Human Resources – The set of people who make up the workforce of an organization, business
Sector, industry or economy is called human resource.
By contributing in productivity, the human resource plays a significant role in the economy of a country.
Any other resource becomes useful only because of the input by the human resource.
Investment in human capital yields a return like investment in other resources.
Investment in human capital is done through education, training and healthcare.
A person with better education usually earns better than an uneducated person.
Moreover, a healthy person is more productive than an unhealthy person.
Virtuous cycle:
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.
Vicious cycle:
Uneducated parents are unable to invest on education and healthcare of their children.
This creates a vicious cycle in which the coming generation is often forced to remain poor.
Population as Capital:
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 are a way of referring to a country’s working people in terms of their existing productive skills and abilities.
Human capital formation – The process of transforming the people in a country into workers who are capable of producing goods and services is called Human capital formation.
Or
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.
Human capital and physical capital:
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! 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
Asset – A resource with economic value that an individual, corporation, or country owns or controls with the expectation that it will provide future benefits are called assets.
Example – Cash, Building, Machinery, Equipment etc.
Liability – The state of being legally responsible for something is called liability.
Example – Bank debt, Mortgage debt, Wages owed, Taxes owed etc.
Large population – A liability or an asset
Normally a large population has been considered a liability rather than an asset.
But a large 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).
“Some countries have less resource, but are more developed.”
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 and 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:
Economic Activities – An activity which is done with the aim of monetary return is called an economic activity. Ex – Farming, Teaching, Marketing etc.
These activities add value to the national income.
These are measured in monetary terms.
Non-economic Activities – An activity which is not done with the aim of monetary return is called a non-economic activity. Ex – Worship, love, Care, Doing social work, helping the poor etc.
These activities do not add any value to the national income, as these are only for self consumption.
These are not measured in monetary terms.
Economic activities can be categorized into three types:
Primary activities
Secondary activities
Tertiary activities
Primary Activities – When we produce a good by extraction and collection of natural resources, it is known as the primary sector. Ex. Farming, forestry, hunting, fishing and mining.
Economic activities which are related to agriculture, poultry farming, fishing, horticulture, animal husbandry, mining, quarrying, etc. are called primary activities.
Natural resources are just extracted (with little or no modification) in primary activities.
Secondary Activities – A sector that covers activities in which natural products are changed into other forms through ways of manufacturing is called Secondary Sector.
Manufacturing is called secondary activity.
Natural resources are properly modified in secondary activity.
Tertiary Activities – A sector that involves activities that help in the development of the primary and secondary sectors is called tertiary sector.
Economic activities which support the primary and secondary activities are also called tertiary activities.
Banking, transport, finance and different types of services come under tertiary activities.
On the basis of production goal, economic activities are also divided into two types, viz. market activities and non-market activities.
Market Activities: When some product or service is produced to be sold in the market, it is called market activity.
Market activities involve remuneration to anyone who performs i.e., activity performed for pay or profit.
These include production of goods or services including government service
Non-market Activities: When some product or service is produced for self consumption, it is called non-market activity.
If a farmer produces just enough to meet his family needs, then his activity is a non-market activity.
Similarly, the work of a housewife is a non-market activity; because she is working for the benefit of her family members.
Works Performed under Economic activities:
There are huge difference between economic activity performed by men and economic activity performed by women.
Women look after domestic affairs like cooking of food, washing of clothes, cleaning of utensils, housekeeping and looking after children.
Men work in the field.
Men are paid for their work on the contrary women is not paid for their performances in the house.
The work done by men is recognized in the National Income whereas the household work done by women is not recognized in the National Income.
Due to historical and cultural reasons there is a division of labour between men and women:
Women generally look after domestic chores and men work in the fields.
Women are not paid for their service delivered in the family.
The household work done by women is not recognised in the National Income.
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. A majority of women have meagre education and low skill formation.
Women are paid low compared to men.
Most women work where job security is not there.
Various activities relating to legal protection are 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
Quality of population & its importance:
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 population ultimately decides the growth rate of the country.
Illiterate and unhealthy population is a liability for the economy.
Literate and healthy population is an asset.
Education:
Education enhances the literacy level and skill level of a person.
Education 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.
Education opens new horizon, provides new aspiration and develops values of life for an individual.
Education contributes towards the growth of society also.
It enhances the national income, cultural richness and increases the efficiency of governance.
Graph: Literacy rates in India
Steps taken for promotion of Education:
Provision made for providing universal access, retention and quality 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 11th.
The expenditure on education as a percentage of GDP rose from 0.64% in 1951-52 to 3 00% in 2015-16 and has increased to 3.98% of the GDP in 2002-03.
It became 3% in 2015-16 and became 2.7% in 2017-18.
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Number of Institutions of Higher Education, Enrolment and Faculty
Literacy and its diversity in India:
Literacy is not only a right, it is also needed if the citizen is to perform their duties and enjoy their rights properly.
The literacy rates have increased from 18% in 1951 to 74% in 2011.
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.
Literacy rates vary from 94% in some district of Kerala to a below 62% in Bihar.
Policies to increase the literate population of India:
The primary school system has expanded to over 5,00,000 villages in India “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.
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
Steps taken to promote higher education in India:
The 12th plan endeavoured to increase the enrollment in higher education of the 18 to 23 years age group from the present by the end of the plan period.
The strategy focuses on increasing access, quality, and 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.
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.
Steps taken to promote health standards:
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.
The government health system is composed of many tiers of hospitals.
The Primary Health Centres are the bottom of this tier, and provide general medical care to rural people.
This is followed by Community Health Centres in bigger Tehsils or Block level towns.
The District Hospitals are at district level.
Further, medical colleges are present in major cities where doctors of all specialties are present.
Outcomes:
These measures, which have been adopted, have increased the life expectancy to over 68.3 years in 2014.
Infant mortality rate (IMR) has come down from 147 in 1951 to 34 in 2016.
Crude birth rates have dropped to 20.4 and death rates to 6.4 within the same duration of time.
Increase in life expectancy and improvement in childcare 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 the nutrition of both the mother and the child, and childcare.
Health Infrastructure
| |
2013
|
2014
|
2015
|
2016
|
2017
|
|
SC/PHC/CHC
|
181,139
|
182,709
|
184,359
|
185,933
|
187,505
|
|
Dispensaries and hospitals
|
29,274
|
29,715
|
29,957
|
30,044
|
31,641
|
|
Beds (Govt.)
|
628,708
|
675,779
|
754,724
|
634,879
|
710,761
|
|
Registered Doctor in Medical Council
|
45,106
|
33,536
|
20,422
|
25,282
|
17,982
|
|
Nursing Personnel
(ANM+RN&RM+LHV)
|
2,344,241
|
2,621,981
|
2,639,229
|
2,778,248
|
2,878,182
|
Source: National Health Policy 2018
SC: Sub centre, PHC: Primary Health Centre, CHC: Community Health Centre
Unemployment – When a person is actively seeking a job but is unable to get employed, he is called an unemployed person. This condition is called unemployment.
Unemployment is a phenomenon that occurs when a person want to do work but unable to find work.
Unemployment is liability to the nation.
It leads to wastage of manpower resource.
People in the working age (15 to 59 years) only can be termed unemployed if any one of them is without a gainful employment.
Additionally, if a person voluntarily does not want to work he cannot be termed as unemployed.
Two types of unemployment found in rural areas:
(i) Seasonal unemployment
(ii) Disguised unemployment
Seasonal Unemployment – When people are not able to find jobs during some months of the year is called seasonal employment.
People dependent 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.
Disguised Unemployment – A kind of unemployment in which there are people who are visibly employed but are actually unemployed is called Disguised Unemployment.
This usually happens among family members engaged in agricultural activity.
The work requires the service of less people but generally engages more people.
The extra people do not add to the contribution made by others.
Even if these extra people are removed the productivity of the field will not decline.
Their potential could have given better results if utilised elsewhere.
Educated Unemployed – When a person is educated and is not able o find a suitable and efficient job for himself is called Educated Unemployed.
The problem of unemployment among the educated youth is very high in urban areas.
Now-a-days, even highly educated youths; like graduates and postgraduates; are unable to find a job.
Most of the analysts say that it is because of demand supply gap.
While many technically qualified people are unemployed, there are many jobs remaining vacant because of lack properly trained person.
Drawbacks of Educated Unemployment:
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.
Drawbacks of Unemployment:
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 employment 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.
The employment scenario in the three sectors:
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 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.
Effects of Unemployment:
Unemployment can be emotionally draining on the unemployed person.
It can be a financial and emotional drain on his family members.
A large number of unemployed people is ultimately a liability for the society.
High rate of unemployment can also increase the crime rate.
Infant mortality rate (IMR) – The death of a child who is come under one year of age is called Infant mortality rate.
It is measured by number of death of children under one year of age per 1000 live births.
Birth rates – The number of babies born there for every 1,000 people during a particular period of time is called Birth rates.
Death rate – The number of people per 1,000 who die during a particular period of time is called Death rate.
Sex ratio – The number of females per 1,000 males in the population is called sex ratio and also known as Gender Ratio.
National Income – The total value a country’s final output of all new goods and services produced in one year. is called National Income.
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) – The final value of the goods and services produced within the geographic boundaries of a country during a specified period of time is called Gross Domestic Product.
Gross National Product (GNP) – The total value of all the goods and services produced by a country in one year, including the total amount of money that comes from foreign countries is called Gross national product.
