11 NCERT CBSE Employment Growth Informalisation and Unemployment in India
Theme Analysis
Main ThemeEmployment, Growth, Informalisation, and Unemployment in India
Subject CategoryEconomics
Key Concepts
Question FocusQuestions cover core definitions, analysis of employment trends across sectors, status, and regions, the concept of jobless growth and informalisation, and different types of unemployment. Data from tables and charts are interpreted conceptually rather than requiring rote memorization of numbers. Difficulty is mixed, with a focus on understanding and application.
According to the text, who is considered a 'worker' in the context of economic activities?
Hint: Think broadly about who contributes to national income, beyond just paid employees.
Answer
The text defines workers as all those who are engaged in economic activities, in whatever capacity—high or low. It explicitly states that even if some temporarily abstain due to illness or other reasons, they are still workers. It also includes self-employed individuals and those who help main workers, not just those paid by an employer.
Explanation
Why does the text emphasize the importance of work for individuals and society?
Hint: Consider the social and economic benefits mentioned beyond just earning money.
Answer
The text states that 'work plays an important role in our lives as individuals and as members of society.' It gives a sense of self-worth, enables meaningful relationships, and every working person 'is actively contributing to national income and hence, the development of the country'.
Explanation
What are 'economic activities' as defined in the document?
Hint: Recall the definition provided in the context of national income.
Answer
The text explicitly states: 'Those activities which contribute to the gross national product are called economic activities.'
Explanation
What does a higher worker-population ratio indicate about a country's employment situation?
Hint: Consider what the ratio measures: the proportion of the population actively working.
Answer
The text states: 'If the ratio is higher, it means that the engagement of people is greater; if the ratio for a country is medium, or low, it means that a very high proportion of its population is not involved directly in economic activities.'
Explanation
If India has a total population of 100 million and a workforce of 40 million, what is its worker-population ratio?
Hint: Recall the formula for worker-population ratio: (Total Workers / Total Population) * 100.
Answer
The worker-population ratio is calculated by dividing the total number of workers by the total population and multiplying by 100. So, (40 million / 100 million) * 100 = 40%.
Explanation
Based on the information provided, why is the worker-population ratio generally higher in rural areas compared to urban areas in India?
Hint: Consider the economic conditions and educational opportunities in rural versus urban settings.
Answer
The text explains: 'People in rural areas have limited resources to earn a higher income and participate more in the employment market. Many do not go to schools, colleges and other training institutions. Even if some go, they discontinue in the middle to join the workforce; whereas, in urban areas, a considerable section is able to study in various educational institutions.'
Explanation
Which statement accurately describes the participation of women in India's workforce, according to the text?
Hint: Look for specific figures and comparisons regarding women's participation in rural and urban settings.
Answer
The text states: 'Women workers account for one-fourth of the rural workforce whereas in urban areas, they are just one-fifth of the workforce.' It also mentions that household activities by women are often not recognized as productive work.
Explanation
The text suggests that the number of women workers in India is underestimated. What is the primary reason given for this underestimation?
Hint: Think about how 'work' is traditionally defined and what activities might be excluded from that definition.
Answer
The text explains: 'Many household activities done by women are not recognised as productive work. This narrow definition of work leads to non-recognition of women’s work and, therefore, to the underestimation of the number of women workers in the country.'
Explanation
Which category of workers 'own and operate an enterprise to earn their livelihood'?
Hint: Consider the worker who is their own boss and runs their own business.
Answer
The text defines: 'Workers who own and operate an enterprise to earn their livelihood are known as self-employed.'
Explanation
What describes 'casual wage labourers'?
Hint: Think about workers hired for specific tasks or short periods, without long-term contracts.
Answer
The text defines casual wage labourers as those 'casually engaged in others’ farms and, in return, get a remuneration for the work done.'
Explanation
Who are 'regular salaried employees'?
Hint: Consider the characteristics of a stable, long-term employment arrangement with consistent pay.
Answer
The text states: 'When a worker is engaged by someone or an enterprise and paid his or her wages on a regular basis, they are known as regular salaried employees.'
Explanation
According to the document, which employment status category accounts for the largest share of India's workforce (around 58%) in 2023-24?
Hint: Refer to the section discussing different worker statuses and their proportions in the workforce.
Answer
The text states: 'About 58 per cent workforce in India belongs to this category [self-employed].' and also 'self-employment is a major source of livelihood for both men and women as this category accounts for more than 50 per cent of the workforce.'
Explanation
Which sector is identified as the main source of employment for the majority of workers in India, particularly in rural areas?
Hint: Recall the traditional economic activities common in rural India.
Answer
The text states: 'Primary sector is the main source of employment for majority of workers in India.' and 'About 60 per cent of the workforce in rural India depends on agriculture, forestry and fishing.'
Explanation
What trend in the distribution of the workforce by industrial sectors is observed between 1972-73 and 2023-24?
Hint: Compare the historical data (1972-73) with recent data (2023-24) for the primary, secondary, and service sectors.
Answer
The text states: 'Distribution of workforce by industrial sectors shows substantial shift from farm work to non-farm work... In 1972-73, about 74 per cent of workforce was engaged in primary sector and in 2023-24, this proportion has declined to about 46 per cent. Secondary and service sectors are showing promising future for the Indian workforce. You may notice that the shares of these sectors have increased from 11 to 24 per cent and 15 to 30 per cent, respectively.'
Explanation
What does the term 'jobless growth' refer to, as discussed in the text?
Hint: Consider the relationship between GDP growth and employment growth.
Answer
The text defines jobless growth: 'During these years, we also find a widening gap between the growth of GDP and employment. This means that in the Indian economy, without generating employment, we have been able to produce more goods and services. Scholars refer to this phenomenon as jobless growth.'
Explanation
What is 'casualisation of workforce' and what is its implication for workers?
Hint: Focus on the shift in employment status and its effect on worker security.
Answer
The text explains: 'Scholars call the process of moving from self-employment and regular salaried employment to casual wage work as casualisation of workforce. This makes the workers highly vulnerable.'
Explanation
Which of the following describes a 'formal sector establishment'?
Hint: Recall the specific criteria for classifying an establishment as formal sector.
Answer
The text defines: 'All the public sector establishments and those private sector establishments which employ 10 hired workers or more are called formal sector establishments and those who work in such establishments are formal sector workers.'
Explanation
What is a key benefit for workers in the formal sector, as mentioned in the text?
Hint: Think about the protections and advantages associated with organized employment.
Answer
The text states: 'Those who are working in the formal sector enjoy social security benefits. They earn more than those in the informal sector.'
Explanation
Which of the following is characteristic of the informal sector, according to the document?
Hint: Consider the lack of formal structures and protections in this sector.
Answer
The text states: 'Workers and enterprises in the informal sector do not get regular income; they do not have any protection or regulation from the government. Workers are dismissed without any compensation.'
Explanation
Based on the definition, which of the following would most likely be considered an informal sector worker?
Hint: Think about occupations that typically lack formal employment structures, benefits, or regulation.
Answer
The text includes 'millions of farmers, agricultural labourers, owners of small enterprises and people working in those enterprises as also the self-employed who do not have any hired workers' in the informal sector. A street vendor selling vegetables independently fits the description of a self-employed individual without hired workers, thus part of the informal sector.
Explanation
What has been the trend regarding the proportion of workers in the informal sector in India, contrary to developmental planning expectations?
Hint: Recall the comparison between the expected outcome of planning and the actual situation regarding formal vs. informal sector growth.
Answer
The text states: 'Developmental planning envisaged that as the economy grows, more and more workers would become formal sector workers and the proportion of workers engaged in the informal sector would dwindle. But what has happened in India? ...About only 11 per cent (59/535 × 100)! Thus, the rest 89 per cent are in the informal sector.'
Explanation
How does the National Statistical Office (NSO) define unemployment?
Hint: Focus on the definition that includes both not working and actively seeking or being available for work.
Answer
The text explicitly states: 'The National Statistical Office... defines unemployment as a situation in which all those who, owing to lack of work, are not working but either seek work through employment exchanges, intermediaries, friends or relatives or by making applications to prospective employers or express their willingness or availability for work under the prevailing condition of work and remunerations.'
Explanation
What is 'disguised unemployment' as explained in the document?
Hint: Consider a scenario where removing some workers from a task would not reduce total output.
Answer
The text provides an example: 'Suppose a farmer has four acres of land and he actually needs only two workers and himself to carry out various operations on his farm in a year, but if he employs five workers and his family members such as his wife and children, this situation is known as disguised unemployment.' This clearly indicates more people working than needed.
Explanation
A small family tailoring shop needs two tailors to meet customer demand, but three family members work full-time in the shop. This situation is an example of:
Hint: Relate the scenario to the definition of unemployment where extra workers don't add to productivity.
Answer
This is a classic example of disguised unemployment, where more individuals are employed than are technically needed for the work, and their marginal productivity is zero or very low.
Explanation
What is the primary cause of 'seasonal unemployment' in India, as described in the text?
Hint: Think about the impact of agricultural cycles on employment in rural areas.
Answer
The text states: 'This is because work in agriculture is seasonal; there are no employment opportunities in the village for all months in the year. When there is no work to do on farms, people go to urban areas and look for jobs. This kind of unemployment is known as seasonal unemployment.'
Explanation
How do government initiatives 'indirectly' generate employment opportunities?
Hint: Consider the ripple effect of government production on the private sector.
Answer
The text explains: 'When the output of goods and services from government enterprises increases, then private enterprises which receive raw materials from government enterprises will also raise their output and hence increase the number of employment opportunities in the economy. ...This is the indirect generation of employment opportunities by the government initiatives in the economy.'
Explanation
What is a core promise of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) 2005?
Hint: Recall the specific guarantee offered by this major rural employment program.
Answer
The text states: 'You may recall about the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005. It promises 100 days of guaranteed wage employment to all rural households who volunteer to do unskilled manual work.'
Explanation
How does the text describe the practice of 'outsourcing'?
Hint: Think about how companies might delegate specialized tasks to external parties, including those abroad.
Answer
The text defines outsourcing: 'It means that a big firm finds it profitable to close down some of its specialist departments... and hand over a large number of small piecemeal jobs to very small enterprises or specialist individuals, sometimes situated even in other countries.'
Explanation
What has been a consequence of the expansion of the service sector and advent of high technology, in terms of the nature of work?
Hint: Consider how modern work arrangements and technology have changed the physical location and formal structure of jobs.
Answer
The text states: 'The traditional notion of the modern factory or office, as a result, has been altered in such a manner that for many the home is becoming the workplace. All of this change has not gone in favour of the individual worker. The nature of employment has become more informal with only limited availability of social security measures to the workers.'
Explanation
Economists argue that the quality of employment in India has been deteriorating. Which of the following observations supports this argument most strongly?
Hint: Consider the characteristics that define 'quality' employment, such as benefits and job security.
Answer
The text states: 'Economists argue that, over the years, the quality of employment has been deteriorating. Even after working for more than 10-20 years, why do some workers not get maternity benefit, provident fund, gratuity and pension? ...You may find that a small section of Indian workforce is getting regular income.' This points to the issues associated with informalisation and casualisation.
Explanation
Who is identified as the major employer in the formal sector in India?
Hint: Recall the specific information provided about formal sector employment and government's role.
Answer
Box 6.1 states: '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.'
Explanation
According to economists, what was a consequence of the economic reform process initiated in the early 1990s in India regarding formal sector employment?
Hint: Refer to the 'Box 6.1: Formal Sector Employment' for this specific detail.
Answer
Box 6.1 mentions: '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.'
Explanation
In the formal sector workforce, what is the proportion of women compared to men?
Hint: Look for specific figures or ratios comparing male and female participation in the formal sector.
Answer
Box 6.1 states: 'Here also men form the majority, as women constitute only about one-sixth of the formal sector workforce.'
Explanation
Which of the following is NOT listed as a source of data on unemployment in India?
Hint: Review the specific government and official statistical bodies mentioned as data sources.
Answer
The text lists Reports of Census of India, National Statistical Office’s Reports of Employment and Unemployment Situation, Annual Reports of Periodic Labour Force Survey, and Directorate General of Employment and Training data of Registration with Employment Exchanges as sources. Private university research papers are not listed as an official source in the document.
Explanation
The situation where people are actively looking for jobs through various means (employment exchanges, friends, applications) but cannot find work is termed as:
Hint: Consider the most direct form of unemployment where individuals are visibly without work and seeking it.
Answer
The text states: 'The situation described in the first paragraph of this section [people looking for jobs in newspapers, through friends, applying to factories/offices] is called open unemployment.'
Explanation
Why do many people migrate to urban areas and then return to their home villages when the rainy season begins, as mentioned in the text?
Hint: Connect this migratory pattern to the type of unemployment prevalent in agriculture.
Answer
The text explains: 'This is because work in agriculture is seasonal; there are no employment opportunities in the village for all months in the year. When there is no work to do on farms, people go to urban areas and look for jobs.'
Explanation
Which of the following is an example of the government 'directly' generating employment?
Hint: Think about jobs where the government is the immediate employer.
Answer
The text states: 'In the first category, as you have seen in the preceding section, the government employs people in various departments for administrative purposes. It also runs industries, hotels and transport companies, and hence, provides employment directly to workers.'
Explanation
Approximately how large was India's workforce during 2022-23, according to the document?
Hint: Look for the specific figure mentioned for India's total workforce.
Answer
The text states: 'During 2022-23, India had about a 545 million strong workforce.'
Explanation
Between 1950 and 2010, what was the general relationship between India's GDP growth and employment growth?
Hint: Recall the long-term trend comparing the two growth indicators.
Answer
The text states: 'During the period 1950–2010, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of India grew positively and was higher than the employment growth. However, there was always fluctuation in the growth of GDP. During this period, employment grew at the rate of not more than 2 per cent.'
Explanation
The case study of Ahmedabad's textile mills illustrates which key phenomenon in the Indian workforce?
Hint: Consider the outcome for the textile workers described in the box, especially regarding their employment status and living conditions.
Answer
The Ahmedabad case study details how 'over 80,000 permanent workers and over 50,000 non-permanent workers lost their jobs and were driven to the informal sector.' This resulted in a 'whole class of workers... thrown back from the middle class into the informal sector, into poverty,' illustrating the severe consequences of informalisation.
Explanation
Which of the following industrial divisions are grouped under the 'primary sector'?
Hint: Recall the basic industries that extract raw materials from nature.
Answer
The text states: 'primary sector which includes (i) [Agriculture] and (ii) [Mining and Quarrying]'.
Explanation
Where are women workers primarily concentrated in terms of industrial sectors, according to the 2023-24 data?
Hint: Look at Table 6.2 and the accompanying text describing gender distribution by sector.
Answer
The text states: 'Though both men and women workers are concentrated in the primary sector, women workers’ concentration is very high there. About 64 per cent of the female workforce is employed in the primary sector whereas 36 percent of males work in that sector.'
Explanation
Why are self-employed workers found more in rural areas than in urban areas?
Hint: Consider the dominant economic activity and land ownership patterns in rural settings.
Answer
The text explains: 'In rural areas, since majority of those depending on farming own plots of land and cultivate independently, the share of self-employed is greater.'
Explanation
How does the government primarily protect the rights of a 'small section' of the Indian workforce that receives regular income?
Hint: Think about the mechanisms put in place by the government to safeguard workers' interests, especially in organized settings.
Answer
The text states: 'The government, through its labour laws, enable them to protect their rights in various ways. This section of the workforce forms trade unions, bargains with employers for better wages and other social security measures.' This refers to the formal sector workers.
Explanation
A private school with 25 teachers would be classified as a(n) ________ sector establishment.
Hint: Recall the numerical threshold for private sector establishments to be considered formal.
Answer
The definition of a formal sector establishment includes 'those private sector establishments which employ 10 hired workers or more'. A school with 25 teachers clearly falls into this category.
Explanation
Economists generally consider casual wage labourers to be the most vulnerable among the three categories of workers (self-employed, regular salaried, casual wage). What is the most likely reason for this vulnerability?
Hint: Think about the job security, benefits, and regularity of income for casual workers.
Answer
The text implies this vulnerability through its descriptions of informal sector workers (which casual wage labourers often are): 'Workers and enterprises in the informal sector do not get regular income; they do not have any protection or regulation from the government. Workers are dismissed without any compensation.' This directly applies to casual wage labourers.
Explanation
One of the objectives of development planning in India since independence was to provide decent livelihood. What was the envisaged role of industrialization in achieving this?
Hint: Consider the historical goal of shifting economic activity and improving living standards through industrial growth.
Answer
The text states: 'It has been envisaged that the industrialisation strategy would bring surplus workers from agriculture to industry with better standard of living as in developed countries.'
Explanation
What major change has been observed in the structure of the workforce in India, particularly regarding newly emerging jobs?
Hint: Recall the sector where most new employment opportunities are arising.
Answer
The conclusion states: 'There has been a change in the structure of workforce in India. Newly emerging jobs are found mostly in the service sector.'
Explanation
Beyond direct and indirect employment, what other broad category of government initiatives aims at alleviating poverty through employment generation?
Hint: Think about government programs designed to address poverty and create jobs, often with broader community benefits.
Answer
The text states: 'Many programmes that the governments implement, aimed at alleviating poverty, are through employment generation. They are also known as employment generation programmes. All these programmes aim at providing not only employment but also services in areas such as primary health, primary education, rural drinking water, nutrition, assistance for people to buy income and employment generating assets, development of community assets by generating wage employment, construction of houses and sanitation, assistance for constructing houses, laying of rural roads, development of wastelands/degraded lands.'
Explanation
Based on the 'Trends in Employment Pattern (Sector-wise and Status-wise), 1972-2024' table, what is a notable long-term trend regarding the share of self-employed workers?
Hint: Examine the 'Self-employed' row in Table 6.3 across all years and read the accompanying text about its overall importance.
Answer
Looking at Table 6.3, the share of self-employed decreased from 61.4% (1972-73) to 52.0% (2011-12), but then rose to 58.4% (2023-24). The text also explicitly states: 'Yet self-employment continues to be the major employment provider.'
Explanation
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