NCERT solutions for Economics Indian Economic Development [English] Class 12 chapter 6 - Employment: Growth, Informalisation and Other Issues [Latest edition]

In your house or neighbourhood, you might come across many women who, even though they have technical degrees and diplomas and also free time to go to work, do not go to work. Ask them the reasons for not going to work. List all of them and discuss in the classroom whether they should go for work and why, and also ways by which they could be sent for work. Some social scientists argue that housewives working at home without getting paid for that work must also be regarded as contributing to the gross national product and therefore, as engaged in an economic activity. Would you agree?

Any study of employment must start with a review of the worker-population ratios, why?

In some communities, you might have noticed that even if the males do not earn a high income, they do not send women to work. Why?

We generally think that only those who are doing paid work regularly or casually, such as agricultural labourers, factory workers, those who work in banks and other offices as assistants and clerks, are workers. From the above discussion, you must have understood that those who are self-employed, such as pavement vegetable vendors, professionals such as lawyers, doctors and engineers, are also workers. Mark (a), (b) and (c) against self-employed, regular salaried employees and casual wage labourers respectively:

1. Owner of a saloon
2. Worker in a rice mill who is paid on a daily basis but employed regularly
3. Cashier in State Bank of India
4. Typist working in a state government office on a daily wage basis but paid monthly
5. A handloom weaver
6. Loading worker in a wholesale vegetable shop
7. Owner of a cold drinks shop which sells Pepsi, Coca Cola and Mirinda
8. Nurse in a private hospital who gets a monthly salary and has been working regularly for the past 5 years.

Economists point out that casual wage labourers are the most vulnerable among the three categories. Could you locate who these workers are and where they are found, and why?

Can we say that the self-employed earn more than the casual wage labourers or regular salaried employees? Identify a few other indicators of quality of employment.

All newspapers have one section meant for job opportunities. Some also devote an entire supplement in a day or every week like Opportunities in The Hindu or Ascent in The Times of India. Many companies advertise vacancies for various positions. Cut those sections. Develop a table which contains four columns: whether the company is private or public, name of the post, number of posts, sector, primary, secondary or tertiary, and qualification required. Analyse the table in the classroom about jobs advertised in the newspapers.

Do you know that maintaining employment growth at 2 per cent for a country like India is not an easy thing? Why?

What will happen if there is no additional employment generated in the economy even though we are able to produce goods and services in the economy? How could jobless growth happen?

Economists say that if casualisation increases the earning of the people, such phenomenon should be welcomed. Suppose a marginal farmer becomes a full-time agricultural labourer, do you think he will be happy even if he earns more in his daily wage work? Or will a permanent and regular worker of the pharmaceutical industry be happy if he becomes a daily wage labourer, even if his or her overall earnings increase? Discuss in the classroom.

The information relating to employment in the formal sector is collected by the Union Ministry of Labour through employment exchanges located in different parts of the country. Do you know who is the major employer in the formal sector in India? In 2012, out of about 30 million formal sector workers, about 18 million workers were employed by the public sector. Here also men form the majority, as women constitute only about one-sixth of the formal sector workforce. Economists point out that the reform process initiated in the early 1990s resulted in a decline in the number of workers employed in the formal sector. What do you think?

Tick (right) mark against those which are in the informal sector:

• Worker in a hotel which has seven hired workers and three family workers
• A private school teacher in a school which has 25 teachers
• A police constable
• Nurse in a government hospital
• Cycle-rickshaw puller
• The owner of a textile shop employing nine workers
• Driver of a bus company which has more than 10 buses with 20 drivers, conductors and other workers
• Civil engineer working in a construction company which has 10 workers
• Computer operator in the state government office working on a temporary basis
• A clerk in the electricity office.

Who is a worker?

Define worker-population ratio.

Are the following workers — a beggar, a thief, a smuggler, a gambler? Why? 

Find the odd man out:

1. owner of a saloon
2. a cobbler
3.  a cashier in Mother Dairy
4.  a tuition master
5. transport operator
6. construction worker. 

The newly emerging jobs are found mostly in the ____________ sector.

An establishment with four hired workers is known as __________ sector establishment. 

Raj is going to school. When he is not in school, you will find him working in his farm. Can you consider him as a worker? Why?

Compared to urban women, more rural women are found working. Why?

Meena is a housewife. Besides taking care of household chores, she works in the cloth shop which is owned and operated by her husband. Can she be considered as a worker? Why?

Find the odd man out
(i) rickshaw puller who works under a rick- shaw owner
(ii) mason
(iii) mechanic shop worker
(iv) shoeshine boy.

The following table shows distribution of workforce in India for the year 1972-73. Analyse it and give reasons for the nature of workforce distribution. You will notice that the data is pertaining to the situation in India 30 years ago! 

The following table shows the population and worker population ratio for India in 1999-2000. Can you estimate the workforce (urban and total) for India? 

Why are regular salaried employees more in urban areas than in rural areas?

Why are less women found in regular salaried employment?

Analyse the recent trends in sectoral distribution of workforce in India.

Compared to the 1970s, there has hardly been any change in the distribution of workforce across various industries. Comment.

Do you think that in the last 50 years, employment generated in the country is commensurate with the growth of GDP in India? How?

Is it necessary to generate employment in the formal sector rather than in the informal sector? Why?

Victor is able to get work only for two hours in a day. Rest of the day, he is looking for work. Is he unemployed? Why? What kind of jobs could persons like Victor be doing?

You are residing in a village. If you are asked to advice the village panchayat, what kinds of activities would you suggest for the improvement of your village which would also generate employment.

Who is a casual wage labourer?

Select a region, say a street or colony, and divide it into 3-4 sub-regions. Conduct a survey by which you can collect the details of activity each person living there is engaged in. Derive the worker-population ratio for all the regions. Interpret the results for differences in worker-population ratio for the different sub-regions.

Suppose 3-4 groups of students are given different regions of a state. One region is mainly engaged in cultivation of paddy. In another region, coconut is the main plantation. The third region is a coastal region where fishing is the main activity. The fourth region has a river nearby with a lot of livestock rearing activities. Ask all the four groups to develop a report on what kind of employment could be generated in the four regions.

Visit the local library and ask for Employment News, a weekly published by the Government of India. Go through each issue for the last two months. There will be seven issues. There will be seven issues. Select 25 advertisements and fill in the following table (expand the table as needed). Discuss the nature of jobs in the classroom.

You might notice, in your locality, a variety of works being done by the government, for example, laying of roads, desilting of tanks, construction of school buildings, hospital and other government offices, construction of check dams and houses for the poor, etc. Prepare a critical assessment report on one such activity. The issues covered could be the following (i) how the work was identified (ii) amount sanctioned (iii) contribution of local people, if any (iv) number of persons involved, both men and women (v) wages paid (vi) is it really required in that area and other critical comments on the implementation of the scheme under which the work is being carried out.

In recent years, you may have noticed that many voluntary organisations also take initiatives to generate employment in hilly and dry land regions. If you find such initiatives in your locality, visit and prepare a report.