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7/20/2015 XI Economics Sample Papers, ICSE Economics Sample Papers class 11, Class XI Economics Solved Papers ICSE Extraminds

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Instructions

Attempt all questions from Section A and any four questions from Section B.

The intended marks for questions or parts of questions are given in brackets ().

SECTION A (40 Marks)

Question 1

Q. Which year is considered as the defining year to mark the demographic transition from the first to the second stage? (1 Mark)

Ans. Year 1921 is considered as the defining year to mark the demographic transition from the first to the second stage. The second stage started after1921.

Q. What was the overall literacy rate in India during the British period? (1 Mark)

Ans. During the British period, the overall literacy rate in India was less than 16%.

Q. Identify the major occupations followed by the people of our country at the time of Independence. (3 Marks)

Ans. During the colonial period occupational structure of Indian Economy showed little changes and these are :

1. The agriculture sector accounted for the largest share of workforce, which remained at a high of 7075 %.

2. While the manufacturing and the service sector accounted for only 10% and 15 %.

3. Another aspect was the growing regional variation. While the southern and the western states and Bengal showed a decline in the dependence of thework force on agriculture and increase in industrial and service sector. On the other hand the Northern States showed an increase in workforce inagriculture.

Q. What was the significant contribution of Railways in India? (2 Marks)

Ans. Railways were introduced in 1850 and considered one of the major contributions by British government. Railways enabled long distance travel andthus broke geographical and cultural barriers. It encouraged commercialisation of agriculture, adversely affecting self sufficiency of village economies.

India’s export volume also expanded but not benefited Indians economically.

Q. Foreign trade was oriented to feed the Industrial revolution in Britain. Comment. (2 Marks)

Ans. India operated under the monopoly of Britain which can be described in below two points:

♦ Exporter of Primary products such as raw silk, cotton, wool, sugar, indigo, jute etc.

♦ Importer of finished consumer goods like cotton, silk and woolen clothes and Capital goods like light machinery.

Question 2

Q. Explain the twofold motive behind the systematic deindustrialisation effected by the British in pre independent India. (2 Marks)

Ans. Foreign trade was oriented to feed the industrial revolution in Britain for which India was made the supplier of raw materials and importer of Britishmanufactured finished goods. Thus there was massive deindustrialisation of Indian handicraft industries.

Q. Write a brief note on commercialisation of agriculture during British rule. (2 Marks)

Ans. Commercialisation of agriculture: Farmers produced food crops for self consumption earlier but then in order to commercialize the agriculture, andthere was high yield of cash crops used by the British industries back home.

Q. What is the difference between GDP and Per Capita Income? What was the status of National Income at the time of Independence? (3 Marks)

Ans. GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT (GDP) refers To the flow of final goods and services within the domestic territory of a country during the period theperiod of one year.

PER CAPITA GDP refers to the flow of final goods & services (produced during the year) per head of the population of a country.

Average Annual Growth Rate in GDP in 195051 was 3.6 % Per capital income in 195051 was Rs.3687

Q. Outline the main economic policies adopted by the British colonial government in India. (4 Marks)

Ans. The colonial exploitation, irrelevant policies and oppressive political regime did not allow the economy to grow.

Ø British government conferred rights to ownership of lands to zamindars who paid low rent to the government but extracted huge amount of rent from thepoor farmers.



Ø India suffered during war period which led to loss of real capital. Deindustrialisation of Indian small cottage and handicraft industries reduced thecountry.

Ø The British took no major interest in the development of proper infrastructure as these required careful planning and heavy investment.

Ø Indian population was dependent on agriculture for their livelihood. There were other socioeconomic problems also due to indifferent attitude of theBritish like poverty, unemployment, illiteracy etc.

Ø Dominance of Foreign Capital in important segments of Indian economy, pressure of British government to make India a supplier of raw material andmarket for British manufactured goods turned Indian economy into a colonial one.

Q. Underscore some of India’s most crucial economic challenges at the time of Independence. (4 Marks)

Ans. After Independence the areas, which needed immediate attention, were:

1. Agriculture: Burdened by surplus labour and extremely low productivity. Farming techniques were outdated. It was totally dependent on monsoons.

2. Industrial sector was outdated, needed modernization, diversification and huge public investments.

3. Infrastructure facilities like railways, roads, powers were inadequate.

4. Poverty and unemployment had to be tackled on a war footing.

5. High mortality rates and low literacy rates needed a lot of investment in social infrastructure.

Question 3

Q. Explain natural resources. (3 Marks)

Ans. Natural resources are the resources which have been provided by the nature in the form of land, air, water, forests, animals, sunshine etc. Naturalresources are free gifts from nature. They are the foundation of the prosperity of a country. Natural resources are of two types:

i) Exhaustible resources andii) Inexhaustible resources.

Q. How population growth is the cause of depletion of natural resources? OrDo you agree that growth of human wants has led to resource depletion? Give reasons. (3 Marks)

Ans. Population growth is the cause of depletion of natural resources. More the number of people more is the demand for goods and services needed tosatisfy wants. Growth of human wants requires more inputs needed for production. Hence rapid growth of population has led to more extraction ofresources from the environment which has resulted resource depletion.

Q. Explain the term affluence trap. (3 Marks)

Ans. Affluence means economic wellbeing. Trap is something in which we get caught and we can not escape out of it. Affluence trap meansenvironmental degradation trap. With affluence or economic well being, more natural resources are used up causing environmental problems. In the richcountries of the developed world, the high level of incomeAssociated with the high level of consumption is using up natural resources at a fast pace. As aconsequence, these countries are getting trapped into a situation of severe environmental degradation.

Q. Explain how industrialisation is responsible for the pollution of environment. (4 Marks)

Ans. Industrialisation is responsible for the pollution of environment in the following ways:

i) Smoke producing factories endanger lives on earth.

ii) Discharge of industrial wastes and chemicals are carried to the rivers through drains leading to severe water pollution.

iii) Machines produce loud sounds causing noise pollution.

iv) Movements of heavy and light vehicles, running of pumps etc create noise pollution.

v) Industrialisation has led to decrease in forest cover.

vi) Movement of vehicular traffic has resulted in air pollution.

Q. What is ozone depletion? (4 Marks)

Ans. One of the problems created by the air pollution is ozone depletion. The presence of pollutants like fluorocarbons and chlorofluorocarbons (CFC) inthe air has depleted ozone in the atmosphere. This has created a hole in the ozone layer of the atmosphere. CFCs are chemicals used in refrigerators andair conditioners as cooling agents. The ozone layer protects life on earth by preventing harmful ultraviolet rays of the sun from entering the atmosphere.This layer has become too thin and has developed a whole exposing human life to the dangerous ultraviolet rays of sun. it is known that long exposure to



ultraviolet rays of sun causes cancer and other genetic disorders in human beings.

Question 4

Q. Differentiate between renewable and nonrenewable resources. Give suitable examples. (2 Marks)

Ans. The resource which can be replenished again and again once they are used is called renewable resource. Examples: Solar, wind, water etc.

By contrast, resource that is in limited supply and cannot be replaced once it has been used is called a nonrenewable resource. Once they are takenout of the ground, they are not replaced and if do so, only at a very slow rate. For example, coal and petroleum.

Q. What are the functions of the environment? (2 Marks)

Ans. The environment is able to perform the functions mentioned below provided the demand of these functions is within its carrying and absorptivecapacities:

(i) It supplies both renewable and nonrenewable resources.(ii) It assimilates wastes.(iii) It sustains life by providing genetic and biodiversity.(iv) It also provides aesthetic services like scenery.

Q. List down the factors behind land degradation in India. (2 Marks)

Ans. The main factors behind land degradation in India are given below:

(i) Loss of vegetation occurring due to deforestation. (ii) Unsustainable fuel wood and fodder extraction. (iii) Shifting cultivation. (iv) Encroachment into forest lands.(v) Forest fires and overgrazing. (vi) Nonadoption of adequate soil conservation measures.(vii) Indiscriminate use of agrochemicals such as fertilizers and pesticides.

Q. Discuss the ways involved in attaining sustainable development in India. (2 Marks)

Ans. Sustainable development in India can be acheived through the following measures

Controlling human population, Efficient technological progress, Balanced and economic use of resources, Minimizing pollution levels, Conservation ofnatural assets, Preservation of regenerative capacity of Ecological system, Avoiding the imposition of added costs or risks on future generations

Q. India has abundant natural resources. Comment. (4 Marks)

Ans. The given statement is true . India has abundant natural resources in the form of

Rich quality of soil e.g., Black soil of Deccan Plateau suitable for cotton cultivation.

Hundreds of rivers and tributaries, vast stretch of Indian ocean.

Lush green forests that provides green cover for population and natural cover for wildlife.

Plenty of mineral deposits beneath land surface e.g., iron ore, coal, natural gas.

Ranges of mountains and Indo Gangetic plains spread from Arabian Sea to Bay of Bengal

SECTION B (40 Marks)

Question 5

Q. Discuss the strategies of sustainable development. (6 Marks)

Ans. The following strategies or steps can be adopted to achieve sustainable development:

1. Use of Nonconventional sources of energy: Both of the conventional sources of energy i.e. thermal and hydro power plants pollute the environment.Wind power and solar energy can be effectively used to replace thermal and hydro power.

2. Use of gases: Rural households in India generally use wood, dung cakes and other biomass as fuel. This practice has led to several problems likedeforestation, reduction in green cover, wastage of animal dung and air pollution. To meet this situation subsidised LPG is being provided by thegovernment. Gobar gas plants are being encouraged through easy loans and subsidy. In cities, the use of CNG as fuel in public transport system hassubstantially reduced the level of air pollution.

3. Establishment of mini hydal plants: Hilly areas have streams everywhere. Most of such streams are perennial. Mini hydel plants can be set up to use



the energy of such streams to move small turbines. The electricity thus generated can be used locally. Mini hydel plants are environment friendly as theydo not change the land use pattern.

4. Adoption of old practices: We can go back to traditional practices in most of the fields of life, e.g. ayurveda and unani systems of treatment, herbalcosmetics, traditional method of farming etc. All those old practices were environment friendly.

5. Use of biocompost: The reckless use of chemical fertilizers has adversely affected the fertility of land and water bodies including ground water system.Nowadays, the demand for organic food is on a rise. Therefore, farmers again have started using organic manure.

6. Bio pest control: With increasing use of chemical pesticides, grains and even milk, meat, fish were found to be contaminated. To meet this challenge,farmers are now using pesticides based on plant products. They also have adopted mixed cropping for pest controlling.

Q. What are the contributing factors to the environmental crisis in India? What problem do they pose for the government? (6 Marks)

Ans. Following are the contributing factors to the environmental crisis in India: i) Rising population: Rising population creates the demand for resources for both production and consumption which puts pressure on the environment.Rising population has resulted in the problems of food, housing and transport facilities.

ii) Air pollution: Air pollution lowers the quality of air. Air pollution causes a serious damage to public health. Air pollution has increased the burden of heavyexpenditure on public health.

iii) Water contamination: Water becomes contaminated primarily from dumping of chemicals and industrial wastes into rivers, streams, lakes etc. Theconsequence of water contamination is spread of water born diseases and damage to human life as well as animal life. Water contamination has increasedthe burden of heavy expenditure on drinking water, public health and protection of animal life.

iv) Affluent consumption standard: Affluent consumption standards have created demand for resources and put pressure on the environment. These haveresulted in the increase in government expenditure on the protection of environment.

v) Illiteracy: Illiteracy has added a lot of the environmental problems in India. It has created problems in the promotion of science and technology andscientific outlook. Illiterate people are not receptive to modern ideas. As a result, people do not take much interest in the environmental issues. Thegovernment has to incur a heavy expenditure on the publicity of environmental issues.

vi) Industrialisation: Industrialisation has made it impossible to meet the growing needs of the society. There is a heavy demand for resources forproduction. Industrialization has created the problems of air pollution, water pollution and nose pollution. The government of India is spending a good sumof money to control these pollutions.

vii) Urbanisation: Urbanisation has created the problems of misuse and overuse of resources. There is a threat of pollution on due to deforestation andpressure on land. The government has to create social infrastructure in the urban areas.

viii) Reduction to forest coverage: The government has to spend a lot of money to promote a forestation.

ix) Poaching: Poaching is a serious threat to animal world. The government is spending handsome amount on the prevention of poaching.

x) Global warming: Global warming is a gradual increase in the average temperature of the earth’s atmosphere, as a result of the increase in thegreenhouse gases since industrial revolution. The government is taking preventive steps by controlling the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation.

Question 6

Q. Explain the relevance of intergenerational equity in the definition of sustainable development. (6 Marks)

Ans. Sustainable development is defined as a development that meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of the futuregeneration to meet their own needs. The definition emphasises intergenerational equity. Sustainable development aims at maintaining the quality of life ofboth present and future generations. Sustainable development makes use of natural resources and environment for raising the existing standard of living insuch a way so as to reduce ability of the future generations to meet their own needs. For example, the air and water, both are necessary for our survival onearth. If we do not use them responsibly and pollute them, the needs of the future generations would suffer. We have no right to deny the right to life tofuture generations. Thus sustainable development does not approve of these activities which maintain existing high standard of living but prove detrimentalto quality of life of future generation.

Q. What is pollution? Name the different types of pollution. (6 Marks)

Ans. Pollution may be defined as an undesirable change in the quality of a natural resource that is harmful to the living beings.

Different types of pollutions:

WATER POLLUTION

Definition: Air pollution lowers the quality of air.

Causes:



i) Smoke which arises from factories.ii) Chemicals from manufacturing plants.

Consequences:

i) It causes serious damage to public health, increasing the burden of heavy expenditure.ii) Ozone depletion.

Suggestive Measures:

i) Burning of fossil fuel should be reduced.ii) Affores tation should be promoted.iii) Nonpolluted resources should be used for energy.iv) Better automobile engines should be used.v) Factories must be located away from the residential areas.

WATER POLLUTION

Definition: Water pollution is the injection of harmful substances into the water that changes its physical and chemical properties and makes it unfit foruse.

Causes:

i) Dumping of chemicals and industrial wastes into rivers, streams and lakes.ii) Washing clothes, utensils, cattle etc. in rivers and ponds.iii) Release of sewage water from cities.iv) Indiscriminate use of pesticides and fertilizers in agriculture.

Consequences:

i) It causes a number of water born diseases such as dysentery, typhoid, cholera and chronic amoebisis.ii) Water pollution affects the marine plants and animals.iii) The consumption of these plants and animals also harm the human beings.


i) Effluents from factories should not be canalized into rivers and seas.ii) Effluents from paper mills and tanneries must not be allowed to stagnate on land.iii) Factory effluents should be recycled.iv) Sewage disposals in rivers must not be allowed. It should be treated and the slush should be used as manure in the fields.

NOISE POLLUTION

Definition: Noise pollution means unwanted and unpleasant sound making the environment uncomfortable for the living beings.

Causes: It is a necessary evil of industrial culture.

i) Machines produce loud sounds causing noise pollution.ii) Movements of heavy and light vehicles, running of pumps etc create noise pollution.iii) Disturbing sounds of firecrackers.

Consequences:

i) It causes discomfort and irritates people.ii) It results in fatigue, loss of efficiency, anxiety, headache, mental disorder, problem of hearing and sleeping.


There are several Directives from Supreme Court to control the extent of noise pollution in this modern civilized society.

Question 7

Q. Explain the term environment. What are the functions of environment (4 Marks)

Ans. Environment means nature in its capacity as a store of resources and as an absorber/clearing agent of harmful byproducts of the production system.In other words, environment is the total planetary inheritance and totality of all resources. It includes all the biotic and abiotic factors that influence eachother.

Following are the functions of the environment:



i) Environment supplies resources. Environment provides continuous supply of renewable resources.ii) Environment assimilates waste.iii) Environment sustains life by providing genetic and biodiversity.iv) Environment provides aesthetic services like scenery.

Q. Describe the ways to check environmental problems. (6 Marks)

Ans. Following are the ways to check environmental problems:

i) People are being made aware of the adverse effects of the pollution. Today, students are taught about various aspects of environment. The governmentadvertises regularly in newspapers, television and radio to make people aware.

ii) Various laws have been passes to protect our environment. For example, Wildlife Act and various directives of supreme court such as banning the useof loudspeakers.

iii) Government spends a lot of money to clean environment. The sewage treatment plants of municipal clean and treat dirty water. The collection ofgarbage and sweeping of roads in urban areas are funded by the municipalities. Regenerative activities like tree plantation and reforestation by variouscivic bodies are the investments for which the government is committed. Further research on environment, spreading of information on environmentalproblems, prevention of diseases and provision of clean drinking water are some other aspects of government’s participation in its efforts to protect theenvironment.

iv) The government imposes tax on certain goods and services that pollute the environment. A tax discourages people to pollute environment. On the otherhand, a subsidy provided by the government encourages people to use environmental friendly products. A subsidy by the government on solar cookerreduces its price and makes it affordable to poor people.

v) Recycling is a process by which a used resource can be reused several times. For example, paper, iron, glass etc. Recycling helps to economize onscarce natural resources.

vi) Substitution means the use of an alternative resource that is abundant instead of a natural resource that is scarce. CNG, LPG and ethanol replacepetrol and diesel.

Question 8

Q. What do you mean by social infrastructure and how do you distinguish it from economic infrastructure? (6 Marks)

Ans. Social infrastructure means the services which meet the basic needs of a society which in turn, indirectly help in production of goods and services.Social infrastructure includes education, health and hosting. Social infrastructure has dual role to play. Social infrastructure generates productive humanresources as well as contributes directly to the welfare of the people. Economic infrastructure is directly related to the economic development.

Economic infrastructure refers to economic facilities and services which support an economic system to work efficiently. Economic infrastructuredirectly helps in the production of commodities and services. Economic infrastructure includes education, health and housing.

Economic infrastructure Social infrastructure

1. Economic infrastructure directlysupports the economic system.

1. Social infrastructure indirectlysupports the economic system. It helpsthe economic system from outside.

2. It improves the quality of economicresources and thus raises productivityand lowers cost of production.

2. It improves the quality of humanresources and thus raises the efficiencyof manpower.

3. Expenditure on the creation ofeconomic infrastructure leads to anincrease in the stock of physicalcapital.

3. Expenditure on social infrastructureincreases the stock of human capital inthe economy.

Both economic and social infrastructures are interdependent. The development of economic infrastructure depends on the development of socialinfrastructure. Both contribute to the economic development of the country.

Q. Write a note on consumption pattern of commercial energy in India. (6 Marks)

Ans. Commercial sources of energy consist of those sources of energy which are available to the users at some price. It is mostly used for commercialpurposes in factories, farms and commercial establishments. Coal, petroleum, natural gas and hydroenergy fall under this category. At present,commercial energy consumption makes up about 65% of the total energy consumed in India. This includes coal with the largest share of 55%., followed byoil at 31%, natural gas at 11% and hydroenergy at 3%. Noncommercial sources of energy which includes firewood, agricultural waste and dried dung ofanimals account for over 30% of the total energy consumption. The sectoral pattern of consumption of commercial energy is given in the table below. Thetransport sector was the largest consumer of commercial energy in 195354. However, there has been continuous fall in the share of the transport sector



while the share of industrial sector has been increasing. The share of oil and gas is highest among all commercial energy consumption. With the rapid rateof growth, there has been a corresponding increase in the use of energy.

Sector 195354 197071 199091 199697

Household

Agriculture

Industries

Transport

Others

10

01

40

28

5

12

03

50

22

07

12

08

45

22

13

12

09

42

22

15

Total 100 100 100 100

Question 9

Q. Discuss the main drawbacks of our health care system. How can we increase the effectiveness of health care programmes? (6 Marks)

Ans. India has built up a vast health infrastructure over the years since independence. Expansion of health infrastructure has resulted in the eradication ofsmallpox, guinea warms, and in the near eradication of polio and leprosy. Nevertheless, public health services are quite inadequate. Our government has toplay a greater role in the health sector. Some of the weaknesses of our health sector are as follows:

i) The distribution of our existing health infrastructure is inequitable: Most of the modern health facilities are available in the urban areas. Health facilities inrural areas are quite inadequate. About 70% of India’s population lives in rural areas, but only onefifth of hospitals are located in rural areas.

ii) Lack of personnel: We lack doctors (medical personnel) and others assisting them in treatment (paramedical personnel). In fact, there exists mismatchbetween personnel and infrastructure.

iii) Health care for the poor: The poorest 20% of Indians loving in both rural and urban areas spend 12% of their income on healthcare while the rich spendonly 2%.

iv) Poor women’s health: Sex ratio in India has been continuously falling. There are increasing cases of female foeticide. The incidence of mortality is stillhigh in case of women in India. About 3 lakh girls under the age of 15 become mothers every year. Frequent bearing of child has caused anemia whichcontributes to 19% maternal deaths. Abortion is a major cause of mortality in India.

v) Poor sanitation facilities: Sanitation facilities which promise clean surrounding are extremely poor in India both in its rural and urban areas. Health is an essential public good and a basic human right as well. The long term success in this regard depends on efficient health infrastructure. Thecurrent expenditure on health (which is 4.8% of GDP) seems to be inadequate as compared to other countries. Privatepublic partnership can effectivelyensure reliability, quality and affordability of drugs and medicare. There is a wide gap between the urban and rural health care in India. In order to providebasic health care for all, accessibility and affordability should become the basis for our basic health infrastructure.

Q. Write a note on challenges before the power sector in India. (6 Marks)

Ans. Energy, in a developing country like India, is a basic input required to sustain economic growth and to provide basic amenities of life to the entirepopulation of a country. It is a dividing line between a subsistence economy and a developed economy. Although production of commercial energy hasincreased rapidly in last five decades, the per capita consumption of energy in India is only about 6% of that in Japan and less than 3% of that in USA.

Some of the challenges being faced by India’s power sector are:

1. Inadequate generation of electricity: India’s installed capacity to generate electricity is not sufficient to meet its growing demand for electricity. Even theinstalled capacity is underutilised because plants are not run properly.

2. Losses of Electricity Boards: State electricity boards which distribute electricity incur losses which exceed Rs.500 billion. It is due to transmission anddistribution losses which alone account for 50% of the total electricity production.

3. Private sector power generators as well as foreign investors are not playing their role in a major way.

4. There is general public unrest due to high power tariffs and prolonged power cuts in different parts of the country.

5. Thermal power plants are facing shortage of raw material and coal supplies.

6. Less production of hydroelectricity.

7. Slow progress in the development of nuclear power.

8. Increase in oil prices and Oil Imports Bill: Since 1973, oil prices were increased several times by OPEC countries. This has pushed the economies of oilimporting countries like ours into costpush inflation.



9. Low PLF: Plant Load Factor or PLF refers to the ratio of generation of electricity to the total installed power generation capacity. This ratio is really lowin India.

10. Excess demand for electricity over its supply has given rise to several problems like heavy load on distribution, low voltage, voltage fluctuation andpower cuts.

Question 10

Q. State consequences of unemployment. (6 Marks)

Ans. Today unemployment is considered the most threatening problem before the economy, as it has serious socio economic consequences:

1. Wastage of Productive Resources – The unemployment problem signifies the wastage of human resources. The idle manpower means lower level ofnational output than it could be if the entire labour was utilised. This has four major implications:

a) The society would be deprived of the goods and service that the unemployed people could have produced. As a result, national welfare is adverselyaffected to that extent.

b) The loss of man days due to unemployment is permanent, as the same is not available to be used in future. Labour once lost is lost forever.

c) If unemployment is among the educated persons, the quantum of wastage of resources will be greater. This is on account of investments in educationand skill formation.

Not only this, when workers are out of work for long periods, there is a loss of skill and work habits.

Finally, lack of work and income may make it difficult for them to get adequate food. This affects their efficiency and earning capacity adversely.

2. An inequality of income – Unemployment is a source of income inequalities. Unemployed people are generally poor. Hence, unemployment adds to thenumber of persons who are below the poverty line. During the period of mass unemployment, the extent of poverty and inequalities of income tend toincrease.

3. Social effects – Unemployment is not only an economic evil, it is a social evil too. It increases social unrest and tension. Unemployment leads tooppression and exploitation in the society. Because of economic insecurity the workers have no option but to bear the exploitative tactics of theemployers. Unemployment gives rise to many social problems such as dishonesty, corruption, theft, terrorism etc. As a result, social security isthreatened.

4. Political effects – Chronic and mass unemployment leads to widespread discontent, frustration and resentment against the existing socioeconomicsystem. Lawlessness spreads. Political leaders and antisocial groups use these unemployed people to fulfill their own interests. As a result, unemployedpeople begin to think that the government is worthless which have failed to provide them work.

Thus, unemployment is a dangerous problem from economic, social and political point of view.

Q. Write a note on informalisation of workforce in India. (6 Marks)

Ans. In India, we find two types of labourers. On one hand, there are labourers who are poorly paid and fail to get regular work. And on the other hand,there are some labourers who are getting high wages and are regularly employed. For this we classify the workforce into two categories. i) formal workersand ii) informal workers. All those workers working in all public sector establishments and private sector establishments which employ 10 or more hiredworkers are treated as formal workers. All these establishments and workers taken together constitute the formal sector of the economy. All otherestablishments/enterprises and workers form informal sector or unorganised sector of the economy. The unorganised sector includes millions of farmersand owners of small enterprises who do not have hired labour.

There are about 397 million workers in the country. Out of them about 28 million workers i.e. 7% of the total employments are in the organised sector.Thus about 93% of the workers are in the informal sector. In 1994, the growth of informal sector employment was registered at 2.01%. There after thegrowth rate of employment in this sector declined to 1.02% during the period 19942000.

Workers and enterprises in the informal sector do not get regular income. They do not have any protection or regulation from government. Workers aredismissed without any compensation. Technology used in the informal sector enterprises is outdated. The informal sector enterprises do not maintain anyaccounts. Workers of this sector live in slums. However, owing to the efforts of International Labour Organisation, Indian government has initiated inmodernisation of informal sector enterprises and provision of social security measures to informal sector workers.

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7/20/2015 XI Economics Exam Paper, Economics Exam Paper for class XI, Economics Exam Paper for class 11 | Extraminds


Instructions

Attempt all questions from Section A and any four questions from Section B.

The intended marks for questions or parts of questions are given in brackets ().

SECTION A (40 Marks)

Question 1

a. ‘Unemployment is related to poverty’. Comment. (2)

Ans. Poor people do not have enough resources for economic purpose e.g. a poor farmer cannot use the good variety of seeds and equipments. Therefore,he and his family members may remain unemployed. Due to poverty, they are not in a position to maintain efficiency and productivity. It is not possible forpoor men to have proper education to improve their mental ability. Poverty encourages farmers to mortgage their land to moneylenders, which in the longrun, increases unemployment.

b. Mention the salient features of the unemployment situation in India. (2)

Ans. Following are the salient features of the unemployment situation in India:

i) The incidence of unemployment is much higher in urban areas than in rural areas.ii) Unemployment rates for women are higher than those for men.iii) Under employment is higher in case of women.iv) Incidence of unemployment among the educated is much higher.

c. Comment on Indian economic growth since 1991 in the context of ‘jobless growth’. (2)

Ans. Since 1991 the Indian economy is experiencing an upward growth. 1991 is the year which marks the incoming of multinational companies into India.We have registered an increasing growth in productivity in various sectors of our economy. The multinational companies (MNCs) have achieved a highergrowth rate though efficient use of the means of production, rather than an increased (that is, more employment) use of the means of production. Theresult is that we have not achieved any rise in employment level. In fact, the employment level has shown a decline. Workers have become redundant asa result of automation brought in. Regular workers have been reduced to the level of irregular workers. Thus we see that such type of growth has led to anuneven distribution of the economy’s resources and has not impacted the economy as growth accompanied by a corresponding increase in employment.

d. What do you understand by random sampling? (2)

Ans. In random sampling method, samples are selected at random. In this method, each item in the group gets equal chance of being selected.

e. What kind of errors can you envisage in the collection of data. Give any four? (5)

Ans. Errors in data collection:

(i) Errors of measurement: Most of times exact figures are not known or not disclosed.

(ii) Errors due to mishandling of questionnaires; The enumerator or the respondent may misunderstand or misinterpret the questions.

(iii) Recording errors: Some times the data is recorded wrongly like 23 for 32. Some times the handwriting is very bad and unclear that the tabulator maymisread it.

(iv) Errors of non response: Some respondents refuse to fill up the questionnaires. These arise more when questionnaires are mailed.

Question 2

a. Write a note on frequency curve. (2)

Ans. Frequency curve refers to a freehand smooth curve drawn through points of frequency polygon or essentially the midpoints of the tops of therectangle of the histogram. The object of frequency curve is to eliminate the random erratic fluctuations that might be present in the data. The areaenclosed by the frequency curve is same as that of the histogram or frequency polygon.

b. Why is the NEP also called Economic reforms? (2)

Ans. In the beginning of 1990’s Indian Economy was in a bad shape. A process to correct the mal functioning started in 1991. Since things had to changefor the better they were called reforms.The steps taken included:

1. Reforms in the Industrial sector2. Financial sector reforms3. Tax reforms4. Foreign exchange reforms5. Trade and investment policy reforms

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