Argue in favour of the need for different forms of government intervention in education and health sectors.
India being a federal country, expenditures on both education and health are carried out by all the three tiers of the government. In India, the education and health sectors services are provided both by the public as well as by the private institutions. While, the private institutions are guided by the market and profit motive, on the other hand, the public institutions are guided by the main motive of rendering services and to enhance human capital. As the cost of education and health facilities provided by private institutions is higher, so it is difficult for the majority of population to avail these services because of their economic inability.
Thus, it is very important for the government to provide quality education and health facilities to this section of the population. Moreover, private institutions are unable to reach remote and rural areas where people lack initiative for education and health. In this context, the role of government to encourage them and to make them aware of advantages of education and health cannot be substituted. Also, there are some underprivileged sections of population like, ST, SC, OBC, the interests of whose can only be protected by the interference of government. Moreover, people as individual consumers do not have complete information about the quality of services and the related costs. This often leads to exploitation of people. Hence, government intervention in health and education sector is must in order to enhance the quality of human capital.
Discuss the need for promoting women’s education in India.
Trace the relationship between human capital and economic growth.
Discuss the following as a source of human capital formation
(i) Health infrastructure
(ii) Expenditure on migration.
‘There is a downward trend in inequality world-wide with a rise in the average education levels’. Comment.
What are the main problems of human capital formation in India?
Education is considered to be an important input for the development of a nation. How?
How is human development a broader term as compared to human capital?
What are the indicators of educational achievement in a country?
What factors contribute to human capital formation?
How government organisations facilitate the functioning of schools and hospitals in India?
What was the focus of the economic policies pursued by the colonial government in India? What were the impacts of these policies?
What do you mean by rural development? Bring out the key issues in rural development.
Define a plan?
Who is a worker?
Explain the term ‘infrastructure’.
What is meant by environment?
Why are regional and economic groupings formed?
Why were reforms introduced in India?
Why calorie-based norm is not adequate to identify the poor?
Name some notable economists who estimated India’s per capita income during the colonial period?
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!
Place of Residence | Workforce (in millions) | ||
Male | Female | Total | |
Rural Urban |
125 32 |
69 7 |
195 39 |
Do you think various measures taken by the government to improve agricultural marketing are sufficient? Discuss.
Indicate the volume and direction of trade at the time of independence.
What is the state of rural infrastructure in India?
Highlight the salient features of India’s pre-independence occupational structure.
Outline the steps involved in attaining sustainable development in India.
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?
Are the following workers — a beggar, a thief, a smuggler, a gambler? 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?
Identify six factors contributing to land degradation in India.