small holding.
Ans. The farmer managing a smallholding of 1 hectare of land typically operates with minimal resources. Key aspects of their work include:

Utilising traditional seeds and relying on animals for ploughing.
Employing less labour and avoiding machines.
Minimising the use of chemical fertilisers and manure.
Conducting manual irrigation and receiving assistance from family members during harvesting.
Consuming the majority of the produce within the family.

Q.80. On what terms did Savita get a loan from Tejpal Singh? Would Savita’s condition be different if she could get a loan from the bank at a lower rate of interest?
Ans. Tejpal Singh, a large farmer, provided Savita with a loan at an interest rate of 24 per cent for four months, which is considered very high. In addition to the loan, Savita agreed to work on his field as a farm labourer during the harvest season for Rs. 35 per day, a low wage. If Savita had been able to secure a loan from a bank at a lower interest rate, her situation would have been different. A bank loan would typically come with a lower interest rate and without the requirement to work under harsh conditions.

Q.81. What can be done by the government to start more non-farm activities in the villages to improve the farmers’ conditions?
Ans.
(i) The government should provide capital to the villagers for starting new business like shops, dairy farming, transport, etc.
(ii) Banks should be set up in the villages to provide loans to the farmers at low interest rates.
(iii) People should be made literate so that they are qualified to start a new business like computer training courses in computer centers.

Q.82. Differentiate between physical and human capital.
Ans.
(i) Physical capital is the variety of inputs required at every stage during production whereas labor, which works on the physical capital, is called human capital.
(ii) Tools and machines, buildings etc. can be used in production over many years whereas human capital can produce the output only if they have experience to do a particular work.
(iii) Tools, machines, generators etc. are the examples of physical capital and human capital can belong to any profession like a farmer, a farm laborer, a factory worker etc.

Q.83. Explain the types of activities necessary for production.
Ans. Types of activities necessary for production:

Farming: This is the primary activity for producing and selling crops.
Non-farm activities: These include small-scale manufacturing, transport, shopkeeping, and dairy farming, which support other production needs in the village.
Cattle-rearing: Some individuals engage in cattle-rearing to provide milk, generating additional income for their families.

Q.84. What means of transportation are used in the village of Palampur?
Ans. In the village of Palampur, various modes of transport are utilised:

Bullock carts and tongas for local transport.
Rickshaws for short-distance travel.
Motor vehicles such as motorcycles, jeeps, tractors, and trucks.

These vehicles are essential for:

Transporting people and goods.
Carrying jaggery and other products to nearby farms and markets.
Moving surplus crops to neighbouring villages for sale.

Q.85. What kind of people live in the village Palampur?
Ans. This village has about 450 families belonging to several different castes. The 80 upper caste families own the majority of land in the village. Their houses, some of them quite large, are made of brick with cement plastering. The SCs (dalits) comprise one-third of the population and live in one corner of the village and in much smaller homes, some of which are of mud and straw.

Q.86. What are the ill-effects of Green Revolution?
Ans. The Green Revolution has led to several negative impacts on agriculture:

Soil Fertility Loss: Increased use of chemical fertilisers has degraded soil quality.
Water Table Depletion: Continuous extraction of groundwater for irrigation has lowered the water table.
Environmental Damage: Resources like soil and groundwater take years to develop; once lost, they are hard to restore.

It is crucial to manage these resources carefully to ensure sustainable agricultural development.

Q.87. Describe the condition of landless farmer like Dala, of Palampur village.
Ans. Dala is a landless farm labourer in Palampur who works for daily wages. His situation is challenging because:

He must constantly search for work.
The government sets the minimum wage for farm labourers at Rs. 300 per day, but Dala only earns Rs. 160.
There is intense competition among labourers for jobs, leading many to accept lower wages.
Dala and his fellow labourers, like Ramkali, are among the poorest in the village.

Finding work is increasingly difficult, especially as large farmers hire fewer labourers.

Q.88. How surplus farm products are sold by the farmers?
Ans. Let us assume that farmers have produced wheat on their land. They retain a part of the wheat for the family consumption and sell the surplus wheat. Small farmers like Savita have little surplus wheat because their total production is small and from this a substantial share is kept for their own family needs. The medium and large farmers supply wheat to the market which the traders buy and sell it further to shopkeepers in the towns and cities.

Q.89. Define Physical Capital, Fixed Capital, Working Capital and Human Capital with examples.
Ans.
(i) Physical capital: Physical capital is the variety of inputs required at every stage during production. It includes fixed capital and working capital.
(ii) Fixed capital: Tools and machines range from a plough to a tractor and sophisticated machines like generators, turbines, computers, etc. The tools, machines, buildings which can be used in production over many years are called fixed capital.
(iii) Working capital: Production requires a variety of raw materials. It requires money to make payments and buy other necessary items. Raw materials and money in hand are called working capital. Unlike tools and machines, these are used up in production.
For example: Yarn required by a weaver; clay used by a potter.
(iv) Human capital: One needs knowledge and enterprise to be able to put together land, labor and physical capital and produce an output; either to use it by oneself or to sell in the market. This is known as human capital, which enables better production with human skill and knowledge.

1. The Story of Palampur – Extra Question and answer- 1

October 15, 2025 by khushikhanera

01.Which crop out of sugarcane, bajra, or wheat are Kharif crops?

Bajra is a rapidly growing warm-weather crop suitable for areas with 40 to 75 cm of annual rainfall.
BajraThus, it is suitable for the Kharif season, which is between July and October. Wheat is not suitable for warm weather and sugarcane requires a full year to grow.

Q2. Identify which out of land, seeds, machinery, and building is in the category of working capital.

Seeds, once used, cannot be used again and so they fall in the category of working capital. Land, machinery, and building are fixed capital, as they can be used again and again.

Q3. What are the constituents of modern farming methods?

The constituents of modern farming methods are the use of a high-yielding variety of seeds, using chemical fertilizers and pesticides, as well as using plenty of water for irrigation.

Q4. Sugarcane crushing undertaken in the village is what type of activity?

Sugarcane crushing undertaken in the village is the first step in the manufacture of jaggery from raw sugarcane. Thus, it is a manufacturing activity.

Q5. What is the main economic activity in village Palampur?

The main economic activity in village Palampur is agriculture.
Agriculture

Q6. What are the factors of production?

Land, labour, physical capital, and human capital are the factors of production.

Q7. What was the major advantage of using HYV seeds in agriculture?

The major advantage of using HYV seeds in agriculture is growing more crops on the same piece of land.

Q8. When large and medium farmers sell their surplus produce in the market, what are the purposes to which they use this income?

A part of the earnings is saved and kept as capital for the next season. Thus, they are able to arrange for the capital for farming from their own savings. Some farmers also use the savings to buy cattle, trucks or use it in other non-agricultural activities.

Q9. What are the non-farming activities being carried out in Palampur?

Some of the non-farming activities being carried out in Palampur include manufacturing, transport, shopkeeping, and computer education.

Q10. Who runs the Primary Health Centre in Palampur?

The Primary Health Centre in Palampur is run by the government.

Q11. What is multiple cropping?

Multiple cropping means that we grow more than one crop on the same piece of land in a year.
Multiple cropping

Q12. Why is loss of soil fertility occurring as an effect of the Green Revolution?

During the Green Revolution, due to the extra crops produced which utilized the soil nutrients fully, no nutrients were left for the next crop.

Q13. What is the disadvantage in using chemical fertilizers in modern farming methods?

The chemicals kill bacteria and microbes, which are essential for soil fertility.

Q14. Which farmers out of landless farmers, small farmers or medium and large farmers, hire labour to work in the fields?

Landless farmers are hired as labourers are hired. Small farmers do not need additional labour, as they work with their family members in the fields. Only the medium and large farmers have extensive work, which makes them hire additional labour.

Q15. What is the standard unit for the measurement of agricultural land?

Hectare is the standard unit for the measurement of agricultural land. Bigha and Guintha are local units used in different parts of India.

Q16. Is it correct that more than half the farmers of Palampur cultivate small plots of land less than 10 hectares in size?

This is incorrect because more than half the farmers of Palampur are small farmers. The plots of these farmers are less than 2 hectares, not less than 10 hectares.

Q17. What is the major reason for people to migrate from rural areas to urban areas?

They migrate in search of better employment opportunities.

Q18. Which crop out of rice, sugarcane or wheat is a Kharif crop?

Rice is a Kharif crop.
Rice crop

Q19. Is it true that foodgrains output in India has increased significantly in the last few years because larger areas of land have been brought under cultivation?

This is not true, because the food grains output has increased due to the use of modern methods of agriculture.

Q20. In 2003, the area cultivated by small farmers in India was how much percentage of the total cultivated area?

The area cultivated by small farmers in India was 36 percent of the total cultivated area.

Q21. Is it true that running a collection cum milk chilling centre in Raiganj is a trading activity?

Yes, since the milk chilling centre is buying the milk from the villagers and selling it to the dairy in the towns/cities. Thus, it is a trading activity.

Q22. Which items out of a tractor, clay, HYV seeds, or a truck will be considered as fixed capital for non-farm activities?

Only a truck is not used in non-farming activity and it is a fixed capital to be used again and again for the transportation of goods.

Q23. Which organizations in India have been developing High Yielding Varieties of seeds?

The development of High Yielding Varieties (HYV) seeds is a research activity, which can only be carried out in research laboratories.

Q24. Can we consider rainfall as a source of irrigation?

No, because irrigation implies the provision of water to crops artificially, whereas rainfall is natural.

Q25. Name the Indian states who were first to try out the modern farming methods in India.

Farmers of Punjab, Haryana, and Western Uttar Pradesh were the first to try out modern farming methods in India.

Q26. What term is used for measuring the crop produced on a given piece of land during a single year?

Yield is measured as a crop produced on a given piece of land during a single season.

Q27. During which season do farmers of Palampur grow jowar and bajra?

During the rainy season (Kharif) farmers of Palampur grow jowar and bajra.

Q28. In which season is wheat grown in Palampur village?

During the rabi season (winter) wheat is grown in Palampur village.

Q29. What are ‘Bigha’ and ‘Guintha’?

Bigha and Guintha are the measuring units of land area in villages.

Q30. What do you understand by the term “Marginal farmers”?

Marginal farmers are those who do not have sufficient land for farming.
Marginal Farmers

Q31. Which is the most labour absorbing sector of the economy?

Agriculture is the most labour absorbing sector of the economy.

Q32. Which state of India has the highest consumption of chemical fertilizer in India?

Punjab has the highest consumption of chemical fertilizer in India.

Q33. What percentage of the total land area is cultivated by medium and large farmers in India?

64 percent total land area is cultivated by medium and large farmers in India.

Q34. Where do most of the small farmers borrow money to arrange for capital in Palampur?

Most of the small farmers borrow money from village moneylenders in Palampur.

Q35. List the changes in Palampur due to the advent of electric power in the village.

The advent of electric power in Palampur has brought about the following changes:
(i) Irrigation is now done through electric run tube wells, which has reduced the dependence of the farmers upon rainfall and enables larger areas of land to be irrigated.
(ii) Irrigation improvement allowed farmers to grow three different crops in a year.
(iii) It enabled Mishrilal to set up a sugarcane crushing machine so that he can sell jaggery manufactured by him to the traders at Shahpur.

Q36. The farm labourers in Palampur usually earn less than the minimum wage. Why?

The use of modem agricultural implements like tractors, thrashers, and harvesters by the large and medium farmers has reduced the amount of agricultural labour required. So, there is competition for work among the agricultural labourers in the village. Knowing that the supply is much more than the demand, the labourers themselves agree to work for wages that are lower than minimum wages. The farmers exploit this condition of excess labour supply and force labourers to work for low wages.

Q37. What is the difference between multiple cropping and modern farming method?

Multiple Cropping: To grow more than one crop on a piece of land during the year is known as multiple cropping. It is the most common way of increasing production on a given piece of land. Modern Farming Method The farmers of Punjab, Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh use HYV seeds, tube wells for irrigation, chemical fertilizers, and pesticides, as well as machinery like tractors and threshers to increase production. All these measures comprise what is known as modern farming methods.

Q38. Why are farm labourers like Dala and Ramkali poor?

(i) Dala and Ramkali are landless farm labourers who work on daily wages in Palampur.
(ii) The minimum wages for farm labourers set by the government is 115 per day, they get only 80.
(iii) There is heavy competition for work among the farm labourers in Palampur, so people agree to work for lower wages.
(iv) They remain out of work for most parts of the year and have to take loans from the moneylender to fulfill their needs. Due to this seasonal unemployment, they remain poor and are unable to repay the loan, and fall into a debt trap.

Q39. Gosaipur and Majauli are two villages in North Bihar. Out of a total of 850 households in the two villages, there are more than 250 men who are employed in rural Punjab and Haryana or in Delhi, Mumbai, Surat, Hyderabad, or Nagpur. Such migration is common in most villages across India. Why do people migrate? Can you describe based on your imagination the work that the migrants of Gosaipur and Majauli might do at the place of destination?

Most people migrate in search of employment or better job opportunities to the cities like Mumbai, Delhi, etc, or to the prosperous agricultural regions like Punjab and Haryana to work as farm labourers.
(i) This migration usually takes place when a person is unemployed or in extreme poverty, which may be due to lack of land, displacement, negative impact of natural disasters like drought or floods, etc.
(ii) The migrants from Gosaipur and Majauli who went to cities will probably find work as casual labourers, industrial workers, street hawkers, rickshaw pullers, headload workers, or as servants in homes and hotels, etc.
(iii) Those who went to rural areas of Punjab and Haryana will probably work as farm labourers since agriculture is the main occupation of the rural people in these states.

Q40. In what way are Kareem’s capital and labour different from Mishrilal?

Both have fixed capital in the form of machines, but Kareem has a larger fixed capital because he has assets in the form of computers which are more expensive than the sugarcane crushing machine. Kareem has also employed educated and qualified computer teachers, whereas Mishrilal’s labour is mainly unskilled labour.

Q41. Why didn’t someone start a computer centre earlier? Discuss the possible reasons.

Reasons, why someone didn’t start a computer centre, may be any of the following:
(i) As very few educated people were there in the village, there was not any demand for computer courses.
(ii) The villagers were not aware of the employment potential of computer courses and so nobody thought that such a business could be successful.
(iii) Teaching faculty for computer courses was not available in the village earlier.

Q42. What is Kishora’s fixed capital?

Kishora’s fixed capital is the buffalo and wooden cart which he has purchased with the bank loan.

Q43. Modern farming methods require more inputs that are manufactured in industry. Do you agree?

Yes, it is true that modern farming methods require more inputs that are manufactured in industry.
Example: HYV seeds, insecticides, pesticides, and chemical fertilizers needed for increasing the yield per hectare are all manufactured in industries.

Q44. How did the spread of electricity help farmers in Palampur?

(i) Most of the houses in Palampur have electric connections.
(ii) Electricity powers all the tube wells in the fields that help to irrigate much larger areas of land more effectively as compared to the traditional Persian wheel drawn by bullocks. Since the entire cultivated area of 200 hectares had come under irrigation farmers did not have to depend on rainfall and could grow multiple crops.
(iii) It helps small businesses run their machinery like Mishrilal’s sugarcane crushing machine.

Q45. Is it important to increase the area under irrigation? Why?

Yes, it is important to increase the area under irrigation because water is very essential for agriculture. In India, the rainfall is unevenly distributed in the country and if rainfall is less, then production will be low, and they will be only able to grow one crop in a season.

Q46. In your region, talk to two labourers Choose either farm labourers or labourers working at construction sites. What wages do they get? Are they paid in cash or kind? Do they get work regularly? Are they in debt?

(i) In our region, there are two labourers namely Ram Khilawan and Basanti, who are husband and wife working as casual constructing labourers. Due to drought, they had to leave their village in search of employment. They get approximately 50 to 60 rupees per day which they are paid in cash.
(ii) They do not get work regularly because there are a large number of workers seeking employment, due to which they agree to work for low wages. Because of irregular work and low wages they are unable to fulfill their needs and are in debt.

Q47. “Dala is a landless farm labourer who works on daily wages in Palampur. The minimum wage for a farm labourer set by the government is 115 per day, but Dala gets only 80. There is heavy competition for work among the farm labourers in Palampur so people agree to work for lower wages.” Here Dala is being exploited by the large farmer due to competition among the labourers. What principle is the large farmer violating? How can this malpractice be corrected

In this case, the principle of the minimum wage to be paid to the labourer is being violated by the big farmers. This malpractice can only be controlled by the local authorities who can check the exploitation of landless labourers like Dala in the hands of large farmers.

4. Food Security in India – Short Questions answer

October 15, 2025 by khushikhanera

Q1: How is food security affected during a calamity?

Ans: During a calamity, the total production of food grains decreases. It creates a shortage of food in the affected areas. Due to the shortage of food, the prices of commodities go up. At higher prices, some people cannot afford to buy the food. If such a calamity happens in a very wide area or is stretched over a long time, it may lead to a situation of starvation.

Q2: ‘Food security is essential in India.’ Justify the statement. [CBSE 2011]

Ans: (i) Food security is essential in a country to ensure that food is available at all times and thereby to avoid starvation like a situation. The people living below the poverty line might be food insecure all the time while better-off people might also turn food insecure during famine, calamity or disaster.

(ii) Due to natural calamity such as drought, famine, etc. total production of food grains decreases. It creates a shortage of food in the affected areas. Due to a shortage of food, the prices go up. At high prices, some people cannot afford to buy food. If such calamity happens in a very wide area or is stretched over a longer time period it may cause a situation of starvation.

(iii) Massive starvation might take a turn of famine. The most devastating famine that occurred in India was the famine of Bengal in 1943. This famine killed thirty lakh people in the province of Bengal. If food security were there, the famine-like situation would have been averted easily.

Q3: What is a famine? Who were the most affected by the famine of Bengal?

Ans: A famine is characterized by widespread deaths due to starvation and epidemics caused by the forced use of contaminated water or decaying food and loss of body resistance due to weakening from starvation. The people who were the most affected by the famine in Bengal were agricultural laborers, fishermen, transport workers and other casual laborers.

Q4: ‘The food insecure people are disproportionately large in some regions of the country.’ Explain. [HOTS]

Ans: In certain parts of the country, there is a significantly higher proportion of individuals facing food insecurity, mainly because of regional differences in economic growth and living standards. These areas encompass states with low economic development and widespread poverty, remote tribal regions, and areas prone to natural disasters.

Q5: Mention the activities of the Food Corporation of India. [CBSE 2014]

Ans: The functions/activities of the Food Corporation of India are:

It safeguards the interests of the farmers by providing them with remunerative prices for their foodgrain.
It maintains an adequate level of food grains to ensure stocks are available in any mishappening or calamity.
It allows the government to intervene in the food grains market for price stabilization.

Q6: Why is buffer stock created by the government? Give any three reasons. [2011 (T-2)]

Ans: Buffer stock is created due to the following reasons:

To distribute food grains in deficit areas.
To distribute food grains among the poorer strata of society at prices lower than market price.
To resolve the problem of shortage of food during adverse weather conditions or during periods of calamity.

Q7: What are the essentials of a food security system?

Ans: Essentials of the Food Security System are the following:

Increasing domestic production of food to meet its growing demand.
Food should be available in adequate quantity as well as to meet nutritional requirements.
Food should be available at reasonable prices.
A buffer stock of food should be maintained.

Q8: How is food security affected during a natural calamity?

Ans: In times of any natural calamity, say a drought, the total production of foodgrains declines. It creates a shortage of food, particularly in the affected areas. Due to the shortage of food, the prices go up in the market. At high prices, poor people may not afford to buy food. If such a calamity occurs in a large area, it may lead to starvation.

Q9: Why is there a need for self-sufficiency in food grains in India?

Ans: The need for self-sufficiency in foodgrains arises from the following:

to feed the growing population
to fight against any natural calamity
to reduce import of foodgrains
to control prices of foodgrains

Q10: The task of attaining self-sufficiency in foodgrains in the future seems to be difficult. Give two reasons in support of this statement.

Ans: The task of attaining self-sufficiency in food grains in future seems to be difficult in India. It is because:

There has been a gradual shift from the cultivation of food crops to the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, oilseeds, and crops that act as industrial raw materials.
More and more land is being used for the construction of factories, residential buildings, etc.

Q11: Mention two objectives of PDS. [Important]

Ans: Two Objectives of PDS.

To provide essential goods at subsidized prices to the consumers.
To control prices of essential commodities.

Q12: Why is the procurement of food grains done in India?

Ans: The government procures food grains at pre-announced prices to provide incentives to farmers for raising the production of crops. The food procured by the government is distributed among the poorer section of society through fair-price shops at subsidized prices.

Q13: Mention two reasons behind excessive buffer stocks of foodgrains.

Ans: Two Reasons for Excessive Buffer Stock:

There has been an increase in the minimum support price.
The offtake of food grains under PDS has been declining.

Q14: State two consequences of the excess reserves of food grains in India.

Ans: Two Consequences of Excessive Buffer Stock:

To enable the distribution of food grains to regions experiencing deficits and to provide them at reduced prices to economically disadvantaged communities.
Surplus buffer stocks can be redirected to regions susceptible to calamities or experiencing shortages of specific crops.

Q15: Mention two measures undertaken by the government to reduce the stock of food grains.

Ans: Measures to Reduce Buffer Stock.

Open sale at prices much below the economic cost.
Increase in BPL allocation from 28 kg to 35 kg per month per family.

Q16: What is the Public Distribution System? [CBSE 2010]

Ans: The Food Corporation of India procures food at pre-announced prices. The state governments distribute food grains to the poor through ration shops at subsidized prices fixed by the government. This is called the Public Distribution System. There are about 4.6 lakh ration shops all over the country. Ration shops are also known as fair-price shops.

Q17: How are cooperatives helpful in food security? [CBSE 2010]

Ans: Role of cooperatives in providing food security:
In many parts of India, cooperative societies set up their own cooperatives to supply different items at cheaper rates.

Following are the examples:

In Tamil Nadu, 94% of ration shops are run by cooperatives.
In Delhi, Mother Dairy is supplying milk and milk products like butter, ghee etc. to the people at much-subsidised rates.
In Gujarat, Amul is doing the same job of supplying milk and milk products to people at much cheaper rates. It is being run by cooperatives. It has brought the ‘White Revolution’ to India.

Q18: Why is food security essential? How is food security affected during a disaster? [CBSE 2010]

Ans:

Need for food security: The poorest section of the society might be food-insecure most of the time, while persons above poverty lines might also be food insecure when the country faces a national disaster. Due to natural calamity, say drought, total production of foodgrain decreases. It creates a shortage of food in affected areas. Due to shortage of food, the prices go up. At higher prices, some people cannot buy food. So food security is essential.

Q19: Why has Public Distribution System been criticised? Explain any three reasons. [CBSE 2010]

Ans:

Market ineffectiveness of PDS: Average consumption of PDS grain at all India level is only 1 kg per person per month. Average consumption figure in the states of Bihar, Orissa and Uttar Pradesh is only 300 gms, while in states like Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu this figure is 3-4 kg per person per month. As a result, the poor has to depend on markets rather than ration shops.
With the introduction of three types of cards and three different prices for the same articles to the different people, the whole system of Public Distribution System has become much complicated.
PDS dealers malpractices: The ration shop dealers resort to malpractices. They divert the grains to the open market to get a better margin.

Q20: What is the difference between chronic and seasonal hunger? Write any two. [CBSE 2010]

Ans:

Chronic Hunger: When diet is inadequate in terms of quantity or quality, it is called chronic hunger. Usually, poor people suffer from chronic hunger because of their low income and as a result their inability to buy food even for their survival. This type of hunger is more or less of a permanent nature and presents throughout the year.
Seasonal Hunger: Seasonal hunger persists only during a particular period of the season. It is linked with the cycles of food growing and harvesting. In rural areas, seasonal hunger is prevalent because of the seasonal nature of agricultural activities. The gap between the sowing season and the reaping season is marked by seasonal hunger.

Q21: Which people are more prone to food insecurity? Explain. [2011 (T-2)]

Ans: (i) Individuals belonging to Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), and certain segments of the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) with limited land resources or low agricultural productivity are susceptible to food insecurity.

(ii) Those impacted by natural calamities often face food insecurity, leading them to migrate to other regions in pursuit of employment opportunities.

(iii) Pregnant and lactating mothers, along with children under the age of 5, represent a significant portion of the population vulnerable to food insecurity.

Q22: Describe briefly the measures adopted to achieve self-sufficiency in foodgrains since Independence. [2011 (T-2)]

Ans: After Independence, Indian policymakers adopted all measures to achieve self-sufficiency in foodgrains. India adopted a new strategy in agriculture, which resulted in the Green Revolution, especially in the production of wheat and rice.

Q23: What steps have been taken by the Government of India to provide food security to the poor? Explain any three. [2011 (T-2)]

Ans: To provide food security to the poor, the following steps have been taken by the Government of India:

PDS: The Public Distribution System (PDS) was established for the distribution of food grains among the poor.
ICDS: Integrated Child Development Services was launched in 1975 to ensure nutrition among children of the backward areas.
FFW: ‘Food for work’ was introduced in 1977-78 to provide employment opportunities for the poor to ensure food security for them.

Q24: Describe Public Distribution System (PDS) is the most important step taken by the Government of India towards ensuring food security. [2011 (T-2)]

Ans: In the beginning, the coverage of PDS was universal, with no discrimination between poor and non-poor. Then, later on, the policy was made more targeted.
Important Features of PDS:

Name of Year of Coverage target Full name scheme introduction group
PDS up to 1992 Universal Public Distribution System
RPDS 1992 Backward Blocks Revamped Public Distribution System
TDPS 1997 Poor and non-poor Targeted Public Distribution System
AAY 2000 Poorest of the Poor Antyodaya Anna Yojana
APS 2000 Indigent Senior Citizen Annapurna Scheme

Q25: What is buffer stock? Why is it created by the government? [2011 (T-2)]

Ans: Buffer stock is the stock of foodgrains, namely wheat and rice, procured by the government through the Food Corporation of India (FCI). The FCI purchases wheat and rice from the farmers in states where there is surplus production. The farmers are paid a pre-announced price for their crops. Buffer stock is created to distribute food grains in deficit areas and among the poorer strata of society at prices lower than the market price. It is also used in times of adverse weather conditions.

3. Poverty as a Challenge – Short Questions answer

October 15, 2025 by khushikhanera

Q1. Describe the poverty trends in India since 1973.
Ans: The trends in poverty in India since 1973 are as follows:

There has been a significant decline in the poverty ratio from 55% in 1973 to 36% in 1993, and further to 26% in 2000.
Rural poverty decreased sharply from 56% in 1973 to 27% in 2000, reducing the number of poor from 261 million to 193 million.
Recent estimates show a reduction in the total number of poor, now around 260 million, down from 321 million in 1973.
From 1993-94 to 2004-05, the poverty ratio fell from 45% to 37.2%. By 2011-12, it further decreased to about 22%.
If this trend continues, the proportion of people below the poverty line may drop below 20% in the coming years.
Despite the decline in the poverty ratio, the number of poor remained at approximately 407 million in 2004-05.
From 2004-05 to 2011-12, the number of poor decreased from 407 million to 270 million, with an average annual decline of 2.2 percentage points.

Q2. What are the conditions of MGNREGA?
Ans: Conditions of MGNREGA:

The Act guarantees 100 days of employment each year for every rural household in 200 districts.
If an applicant does not receive employment within 15 days, they are entitled to a daily unemployment allowance.

Q3. Explain social exclusion concept of poverty.
Ans: Social exclusion is a concept that views poverty not just in terms of low income but also as a lack of access to social benefits and opportunities. Here are the key points:

Poverty often forces individuals to live in poor environments with others in similar situations.
Those experiencing social exclusion are denied equal opportunities enjoyed by wealthier individuals.
Social exclusion can both cause and result from poverty, creating a cycle that is hard to escape.
This process involves being left out of essential facilities, benefits, and opportunities that others take for granted.
An example of social exclusion is the caste system in India, where certain groups face barriers to equal opportunities.

Q4. Explain any four causes of poverty.
Ans: Four causes of poverty are:

Unemployment: A growing population does not always lead to more jobs, resulting in increased poverty.
Social factors: Issues such as illiteracy, ignorance, and traditional family structures hinder the adoption of modern methods, limiting income growth.
Underutilised natural resources: Many resources remain unused, preventing potential economic benefits.
Backward agriculture: A lack of basic facilities like water, fertilisers, and pesticides leads to low productivity, keeping farmers in poverty.

Q5. What are the dimensions of poverty?
Ans: Dimensions of Poverty:

Poverty often involves hunger and a lack of shelter.
Parents may struggle to send their children to school.
Sick individuals might be unable to afford necessary treatment.
There is often a lack of clean water and sanitation facilities.
Poverty can also mean not having a regular job that pays a decent wage.

Q6. Explain how poverty begets more poverty.
Ans: Poverty leads to more poverty in a cycle that is both a cause and a consequence. Key points include:

A poor country struggles to save from its national income, resulting in a lack of capital.
This capital deficiency negatively impacts production and income levels.
People in poverty often borrow money for essential needs, such as agricultural inputs.
High levels of indebtedness arise, making it difficult for them to escape poverty.
Social obligations and ceremonies can further strain their limited resources.

Q7. Explain the concepts of :
(a) Social exclusion
(b) Vulnerability
Ans:

(a) Social Exclusion

Poverty is often viewed through the lens of social exclusion, where the poor live in environments with others who are also poor.
This leads to their exclusion from better living conditions and opportunities enjoyed by wealthier individuals.
For instance, in India, certain castes face significant barriers to accessing equal opportunities.

(b) Vulnerability

Vulnerability refers to the increased risk of certain groups, such as backward classes, widows, or the physically disabled, remaining in poverty.
These groups are more likely to suffer during natural disasters, such as earthquakes or tsunamis.
Vulnerability is influenced by the available options for these communities regarding assets, education, and job opportunities.
It highlights the greater chance of being adversely affected compared to others during difficult times.

Q8. What are the methods to measure the poverty line?
Ans: Methods to measure the poverty line:

1. Expenditure method: This method assesses the minimum nutritional food requirements for survival.

These requirements are converted into a monetary value.
Additional costs for non-food essentials are included.
The total amount defines the poverty line.
Families spending below this amount are classified as below the poverty line.

2. Income method: This method considers families whose total monthly income is below the government-defined poverty line.

Q9. Who are poor in the rural areas?
Ans: In rural areas, the poor typically include:

Farm labourers
Small and marginal farmers
Rural artisans
Backward classes and tribes

These groups often face:

Lack of basic literacy and skills
Difficulty in finding alternative employment
Vulnerability to village moneylenders

Q10. Who are poor in the urban sector?
Ans: In the urban sector, the poor include:

Rickshaw-pullers
Cobblers
Street vendors
Petty self-employed individuals
Domestic servants
Low-paid factory workers

These individuals often live in poor localities with very challenging living conditions.

Q11. Explain how the low level of education can be held responsible for poverty in India.
Ans: The low level of education among the poor significantly contributes to their poverty in India. Key points include:

Many poor individuals are illiterate, which limits their opportunities.
Illiteracy prevents farmers from learning modern cultivation techniques.
Village moneylenders often exploit the uneducated, leading to financial exploitation.
Poor parents struggle to send their children to school, perpetuating the cycle of poverty.
Due to their lack of skills, many poor people work as unskilled labourers with low wages.

Q12. Suggest some measures to reduce regional poverty.
Ans: Measures to reduce regional poverty:

Increase Central assistance and grants to economically backward states.
Provide special incentives for investments in these areas.
Establish public sector enterprises in underdeveloped states.

Q13. Discuss any three measures to reduce poverty in India. [CBSE 2010]
Ans: Three measures to reduce poverty are:

More Industrialisation: To combat poverty and unemployment, especially in urban areas, it is essential to establish more industries.
Improvement in Agriculture: Adopting modern agricultural methods is crucial. Additionally, land should be allocated to the tillers rather than being concentrated in the hands of a few wealthy farmers.
Education: Access to education is vital for eradicating poverty and unemployment. It should be made affordable to ensure everyone can benefit.

Q14. Discuss any three government programmes for poverty alleviation. [CBSE 2010]
Ans:

Prime Minister’s Rojgar Yojana (PMRY): This scheme supports the educated unemployed in urban areas, prioritising youth from weaker sections of society.
Employment Assurance Scheme (EAS): Launched in 1999, this programme aims to provide wage employment to families below the poverty line, enhancing the quality of life in rural areas.
Jawahar Gram Samridhi Yojana (JGSY): This initiative focuses on generating meaningful employment for the unemployed and underemployed in rural areas, while also creating community assets like soil conservation projects.

Q15. Give brief account of inter-state disparities of poverty in India. [CBSE 2010]
Ans: Inter-state disparities of poverty in India are quite significant, with varying proportions of poor people across different states. The poverty ratio differs significantly, with some states exceeding the national average while others fall below it.

In 20 states and union territories, the poverty ratio is lower than the national average.
States like Orissa, Bihar, Assam, Tripura, and Uttar Pradesh have poverty rates exceeding 35%, highlighting a serious issue. Poverty is prevalent in both rural and urban areas of these states.
Conversely, states such as Kerala, Jammu and Kashmir, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh have seen a notable decline in poverty. Factors contributing to this include improved governance and effective social welfare programmes.
In Punjab and Haryana, high agricultural growth rates have significantly reduced poverty. Additionally, in West Bengal, land reform measures have played a crucial role in alleviating poverty.

Q16. Mention any three features of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005. [2011 (T-2)]
Ans: The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005, was enacted in September 2005 and has the following key features:

It guarantees 100 days of employment each year to every rural household, with one-third of the jobs reserved for women.
The central government will create a National Employment Guarantee Fund, while state governments will set up their own funds to implement the scheme.
If employment is not provided within 15 days of application, the individual is entitled to a daily unemployment allowance.

Q17. How is the regular growth of population one of the major causes of poverty? [2011 (T-2)]
Ans: The rapid growth of population in India significantly hinders economic progress. This leads to:

Limited job opportunities, making it difficult for people to find work.
Slow growth in income, resulting in low per capita income.
A cycle of poverty that continues due to ineffective management of both economic growth and population control.

As the population increases, the number of job seekers rises, but job availability does not keep pace. Consequently, this population growth is a key factor contributing to poverty in India.

Q18. What are the main causes of poverty in India? [2011 (T-2)]
Ans: Main causes of poverty in India include:

Economic Inequality: There are significant income disparities, largely due to the unequal distribution of land and resources.
Rural Poverty: Many people live in slums on the outskirts of cities, with poverty being a major issue in both rural and urban areas.
Policy Implementation: Despite various policies aimed at land reform and asset redistribution, effective implementation has been lacking.
Socio-Cultural Factors: People often spend money on social obligations and religious ceremonies, even when they are poor.
Indebtedness: Small farmers borrow money for agricultural inputs but struggle to repay, leading to a cycle of poverty.

Q19. How the policies of colonial government were responsible for poverty in India? [2011 (T-2)]
Ans: The policies of the colonial government significantly contributed to poverty in India. Key factors include:

The destruction of traditional handicrafts and a lack of support for industries like textiles.
Low economic growth rates persisted until the 1980s, leading to fewer job opportunities.
A rapidly growing population further reduced the per capita income.
The failure to promote economic growth and control population growth created a cycle of poverty.

Q20. Explain three ways in which poverty can be estimated in India? [2011 (T-2)]
Ans: There are three main ways to estimate poverty in India:

Caloric Requirement: The poverty line is based on the minimum level of food needed for survival. The average calorie requirement is 2400 calories per person per day in rural areas and 2100 calories in urban areas. This varies by age, sex, and occupation.
Monetary Expenditure: The amount of money needed to meet these caloric needs is calculated. For example, in 2011-12, the poverty line was set at Rs 816 per month for rural areas and Rs 1000 for urban areas.
International Standards: Many organisations, like the World Bank, use a uniform standard for poverty, which is the equivalent of $1.90 per person per day (adjusted for purchasing power parity).

These methods help in understanding and addressing poverty levels across different regions in India.

Q21. Explain the principal measures taken in Punjab, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh to reduce poverty. [2011 (T-2)]
Ans: The principal measures taken in different states to reduce poverty include:

Punjab: Focused on increasing agricultural growth rates.
Kerala: Emphasised human resource development.
Andhra Pradesh: Concentrated on public distribution of food grains.

Q22. ‘‘In poor families all suffer but some suffer more than others.’’ Explain. [2011 (T-2)]
Ans: In poor families, the impact of poverty is not uniform; some members suffer more than others due to various factors:

Social exclusion: Certain groups, such as those facing caste discrimination, are denied access to resources and opportunities available to others.
Vulnerability: Individuals from vulnerable groups face higher risks during crises, such as natural disasters or conflicts, due to their limited social and economic resources.
Gender inequality: Women, elderly individuals, and female infants often receive less support and access to family resources, leading to greater hardship.

Q23. What is poverty line? Give the income for poverty line fixed for the rural and urban areas in India according to 2000. [2011 (T-2)]
Ans: A person is considered poor if their income or consumption level is below a certain minimum level needed to meet basic needs. Each country sets its own poverty line based on its level of development and social norms. In India, as of the year 2000:

A family of five in rural areas was below the poverty line if they earned less than approximately Rs 1,640 per month.
A similar family in urban areas was below the poverty line if their income was less than around Rs 2,270 per month.

Q24. ‘‘There is a strong link between economic growth and poverty reduction.’’ Explain. [2011 (T-2)]
Ans: There is a strong link between economic growth and poverty reduction. Economic growth plays a crucial role in reducing poverty by:

Creating opportunities: It opens up new job prospects and resources for investment in human development.
Encouraging education: Families are more likely to send their children, including girls, to school, anticipating better economic returns from education.
Driving growth rates: Since the 1980s, India has experienced rapid economic growth, with rates increasing from about 3.5% in the 1970s to around 6% in the 1980s and 1990s, significantly aiding poverty reduction.

Q25. Give one positive and one negative side of poverty conditions in India, and mention the major weaknesses of poverty alleviation programmes. [2011 (T-2)]
Ans:

Positive aspect- India’s economic growth is one of the fastest in the world which helps in reducing poverty.
Negative aspect- Large number of poors live in villages and dependent upon agriculture where growth is much below expectation.
Weakness of Poverty alleviation programme- Lack of proper implementation and right targetting with lots of over lapping schemes.