2

People as Resource

Chapter

Overview
The chapter 'People as Resource' is an
effort to explain population as an asset
for the economy rather than a liability.
Population becomes human capital when
there is investment made in the form of
education, training and medical care.
In fact, human capital is the stock of
skill and productive knowledge embodied
in them.
'People as Resource' is a way of
referring to a country’s working people
in terms of their existing productive
skills and abilities. Looking at the
population from this productive aspect
emphasises its ability to contribute to
the creation of the Gross National
Product. Like other resources population
also is a resource — a 'human resource'.
This is the positive side of a large
population that is often overlooked when
we look only at the negative side,
considering only the problems of
providing the population with food,
education and access to health facilities.
When the existing 'human resource' is
further developed by becoming more
educated and healthy, we call it 'human
capital formation' that adds to the
productive power of the country just like
'physical capital formation'.
Investment in human capital
(through education, training, medical
care) yields a return just like investment
in physical capital. This can be seen
directly in the form of higher incomes
earned because of higher productivity
of the more educated or the better trained
persons, as well as the higher
productivity of healthier people.
16

India’s Green Revolution is a
dramatic example of how the input
of greater knowledge in the form of
improved production technologies can
rapidly increase the productivity of
scarce land resources. India’s IT
revolution is a striking instance of
how the importance of human capital
has come to acquire a higher position
than that of material, plant and
machinery.
Source: Planning Commission, Govt. of India.

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population need not be a liability. It can
be turned into a productive asset by
investment in human capital (for example,
by spending resources on education and
health for all, training of industrial and
agricultural workers in the use of modern
technology, useful scientific researches
and so on).
The two following cases illustrate how
people can try to become a more productive
resource:
Story of Sakal

Picture 2.1

Let’s Discuss
•

Looking at the photograph can you
explain how a doctor, teacher, engineer
and a tailor are an asset to the
economy?

Not only do the more educated and the
healthier people gain through higher
incomes, society also gains in other
indirect ways because the advantages of a
more educated or a healthier population
spreads to those also who themselves were
not directly educated or given health care.
In fact, human capital is in one way
superior to other resources like land and
physical capital: human resource can
make use of land and capital. Land and
capital cannot become useful on its own!
For many decades in India, a large
population has been considered a liability
rather than an asset. But a large

There were two friends Vilas and
Sakal living in the same village
Semapur. Sakal was a twelve-year old boy. His mother Sheela looked
after domestic chores. His father Buta
Chaudhary worked in an agricultural
field. Sakal helped his mother in
domestic chores. He also looked after
his younger brother Jeetu and sister
Seetu. His uncle Shyam had passed
the matriculation examination, but,
was sitting idle in the house as he
had no job. Buta and Sheela were
eager to teach Sakal. They forced him
to join the village school which he
soon joined. He started studying and
completed his higher secondary
examination. His father persuaded
him to continue his studies. He raised
a loan for Sakal to study a vocational
course in computers. Sakal was
meritorious and interested in studies
from the beginning. With great vigour
and enthusiasm he completed his
course. After some time he got a job
in a private firm. He even designed a
new kind of software. This software
helped him increase the sale of the
firm. His boss acknowledged his
services and rewarded him with a
promotion.
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Picture 2.2 Stories of Vilas and Sakal

Story of Vilas
Vilas was an eleven-year old boy
residing in the same village as Sakal.
Vilas’s father Mahesh was a
fisherman. His father passed away
when he was only two years old. His
mother Geeta sold fish to earn money
to feed the family. She bought fish
from the landowner’s pond and sold
it in the nearby mandi. She could
earn only Rs 20 to 30 a day by selling
fish. Vilas became a patient of
arthritis. His mother could not afford
to take him to the doctor. He could
not go to school either. He was not
interested in studies. He helped his
mother in cooking and also looked
after his younger brother Mohan.
After some time his mother fell sick
and there was no one to look after
her. There was no one in the family
to support them. Vilas, too, was forced
to sell fish in the same village. He
like his mother earned only a meagre
income.

18

Let’s Discuss
•

Do you notice any difference between
the two friends? What are those?
Activity
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.

In the two case studies we saw Sakal
went to school and Vilas did not go. Sakal
was physically strong and healthy. There
was no need for him to visit the doctor
frequently. Vilas was a patient of
arthritis. He lacked the means to visit the
doctor. Sakal acquired a degree in
computer programming. Sakal found a job
in a private firm while Vilas continued
with the same work as his mother. He
earned a meagre income like his mother
to support a family.
In the case of Sakal, several years of
education added to the quality of labour.
This enhanced his total productivity.
Total productivity adds to the growth of
the economy. This in turn pays an

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individual through salary or in some other
form of his choice. In case of Vilas, there
could not be any education or health care
in the early part of his life. He spends his
life selling fish like his mother.
Henceforth, he draws the same salary of
unskilled labour as his mother.
Investment in human resource (via
education and medical care) can give high
rates of return in the future. This
investment on people is the same as
investment in land and capital. One
invests in shares and bonds expecting
higher return in the future.
A child, too, with investments made
on her education and health, can yield a
high return in the future in the form of
higher earnings and greater contribution
to society. Educated parents are found to
invest more heavily on the education of
their child. This is because they have
realised the importance of education for
themselves. They are also conscious of
proper nutrition and hygiene. They
accordingly look after their children’s
needs for education at school and good
health. A virtuous cycle is thus created
in this case. In contrast, a vicious cycle
may be created by disadvantaged parents
who, themselves uneducated and lacking
in hygiene, keep their children in a
similarly disadvantaged state.
Countries like Japan have invested in
human resource. They did not have any
natural resource. These countries are
developed/rich countries. They import the
natural resource needed in their country.
How did they become rich/developed?
They have invested on people especially
in the field of education and health. These
people have made efficient use of other
resource like land and capital. Efficiency
and the technology evolved by people have
made these countries rich/developed.

Economic Activities by Men and Women
Like Vilas and Sakal, people have been
engaged in various activities. We saw that
Vilas sold fish and Sakal got a job in the
firm. The various activities have been
classified into three main sectors i.e.,
primary, secondary and tertiary. Primary
sector includes agriculture, forestry, animal
husbandry, fishing, poultry farming,
mining, and quarrying. Manufacturing is
included in the secondary sector. Trade,
transport, communication, banking,
education, health, tourism, services,
insurance etc. are included in the tertiary
sector. The activities in this sector result
in the production of goods and services.
These activities add value to the national
income. These activities are called
economic activities. Economic activities
have two parts — market activities and
non-market activities. Market activities
involve remuneration to any one who
performs i.e., activity performed for pay
or profit. These include production of goods
or services including government service.
Non-market activities are the production
for self-consumption. These can be

Picture 2.3 Based on the picture can you classify
these activities into three sectors?
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consumption and processing of primary
product and own account production of
fixed assets.
Activity
Visit a village or colony located near
to your residential area and note
down
the
various
activities
undertaken by the people of that
village or colony.
If this is not possible, ask your
neighbour what is their profession?
In which of the three sectors will you
categorise their work?
Say whether these activities are
economic or non-economic activities:
Vilas sells fish in the village market.
Vilas cooks food for his family.
Sakal works in the private firm.
Sakal looks after his younger brother
and sister.

Due to historical and cultural reasons
there is a division of labour between men
and women in the family. Women
generally look after domestic chores and
men work in the fields. Sakal’s mother
Sheela cooks food, cleans utensils, washes
clothes, cleans the house and looks after
her children. Sakal’s father Buta
cultivates the field, sells the produce in
the market and earns money for the family.
Sheela is not paid for the services
delivered for upbringing of the family.
Buta earns money, which he spends on
rearing his family. Women are not paid
for their service delivered in the family.
The household work done by women is
not recognised in the National Income.
Geeta, mother of Vilas, earned an
income by selling fish. Thus women are
paid for their work when they enter the
labour market. Their earning like that of
their male counterpart is determined on
the basis of education and skill. Education
20

helps individual to make better use of the
economic opportunities available before
him. Education and skill are the major
determinants of the earning of any
individual in the market. A majority of
women have meagre education and low
skill for mation. Women are paid low
compared to men. Most women work
where job security is not there. Various
activities relating to legal protection is
meagre. Employment in this sector is
characterised by irregular and low income.
In this sector there is an absence of basic
facilities like maternity leave, childcare
and other social security systems.
However, women with high education and
skill formation are paid at par with the
men. Among the organised sector,
teaching and medicine attract them the
most. Some women have entered
administrative and other services
including job, that need high levels of
scientific and technological competence.
Ask your sister or your classmate what
she would like to take up as a career?

Quality of Population
The quality of population depends upon
the literacy rate, health of a person
indicated by life expectancy and skill
formation acquired by the people of the
country. The quality of the poulation
ultimately decides the growth rate of the
country. Illiterate and unhealthy
population are a liability for the economy.
Literate and healthy population are an
asset.

E ducation
Sakal’s education in the initial years of
his life bore him the fruits in the later
years in terms of a good job and salary.
We saw education was an important
input for the growth of Sakal. It opened
new horizon for him, provided new
aspiration and developed values of life.
Not only for Sakal, education contributes

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Picture 2.4 School children

towards the growth of society also. It
enhances the national income, cultural
richness and increases the efficiency of
governance. There is a provision made

...human being is a positive asset and
a precious national resource which
needs to be cherished, nurtured and
developed with tenderness and care,
coupled with dynamism. Each
individual’s growth presents a
different range of problems and
requirements. ... The catalytic action
of education in this complex and
dynamic growth process needs to be
planned meticulously and executed
with great sensitivity.
Source: National Education Policy, 1986.

Graph 2.1: Literacy rates in India

Source: Economy Survey, 2012.

for providing universal access, retention
and quality in elementary education with
a special emphasis on girls. There is also
an establishment of pace setting of schools
like Navodaya Vidyalaya in each district.
Vocational streams have been developed
to equip large number of high school
students with occupations related to
knowledge and skills. The plan outlay on
education has increased from Rs 151
crore in the first plan to Rs 3766.90 crore
in the eleventh plan. The expenditure on
education as a percentage of GDP rose from
0.64% in 1951–52 to 3.3% in 2013–14 (B.E.)

Let’s Discuss
Study the graph and answer the following
questions:
1. Has the literacy rates of the population
increased since 1951?
2. In which year India has the highest
literacy rates?
3. Why literacy rate is high among the
males of India?
4. Why are women less educated than men?
5. How would you calculate literacy rate
in India?
6. What is your projection about India’s
literacy rate in 2020?
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Activity
Count the number of boys and girls
studying in your school or in your
neighbouring co-ed school.
Ask the school administrator to
provide you with the data of boys and
girls studying in the classroom. Study
the difference if any and explain for
reasons in the classroom.
(Budgetary estimate). The literacy rates
have increased from 18% in 1951 to 74%
in 2010-11. Literacy is not only a right,
it is also needed if the citizen are to
perform their duties and enjoy their
rights properly. However, a vast
difference is noticed across different
sections of population. Literacy among
males is nearly 16.6% higher than
females and it is about 16.1% higher in
urban areas as compared to the rural
areas. In 2011 Literacy rates vary from
94% in Kerala to 62% in Bihar. The
primary school system has expanded to
over 7.68 lakhs in 2004-05. Unfortunately,
this huge expansion of schools has been
diluted by the poor quality of schooling
and high drop out rates. “Sarva Siksha
Abhiyan is a significant step towards
providing elementary education to all
children in the age group of six to
fourteen years by 2010 .... It is a time-

bound initiative of the central
government, in partnership with the
states, the local government and the
community for achieving the goal of
universalisation
of
elementary
education.” Along with it, bridge courses
and back-to-school camps have been
initiated to increase the enrollment in
elementary education. Mid-day meal
scheme has been implemented to
encourage attendance and retention of
children and improve their nutritional
status. These policies could add to the
literate population of India.
The eleventh plan endeavoured to
increase the enrolment in higher
education of the 18 to 23 years age
group to 15% by 2011-12 and to 21% by
twelfth plan. The strategy focuses on
increasing access, quality, adoption of
states-specific curriculum modification,
vocationalisation and networking on the
use of information technology. The plan
also focuses on distant education,
convergence of formal, non-formal,
distant and IT education institutions.
Over the past fifty years, there has been
a significant growth in the number of
university and institutions of higher
learning in specialised areas. Let us
read the table to see the increase in
number of college, universities, enrollment
of students and recruitment of teachers
since 1951 to 2011-12, 2012-13.

Table 2.1: Number of Institutions of Higher Education, Enrolment and Faculty
Year
1950–51
1990–91
1996–97
1998–99
2007–08
2011–12
2012–13

Number of
Colleges

Number of
Universities

Students

Teachers

750
7,346
9,703
11,089
18,064
31,324
37,204

30
177
214
238
378
611
723

2,63,000
49,25,000
67,55,000
74,17,000
14,00,000
–
28,00,000

24,000
2,72,000
3,21,000
3,42,000
4,92,000
–
–

Source: UGC Annual Report 1996–97 and 1998–99 and Selected Educational
Statistics, Ministry of HRD, Draft Report of Higher Education for 11th Five
Year Plan, working group on Economic Survey 2011-12, 2012-13.
22

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Let’s Discuss
Discuss this table in the classroom and
answer the following questions.
1. Is the increase in number of colleges
adequate to admit the increasing
number of students?
2. Do you think we should have more
number of Universities?
3. What is the increase noticed among
the teachers in the year 1998–99.
4. What is your idea about future colleges
and Universities?

Health
Firm maximise profit: Do you think any
firm would be induced to employ people
who might not work efficiently as a
healthy worker because of ill health?
The health of a person helps him to
realise his potential and the ability to
fight illness. An unhealthy person
becomes a liability for an organisation
indeed; health is an indispensable basis
for realising one’s well being. Henceforth,

improvement in the health status of the
population has been the priority of the
country. Our national policy, too, aims at
improving the accessibility of health care,
family welfare and nutritional service with
a special focus on the under-privileged
segment of population. Over the last five
decades India has built up a vast health
infrastructure and has developed man
power required at primary, secondary and
tertiary sector in Government as well as
in the private sector.
These measures adopted have
increased the life expectancy to over
66 years in 2011. *Infant mortality
rate (IMR) has come down from 147
in 1951 to and 42 in 2012. **Crude
birth rates have dropped to 22.1 and
***death rates to 7 within the same
duration of time. Increase in life
expectancy and improvement in child
care are useful in assessing the
future progress of the country.
Increase in longevity of life is an
indicator of good quality of life
marked by self-confidence. Reduction
in infant mortality involves the
protection of children from infection,
ensuring nutrition along with mother
and childcare.
Source: National Health Profile, 2010.
Economic Survey 2013-14.

Let’s Discuss

Picture 2.5 Children standing in queue for
health check-up

Study the Table 2.2 and answer the
following questions.
1. What is the percentage increase in
dispensaries from 1951 to 2011?
2. What is the percentage increase in
doctors and nursing personnel from
1951 to 2011?

* Infant mortality rate is the death of a child under one year of age.
** Birth rates is the number of babies born there for every 1,000 people during a particular period of time.
*** Death rate is the number of people per 1,000 who die during a particular period of time.

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Table 2.2: Health infrastructure over the years

H

SC/PHC/CHC

Dispensaries and Hospitals

Beds

1951

1981

2001

2010

2013

725

57,363

1,63,181

1,75,277

1,81,319

9,209

23,555

43,322

28,472

19,817
(only
hospitals)

1,17,198

5,69,495 8,70,161

5,76,793

6,28,000

Doctors (Allopathy)

61,800

2,68,700 5,03,900

8,16,629

9,18,000

Nursing Personnel

18,054

1,43,887 7,37,000 1,702,555 1,09,224
(General
Nurse)

SC: Sub centre, PHC: Primary Health Centre, CHC: Community Health Centre.
Source: National Health Profile, 2010: D/o Ayush, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
National Health Profile, 2013.

3. Do you think the increase in the
number of doctors and nurses is
adequate for India? If not, why?
4. What other facilities would you like to
provide in a hospital?
5. Discuss about the hospital you have
visited?
6. Can you draw a graph using this table.
There are many places in India which
do not have even these basic facilities.
There are only 381 medical colleges in the
country and 301 dental colleges. Just four
states like Andhre Pradesh, Karnataka,
Maharastra and Tamil Nadu have
maximum number of colleges.
Activity
Visit a nearby hospital, either
government or private and note down
the following details.
How many beds are there in the
hospital you have visited?
24

How many doctors are there in the
hospital?
How many nurses work in that
hospital?
Besides, try to gather the following
additional information:
How many hospitals are there in your
locality?
How many dispensaries are there in
your locality?

Unemployment
Sakal’s mother Sheela looked after the
domestic chores, children and helped her
husband Buta in the field. Sakal’s
brother, Jeetu and sister Seetu spend
their time playing and roaming. Can you
call Sheela or Jeetu or Seetu
unemployed? If not, why?
Unemployment is said to exist when
people who are willing to work at the going
wages cannot find jobs. Sheela is not
interested in working outside her

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domestic domain. Jeetu and Seetu are too
small to be counted in the work force
population. Neither Jeetu, Seetu or Sheela
can be counted as unemployed. The
workforce population includes people from
15 years to 59 years. Sakal’s brother and
sister do not fall within this age group so
they cannot be called unemployed. Sakal’s
mother Sheela works for the family. She
is not willing to work outside her domestic
domain for payment. She too cannot be
called unemployed. Sakal’s grandparents
(although not mentioned in the story)
cannot be called unemployed.
In case of India we have unemployment
in rural and urban areas. However, the
nature of unemployment differs in rural
and urban areas. In case of rural areas,
there is seasonal and disguised
unemployment. Urban areas have mostly
educated unemployment.
Seasonal unemployment happens
when people are not able to find jobs
during some months of the year. People
dependant upon agriculture usually face
such kind of problem. There are certain
busy seasons when sowing, harvesting,
weeding and threshing is done. Certain
months do not provide much work to the
people dependant on agriculture.
In case of disguised unemployment
people appear to be employed. They have
agricultural plot where they find work.
This usually happens among family
members engaged in agricultural activity.
The work requires the service of five
people but engages eight people. Three
people are extra. These three people also
work in the same plot as the others. The
contribution made by the three extra
people does not add to the contribution
made by the five people. If three people
are removed the productivity of the field
will not decline. The field requires the
service of five people and the three extra
people are disguised unemployed.
In case of urban areas educated
unemployment has become a common

phenomenon.
Many
youth
with
matriculation, graduation and post
graduation degrees are not able to find
job. A study showed that unemployment
of graduate and post-graduate has
increased
faster
than
among
matriculates. A paradoxical manpower
situation is witnessed as surplus of
manpower in certain categories coexist
with shortage of manpower in others.
There
is
unemployment
among
technically qualified person on one hand,
while there is a dearth of technical skills
required for economic growth.
Unemployment leads to wastage of
manpower resource. People who are an
asset for the economy turn into a liability.
There is a feeling of hopelessness and
despair among the youth. People do not
have enough money to support their
family. Inability of educated people who
are willing to work to find gainful
employment implies a great social waste.
Unemployment tends to increase
economic overload. The dependence of the
unemployed on the working population
increases. The quality of life of an
individual as well as of society is adversely
affected. When a family has to live on a
bare subsistence level there is a general
decline in its health status and rising
withdrawal from the school system.
Hence, unemployment has detrimental
impact on the overall growth of an
economy. Increase in unemployment is an
indicator of a depressed economy. It also
wastes the resource, which could have
been gainfully employed. If people cannot
be used as a resource they naturally
appear as a liability to the economy.
In case of India, statistically, the
unemployment rate is low. A large
number of people represented with low
income and productivity are counted as
employed. They appear to work
throughout the year but in terms of their
potential and income, it is not adequate
for them. The work that they are pursuing
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seems forced upon them. They may
therefore want other work of their choice.
Poor people cannot afford to sit idle. They
tend to engage in any activity irrespective
of its earning potential. Their earning
keeps them on a bare subsistence level.

the secondary sector, small scale
manufacturing is the most labour absorbing. In case of the tertiary sector,
various new services are now appearing
like biotechnology, information technology
and so on.
Let us read a story to know how people
could become an asset for the economy of
a village.
Story of a Village

Picture 2.6 Can you remember how much did
you pay when you asked him to
mend your shoes or slippers?

Moreover, the employment structure
is characterised by self-employment in the
primary sector. The whole family
contributes in the field even though not
everybody is really needed. So there is
disguised unemployment in the
agriculture sector. But the entire family
shares what has been produced. This
concept of sharing of work in the field and
the produce raised reduces the hardship
of unemployment in the rural sector. But
this does not reduce the poverty of the
family, gradually surplus labour from
every household tends to migrate from the
village in search of jobs.
Let us discuss about the employment
scenario in the three sectors mentioned
earlier. Agriculture, is the most labour
absorbing sector of the economy. In recent
years, there has been a decline in the
dependence of population on agriculture
partly because of disguised unemployment
discussed earlier. Some of the surplus
labour in agriculture has moved to either
the secondary or the tertiary sector. In
26

There was a village inhabited by
several families. Each family
produced enough to feed its members.
Each family met its needs by the
members making their own clothes
and teaching their own children. One
of the families decided to send one of
its sons to an agriculture college. The
boy got his admission in the nearby
college of agriculture. After some time
he became qualified in agroengineering and came back to the
village. He proved to be so creative
that he could design an improved type
of plough, which increased the yield
of wheat. Thus a new job of agroengineer was created and filled in the
village. The family in the village sold
the surplus in a nearby neighbouring
village. They earned good profit,
which
they
shared
among
themselves. Inspired by this success
all the families after some time held
a meeting in the village. They all
wanted to have a better future for
their children too. They requested the
panchayat to open a school in the
village. They assured the panchayat
that they would all send their
children to school. The panchayat,
with the help of government, opened
a school. A teacher was recruited
from a nearby town. All the children
of this village started going to school.
After sometime one of the families
gave training to his daughter in

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tailoring. She started stitching clothes
for all the families of the village for
everyone now wanted to buy and wear
well-tailored clothes. Thus another
new job, that of a tailor was created.
This had another positive effect. The
time of the farmers in going far for
buying clothes was saved. As the
farmers spent more time in the field,
the yield of the farms went up. This
was the beginning of prosperity. The
farmers had more than what they

could consume. Now they could sell
what they produced to others who
came to their village markets. Over
time, this village, which formally had
no job opportunities in the beginning,
had many like teacher, tailor, agro–
engineer and many more. This was
the story of a simple village where
the rising level of human capital
enabled it to evolve into a place rich
with complex and modern economic
activities.

Summary
You have seen how inputs like education and health helped in making people an
asset for the economy. The chapter also discusses about the economic activities
undertaken in the three sectors of the economy. We also study about the problem
associated with unemployment. Finally the chapter ends with the story of a village
which formally had no job but later had plenty.

Exercises
1. What do you understand by 'people as a resource'?
2. How is human resource different from other resources like land and physical
capital?
3. What is the role of education in human capital formation?
4. What is the role of health in human capital formation?
5. What part does health play in the individual’s working life?
6. What are the various activities undertaken in the primary sector, secondary
sector and tertiary sector?
7. What is the difference between economic activities and non-economic activities?
8. Why are women employed in low paid work?
9. How will you explain the term unemployment?
10. What is the difference between disguised unemployment and seasonal
unemployment?
11. Why is educated unemployed, a peculiar problem of India?
12. In which field do you think India can build the maximum employment
opportunity?
13. Can you suggest some measures in the education system to mitigate the problem
of the educated unemployed?
14. Can you imagine some village which initially had no job opportunities but
later came up with many?
15. Which capital would you consider the best — land, labour, physical capital
and human capital? Why?
People as Resource

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References
GARY, S. BECKER. 1966. Human Capital: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis with Special
Reference to Education, General Series. Number 80. New York. National Bureau
of Economic Research.
THEODORE W. SCHUL TZ. 'Investment in Human Capital' American Economic Review.
March 1961.
Economic Survey 2004–2005. Ministry of Finance, Government of India, New Delhi.
India Vision 2020. The Report. Planning Commission. Government of India, New
Delhi.
Mid-Term Appraisal of the Tenth Five Year Plan (2002–2007). Planning Commission,
Part II. New Delhi.
Tenth Five Year Plan ( 2002–2007). Planning Commission, New Delhi.

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