Sectors of the Indian Economy
Short Questions
1. What is the main basis of classifying economic activities into sectors?
Answer: They are classified on the basis of the nature of activities performed.
2. Which sector is also called the agriculture and related sector?
Answer: The primary sector is also called the agriculture and related sector.
3. What type of goods are produced in the secondary sector?
Answer: The secondary sector produces manufactured goods.
4. Why is the tertiary sector also known as the service sector?
Answer: Because it provides services rather than goods.
5. What do you mean by GDP?
Answer: GDP is the Gross Domestic Product, the total value of final goods and services produced in a country in a year.
6. Which sector has become the largest producing sector in India?
Answer: The tertiary (service) sector has become the largest producing sector.
8. What is meant by disguised unemployment?
Answer: When more people work than required, it is called disguised unemployment.
9. What is underemployment?
Answer: When people work less than their potential, it is called underemployment.
10. Name the Act that guarantees 100 days of employment in rural areas.
Answer: The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 (MGNREGA 2005).
11. What are the two types of sectors based on employment conditions?
Answer: The organised and unorganised sectors.
12. Who works in the organised sector?
Answer: People with regular jobs and fixed employment terms work in the organised sector.
13. Which sector provides job security and benefits like provident fund and paid leave?
Answer: The organised sector.
14. On what basis are public and private sectors classified?
Answer: They are classified on the basis of ownership of enterprises.
15. Give one example of a public sector enterprise.
Answer: Indian Railways is a public sector enterprise.
16. Give one example of a private sector company.
Answer: Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) is a private sector company.
Long Question
1. Explain the differences between primary, secondary, and tertiary sectors.
Answer: The primary sector uses natural resources directly such as farming, fishing, and forestry. The secondary sector changes natural products into other forms through manufacturing in factories or workshops. The tertiary sector provides services like transport, banking, and trade that support the other two sectors.
2. What is the importance of the tertiary sector in recent years?
Answer: The tertiary sector has become very important because it provides essential services like health, education, banking, and communication. It helps the development of agriculture and industry by offering necessary support. In recent years, services based on information technology have also grown rapidly in India.
3. What does the term underemployment mean? Explain with an example.
Answer: Underemployment means that people are working but not to their full capacity. For example, in rural areas many members of a family work on a small farm even though only a few are needed, so their labour is divided. This situation is also called disguised unemployment because extra people do not add to production.
4. What steps can the government take to reduce underemployment in rural areas?
Answer: The government can increase employment by investing in irrigation, roads, and storage facilities in villages. It can help farmers through credit and support small-scale industries like food processing or honey collection. Such activities create more jobs and raise the income of rural families.
5. Distinguish between organised and unorganised sectors.
Answer: The organised sector has regular jobs with fixed working hours, better wages, and several legal benefits like paid leave and pensions. The unorganised sector has irregular work, low pay, and no job security or medical facilities. Workers in this sector are often exploited and do not have stable income.
6. Why do workers in the unorganised sector need protection?
Answer: Workers in the unorganised sector face problems such as low income, uncertain jobs, and unsafe working conditions. They do not receive benefits like provident fund, leave, or health care. Therefore, government protection and support are needed to improve their lives and ensure fair treatment.
7. What is the role of the public sector in the Indian economy?
Answer: The public sector provides services that are essential for the welfare of all people such as health, education, electricity, and transport. It builds infrastructure like roads, bridges, and dams that private companies cannot afford. The main aim of the public sector is social benefit rather than earning profits.
8. Explain how sectors are interdependent on each other.
Answer: All three sectors depend on one another for growth and development. The primary sector provides raw materials to industries, and industries depend on the tertiary sector for transport and trade. This interdependence keeps the economy balanced and supports continuous production and employment.
9. Describe the historical changes that took place between sectors.
Answer: In the beginning, the primary sector was the most important for production and jobs. Later, with the growth of industries, the secondary sector became dominant as people moved to factory work. In modern times, the tertiary sector has grown fastest and now contributes the most to India’s GDP.
10. How does MGNREGA 2005 help in providing employment?
Answer: The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005 ensures that every rural household gets 100 days of work in a year. It provides jobs like building wells, canals, and roads that improve land and village productivity. If work is not given, the government must pay unemployment allowance.
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