Indian Economy Study Notes & Syllabus - R21
Indian Economy Study Notes & Syllabus - R21
Indian Economy Study Notes & Syllabus - R21
The Evolution of Planning - Economic Development under Five Year Plans - New Economic Reforms- Indian
Economic Policies- Monetary and Fiscal Policies-Causes for Regional Imbalances-Consequences of Regional
Imbalances-Measures to Remove Regional Imbalances-Suggestions for Balanced Regional Development-Rural-Urban
Imbalances.
the Poverty Problem– Causes of Income Inequalities in India and Remedial Measures to Overcome the Problem of
Income Inequalities in India.
Text Books
1) Misra & Puri: Indian Economy,32nd Revised Edition, Himalaya Publishing House, New Delhi, 2014.
2) Ruddar Datt & KPM Sundaram: Indian Economy, 70th Revised Edition, S. Chand and company Ltd., New Delhi,
2015.
3) K. Aswarthappa: “Essential of Business Environment”, Himalaya Publishing House, Mumbai, 2008.
4) . Misara S.K. and V.K. Puri: “Economic Environment of business”, Himalaya Publishing House, Mumbai, 2008.
5) A.N Agrawal, “Indian economy”, Wisha publication – New Delhi. 2010.
6) Datt and Sundram, “Indian economy”, S.Chand publication, New Delhi, 2016.
Reference Books
1) Datta Ruddar and K.P.M. Sundharam (2013): “Indian Economy”, S. Chand and company Ltd., New Delhi.
2) K. Aswarthappa (2008) : “Essential of Business Environment”, Himalaya Publishing House, Mumbai.
3) Pratiyogita Darpan (2013-14): “Indian economy”, upkar prakashan, Agra.
4) Misara S.K. and V.K. Puri (2008) “Economic Environment of business”, Himalaya Publishing House,
Mumbai.
5) Misra & Puri- “Economics of Development and Planning”, Himalaya Publishing House, New Delhi, 2005.
6) Lekhi R.K.-“The Economics of Development and Planning” Kalyani Publishers, New Delhi, 2003.
7) Rangarajan C. and Prachi Mishra (February 16,2013): Indians external sector, economic and political
weekly, vol XLVIII, No. 7 pp. 52-59.
8) Ahluwalia, M.S (1996): “New economic policy and agriculture: some reflections”, Indian Journal of
Agricultural Economics, vol. 51, No. 3, pp. 412-426.
9) Chand, Ramesh (2001): “Emerging Trends and Issues in Public and Private Investments in Indian
Agriculture: a State wise Analysis”, Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, 56 (2), 161-184.
10) Mohan Rakesh (October 2004): Financial sector Reforms in India. policies and performance Analysis,
Reserve Bank of India Bulletin, Mumbai.
1)
, D
Course Outcomes
1) Understand the concept and significance of Economic System and National Income.
2) Identify the contribution of Agriculture sector to the economic development of our
country.
3) Analyze the role of large and small scale industries in the economic development of India.
4) Examine economic development under five years plans, causes and remedial measures of
regional imbalances.
5) Recognize the role of infrastructure in the economic development of India and remedial
measures to overcome the problems of poverty and income inequalities in India.
UNIT-I
INTRODUCTION TO ECONOMIC SYSTEM
Introduction to economic system- Concept and Measures of Development and
Underdevelopment - Natural resources - Human Development - population: size, growth
rates - rural & urban migration, Human development Index- Composition of national
income.
An economic system is a means by which societies or governments organize and distribute available
resources, services, and goods across a geographic region or country. Economic systems regulate the factors of
production, including land, capital, labor, and physical resources. An economic system encompasses many
institutions, agencies, entities, decision-making processes, and patterns of consumption that comprise the economic
structure of a given community.
Some parts of the world still function with a traditional economic system.
It is commonly found in rural settings in second and third world nations, where economic activities are predominantly
farming or other traditional income-generating activities. There are usually very few resources to share in
communities with traditional economic systems. Either few resources occur naturally in the region or access to them
is restricted in some way. Thus, the traditional system, unlike the other three, lacks the potential to generate a surplus.
Capitalist Economic System. It is an economic system in which the means of production and distribution are
privately or corporately owned. Operations are funded by profits and not controlled by a state government.
An economic system is a means by which societies or governments organize and distribute available
resources, services, and goods across a geographic region or country. Economic systems regulate the factors of
production, including land, labour, capital, organization and technology (physical resources). An economic system
encompasses many institutions, agencies, entities, decision-making processes, and patterns of consumption that
comprise the economic structure of a given community.
There are three types of economies around the world. Each has its own distinguishing characteristics, although they
all share some basic features.
1. Private Ownership of Means of Production: In a capitalist system, the means of production, such as land,
resources, factories, and businesses, are predominantly owned by private individuals or entities. This ownership allows
individuals to control and direct economic resources based on their interests and profit motives.
2. Market-driven Allocation of Resources: Capitalism relies on the market mechanism to allocate resources.
Prices, determined by supply and demand in a competitive market, guide producers and consumers in making decisions
about what to produce and consume.
3. Profit Motive: One of the central tenets of capitalism is the pursuit of profit. Individuals and businesses engage in
economic activities with the aim of maximizing their profits. This profit motive is considered a driving force for
innovation, efficiency, and economic growth.
4. Competition: Capitalism thrives on competition among businesses. Competing firms strive to offer better quality
products, lower prices, or innovative solutions to attract consumers. This competition is believed to enhance efficiency
and productivity.
5. Consumer Choice: In a capitalist economy, consumers have the freedom to make choices about what goods and
services to buy. The variety of choices available in the marketplace reflects the diversity of consumer preferences and
demands.
6. Limited Government Intervention: Capitalist economies generally emphasize minimal government
interference in the market. While governments may establish and enforce property rights, contracts, and basic
regulations, they typically avoid direct control over production and distribution.
7. Flexibility and Adaptability: Capitalism is known for its adaptability to changing circumstances. The
decentralized decision-making process in the market allows businesses to respond quickly to shifts in consumer
preferences, technological advancements, or changes in the economic environment.
8. Entrepreneurship: Capitalism encourages entrepreneurship, as individuals have the freedom to start and operate
their own businesses. Entrepreneurial activities are vital for economic dynamism and innovation.
9. Wage Labour: In capitalist economies, labour is often provided through wage employment. Workers sell their
labour to employers in exchange for wages, and this labour market relationship is a fundamental aspect of the capitalist
system.
10. Profit and Loss System: Businesses in a capitalistic economy operate within a profit and loss framework.
Profits serve as rewards for successful risk-taking and efficient resource allocation, while losses signal the need for
adjustments in business strategies.
11. Dynamic Economic Growth: Capitalist economies are often associated with dynamic economic growth due
to innovation, investment, and competition. The pursuit of profit encourages the efficient use of resources, leading to
overall economic expansion.
Conclusion: It's important to note that while these features are characteristic of capitalism, real-world economies
often incorporate elements of mixed systems where certain industries or sectors may be subject to more government
regulation or public ownership. The degree to which these features manifest can also vary among different capitalist
countries.
ADVANTAGES OF CAPITALIST ECONOMY
A capitalist economy, also known as a free-market or market-oriented economy, has several perceived advantages that
proponents argue contribute to economic growth, innovation, and overall societal well-being. Here are some of the
commonly cited advantages of a capitalist economic system:
1. Efficient Resource Allocation: In a capitalist system, resources are allocated based on market forces of supply
and demand. Prices act as signals, guiding producers and consumers in making decisions about what to produce and
consume. This is believed to lead to more efficient allocation of resources, as businesses are motivated to produce goods
and services that are in demand.
2. Incentives for Innovation: Capitalism encourages innovation and technological advancements. The profit motive
provides a strong incentive for entrepreneurs and businesses to invest in research and development, leading to the
creation of new products and services.
3. Economic Growth: Proponents argue that capitalism fosters economic growth by creating a dynamic and
competitive environment. The competition among businesses is believed to drive efficiency, productivity, and overall
economic expansion.
4. Individual Freedom: Capitalism is often associated with individual freedom and choice. In a capitalist system,
individuals have the freedom to choose their occupations, make business decisions, and engage in economic transactions
according to their preferences.
5. Entrepreneurship: Capitalism provides a conducive environment for entrepreneurship. The ability to start and
operate businesses allows individuals to take risks, create wealth, and pursue their economic aspirations.
6. Diversity of Goods and Services: Capitalism tends to result in a diverse range of goods and services being
available in the market. Consumers can choose from a variety of products, and competition encourages businesses to
meet the demands and preferences of consumers.
7. Flexibility and Adaptability: Capitalist economies are often characterized by their flexibility and ability to adapt
to changing circumstances. Businesses can respond quickly to market changes, and the system is thought to be better
equipped to adjust to technological advancements and shifts in consumer preferences.
8. Higher Standards of Living: Proponents argue that capitalist economies, over time, have led to increased
standards of living for a significant portion of the population. This is attributed to the potential for economic growth, job
creation, and innovation.
However, it's important to note that while capitalism has these perceived advantages, critics argue that it also has its
drawbacks, such as income inequality, environmental degradation, and potential market failures. The debate over the
merits and shortcomings of capitalist economies continues, and different societies may choose to incorporate various
elements of capitalism within broader economic systems.
While capitalist economies have various advantages, they also come with certain disadvantages. It's important to note
that the impact of these disadvantages can vary depending on the specific implementation and regulatory framework of
a capitalist system. Here are some common disadvantages associated with capitalist economies:
1. Income Inequality: One of the major criticisms of capitalism is the potential for significant income and wealth
inequality. In a capitalist system, individuals and businesses can accumulate wealth, leading to a concentration of
resources among a small percentage of the population. This can result in disparities in living standards and
opportunities.
2. Exploitation: Critics argue that capitalism can lead to the exploitation of workers, particularly in industries where
labour regulations are weak. Without adequate protections, workers may face low wages, poor working conditions, and
job insecurity.
3. Boom and Bust Cycles: Capitalist economies are prone to economic cycles characterized by periods of
economic expansion (booms) and contractions (busts or recessions). The volatility can lead to periods of high
unemployment, business failures, and financial instability.
4. Short-Term Focus: Capitalism often emphasizes short-term profits and returns, which may lead to businesses
prioritizing immediate gains over long-term sustainability or social and environmental responsibility.
5. Environmental Impact: The pursuit of profit in a capitalist system may sometimes result in environmental
degradation. Businesses may prioritize cost-cutting and resource extraction without adequately considering the long-
term impact on the environment.
6. Lack of Social Safety Nets: Capitalist economies may have limited social safety nets, leaving individuals
vulnerable to economic downturns or personal crises. This can result in a lack of support for those facing
unemployment, poverty, or health-related issues.
7. Monopolies and Oligopolies: Capitalism can lead to the concentration of market power in the hands of a few
large corporations, creating monopolies or oligopolies. This concentration can reduce competition, limit consumer
choice, and potentially lead to anti-competitive behaviour.
8. Focus on Consumerism: Capitalist societies often prioritize consumerism, leading to overconsumption and
resource depletion. This can contribute to issues such as environmental degradation, waste generation, and unsustainable
use of natural resources.
9. Social Mobility Challenges: Despite the idea that capitalism promotes upward social mobility, barriers such as
unequal access to education and resources can limit opportunities for some individuals, leading to social stratification.
Conclusion: It's important to recognize that these disadvantages do not apply universally to all capitalist economies,
as regulatory policies, social interventions, and other factors can influence the extent to which these issues manifest.
Moreover, different individuals and economists may have varying perspectives on the significance of these drawbacks
in comparison to the benefits of capitalism.
In a pure socialist system, the government or the community as a whole typically owns and
manages key industries, resources, and services. There are various forms of socialism, and the
degree of government involvement can vary, leading to different models of socialist economies.
Here are some key features and the meaning of a socialist economic system:
1. Collective Ownership: In a socialist economy, the means of production, such as factories, land,
and natural resources, are owned collectively by the state or the community. This collective
ownership is intended to ensure that the benefits of production are distributed more equally
among the population.
2. Central Planning: Socialist economies often involve central planning, where the government
plays a significant role in planning and coordinating economic activities. This includes
determining production targets, resource allocation, and setting prices for goods and services.
3. Social Welfare: Socialists emphasize the importance of social welfare and aim to address issues
of income inequality and poverty. Public services such as education, healthcare, and social
security are commonly provided by the state to ensure basic needs are met for all citizens.
4. Income Redistribution: Socialism often involves policies aimed at redistributing wealth and
income. Progressive taxation, where higher income individuals are taxed at higher rates, is a
common method used to achieve this.
5. Equality: Socialists advocate for greater economic and social equality. The goal is to minimize
class distinctions and create a more egalitarian society where individuals have more equal access
to resources and opportunities.
6. Public Ownership of Key Industries: In addition to collective ownership, key industries and
strategic sectors of the economy may be directly owned and operated by the state. This can
include sectors like energy, transportation, and communication.
7. Labour Participation: Socialism often emphasizes the rights and well-being of workers. Labour
unions and collective bargaining may play a significant role in negotiating wages, working
conditions, and other labour-related issues.
8. Limited Role for Markets: While some forms of socialism allow for a degree of market activity,
the overall allocation of resources is typically influenced or controlled by the state. The emphasis
is on meeting social needs rather than maximizing profits.
It's important to note that there are various interpretations of socialism, and different countries
may implement socialist principles to varying degrees. Some countries have mixed economies
that combine elements of socialism and capitalism. The effectiveness and success of socialist
economic systems have been debated, with proponents arguing for social justice and equality,
while critics point to potential inefficiencies and challenges in resource allocation.
ADVANTAGES OF SOCIALIST ECONOMY
A socialistic economy is characterized by government or collective ownership and control of the means of
production and distribution of goods and services. While opinions on the advantages of a socialistic economy
may vary, some commonly cited potential benefits include:
Socialistic economies aim to reduce income inequality by distributing wealth more evenly among the
population. This can help ensure that basic needs are met for a larger portion of the society.
Socialistic systems often prioritize social welfare programs, including healthcare, education, and social
security. This can lead to a higher standard of living and improved access to essential services for all
citizens.
3. Public Control and Ownership:
In a socialistic economy, key industries and resources are often owned or controlled by the state or the
public. This can prevent the concentration of power and wealth in the hands of a few private
individuals or corporations.
Centralized planning in a socialistic system can lead to greater economic stability, as the government
can actively regulate and manage economic activities to meet societal needs and prevent excessive
speculation or market volatility.
Socialistic economies often prioritize social goals over profit motives. This can lead to decisions that
benefit the collective well-being, such as investing in education, healthcare, and environmental
sustainability.
6. Reduced Exploitation:
With a focus on collective ownership, socialistic economies may aim to reduce the exploitation of labor
by ensuring fair wages, reasonable working hours, and improved working conditions.
Socialistic systems may prioritize the allocation of resources based on societal needs rather than
market demands. This can lead to a more rational and planned distribution of resources to address
essential requirements.
Socialistic economies often provide a safety net for citizens, including unemployment benefits,
healthcare, and other social services, contributing to greater economic security.
It's important to note that the success of a socialistic economy depends on various factors, including effective
governance, transparency, and the ability to balance collective control with individual freedoms. Different
forms of socialism exist, and their implementation can vary, leading to different outcomes in different
countries. Additionally, critics argue that socialistic systems may face challenges such as inefficiency, lack of
innovation, and potential for government overreach. Public opinion on the advantages and disadvantages of
socialistic economies varies widely.
1. Centralized Planning: Socialist economies often involve central planning by the government, which can lead
to inefficiencies. Critics argue that central planners may lack the information and incentives necessary to
make optimal economic decisions, resulting in resource misallocation and waste.
2. Lack of Incentives: In a socialist system, where the means of production are commonly owned, there may be
less individual incentive for hard work and innovation. Critics argue that if everyone receives similar rewards
regardless of their effort or contribution, there may be a decline in productivity and innovation.
3. Bureaucracy: Socialist systems often require extensive government involvement and bureaucracy to
implement central planning. This bureaucracy can lead to red tape, slow decision-making, and corruption,
which can hinder economic efficiency.
4. Inefficiency: Some argue that socialist economies are prone to inefficiencies due to a lack of competition. In
a market-driven capitalist system, competition can incentivize businesses to improve efficiency, quality, and
innovation. Without this competitive pressure, socialist economies may struggle to achieve similar levels of
efficiency.
5. Entrepreneurial Challenges: Socialist systems may discourage entrepreneurship, as private ownership and
profit motive are limited. This can hinder the development of a dynamic and innovative business
environment.
6. Difficulty in Resource Allocation: Central planning can face challenges in accurately determining the
demand for goods and services. This may result in shortages or surpluses of certain products, as planners
may struggle to allocate resources efficiently.
7. Risk of Authoritarianism: In some cases, socialist economies have been associated with authoritarian
governments. Critics argue that a concentration of economic power in the hands of the state can lead to
political authoritarianism and limit individual freedoms.
8. Limited Consumer Choices: In a centrally planned economy, there may be limited choices for consumers as
the government decides what goods and services are produced. This lack of variety can lead to a lower
quality of life for consumers.
It's important to note that these disadvantages are generalizations, and the actual outcomes depend on the
specific policies, regulations, and implementation of socialist principles in a given country. Additionally, there
are variations of socialism, and some proponents argue that certain models can address or mitigate these
disadvantages.
Blend of Market and Planned Economies: A mixed economy is characterized by the coexistence of private and public
ownership, as well as market-driven activities and government intervention in economic planning.
Diversity of Ownership: It involves a mix of private sector entities, such as privately-owned businesses, and public
sector entities, which may be owned or controlled by the government.
A mixed economy is an economic system that combines elements of both market and planned economies. It
incorporates features of both capitalism and socialism, allowing for a blend of private and public ownership,
as well as market forces and government intervention. The specific features of a mixed economy can vary, but
generally include the following:
Private sector: In a mixed economy, private individuals or corporations can own and operate
businesses. This allows for entrepreneurship and competition.
Public sector: The government may own and operate certain industries and services, such as education,
healthcare, and utilities. This is aimed at ensuring public welfare and equal access to essential services.
2. Market Forces:
Prices are often determined by supply and demand in the market. The price mechanism helps allocate
resources efficiently and encourages competition.
Businesses compete for customers, and consumers have choices in the marketplace.
3. Government Intervention:
Governments play a role in regulating markets to prevent abuses, ensure fair competition, and protect
consumers.
Intervention can include the establishment of regulatory bodies, consumer protection laws, and
antitrust measures.
Governments in mixed economies typically implement social welfare programs to address issues of
income inequality and provide a safety net for vulnerable populations. This may include
unemployment benefits, healthcare, and social security.
5. Infrastructure Development:
Governments often invest in infrastructure projects such as roads, bridges, and public transportation.
This helps create a foundation for economic growth and development.
6. Flexibility:
Mixed economies can adapt to changing economic conditions. Governments can intervene during
economic downturns to stimulate growth, and they may also adjust policies to address emerging
challenges.
7. Income Redistribution:
Progressive taxation is often used to redistribute wealth and reduce income inequality. This involves
taxing higher incomes at higher rates and using the revenue for social programs.
8. Property Rights:
Property rights are generally respected, providing individuals and businesses with the security to own
and use property. This encourages investment and economic activity.
The private sector's involvement fosters innovation and entrepreneurship. Businesses can pursue profit
motives and invest in research and development to stay competitive.
The economy consists of a mix of private and public sector employment opportunities. The
government may be a significant employer, especially in areas like education, healthcare, and public
administration.
It's important to note that the degree of government intervention and the specific mix of features can vary
among mixed economies, and the balance may shift over time based on political, social, and economic
factors.
Market Forces: The private sector, driven by profit motives, allocates resources based on
consumer demand and supply. This often leads to more efficient allocation compared to
purely planned economies.
3. Social Welfare:
5. Infrastructure Development:
Public Investment: The government can play a role in infrastructure development, such as
building roads, bridges, and other critical facilities. This contributes to economic growth
and facilitates private sector activities.
6. Flexibility:
7. Income Redistribution:
Government Provision: Certain goods and services, such as defense, public safety, and
basic education, may be best provided or funded by the government. A mixed economy
allows for public provision of these essential services.
10.Consumer Protection:
Regulatory Measures: Governments in mixed economies can enact and enforce consumer
protection laws, ensuring the safety and quality of products and services in the
marketplace.
While a mixed economy has its advantages, it also faces challenges, such as finding the right
balance between government and market forces and avoiding inefficiencies that can arise from
excessive regulation or lack of competition.
DISADVANTAGES OF MIXED ECONOMY
While a mixed economy combines elements of both market and command economies, providing a balance
between government intervention and market forces, it also has its disadvantages. Here are some of the
drawbacks associated with a mixed economy:
The presence of both private and public sectors can lead to inefficiencies and bureaucratic challenges.
Government intervention may introduce red tape and slow decision-making processes.
2. Inequality:
Mixed economies may still face issues of income and wealth inequality. The private sector might not
always ensure fair distribution of wealth, and government policies may not effectively address these
disparities.
Investors may face uncertainty due to the mixed nature of the economy. Frequent changes in
government policies can create an unpredictable business environment, affecting investment
decisions.
The involvement of the government in economic activities can sometimes lead to corruption.
Bureaucrats and politicians may misuse their power for personal gain, distorting market mechanisms.
The presence of government-owned enterprises can limit the level of competition in certain industries.
This lack of pure competition may result in reduced efficiency and innovation.
6. Slow Response to Market Changes:
7. Market Distortions:
Government interventions, subsidies, and regulations can sometimes distort market mechanisms. This
may lead to artificial pricing, resource misallocation, and inefficient production.
8. Dependency on Government:
The presence of government regulations and interventions can limit the economic freedom of
individuals and businesses. This can stifle entrepreneurship and innovation.
The mix of market and government elements can create a complex economic environment with
ambiguous rules and regulations. This complexity may hinder economic activities and create
challenges for businesses to navigate.
It's important to note that the extent and impact of these disadvantages can vary depending on the specific
policies and implementations within a particular mixed economy. Additionally, some proponents argue that a
well-balanced mixed economy can mitigate many of these issues while leveraging the strengths of both
market and command economies.
According to Kofi Annan, former Secretary General of the UN:"A developed country is one
that allows all its citizens to enjoy a free and healthy life in a safe environment."
(B). Characteristics of under developing (developing) economy
Developing countries and developed countries are differentiating on the bases of self-esteem,
freedom of choice and influence of externals. A country where the average income of the people
is much lower than that of developed countries, the economy depends upon a few export crops
and where farming is conducted by primary methods is called developing country. Rapid
population growth is causing the shortage of food in many developing countries.
Developing Country: Developing countries are also called under-developed nations (UDN) or
the South. Most of them are in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
According to United Nations Experts: “A developing country is that in which per capita income
is low when compared to the per capita incomes of USA, Canada, Australia and Western
Europe.”
According to Prof. R. Nurkse: “Under developed countries are those which when compared
with the advanced countries, are under-equipped with capital in relation to their population and
natural resources.”
According to Michal P. Tadaro: “The under developed country, is that which has low levels of
living (absolute poverty, poor health, poor education and other social services), low self- esteem
(low respect, honour, dignity) and limited freedom (freedom from external influence and
dominance, freedom of choice etc.).”
Poverty cannot be described, it can only be felt. The most of the less developed countries
(LDC) are facing the major problem of general as well as absolute poverty and low standard
of living. Most of the people in developing nations are ill-fed, ill-housed, ill-clothed and
illliterate. In LDCs almost 1/3 population is much poor.
Under developed countries (UDC) are loans and grants receiving nations. Most of the
developing countries of the world are depending on foreign economic loans. An amount of
foreign loans is increasing as the years pass. Their foreign trade and political structure is also
dependent on the guidance of foreigners.
Due to low national income and huge population growth rate, per capita income in
developing countries is very low.
Most of population is living in more than 50,000 villages. Backward agriculture is the major
occupation of the population. Agriculture sector is backward due to old and traditional
methods of cultivation, in-efficient farmers, lack of credit facilities; un-organized agriculture
market etc.
(vi) Unemployment
The productivity level is very low in under developed countries as compared to developed
countries. Low level of productivity is due to economic backwardness of people, lack of
skill, illiteracy and ill-training.
Third world countries have to import some finished and capital goods to make economic
development, on the other hand they have no products to export but raw material.
Dualistic economy refers to the existence of advanced & modern sectors with traditional &
backward sectors. Co-existence of modern and traditional methods of production in urban
and rural areas, Co-existence of wealthy, highly educated class with a large number of
illiterate poor classes and Co-existence of very high living standard with very low living
standard.
Shortage of capital is another serious problem of poor nations. Lack of capital leads to low
per capita income, less saving and short investment.
Mostly there is shortage of natural resources in developing nations and this is also a cause of
their economic backwardness. Natural resources are available in various poor countries but
they remain un-utilized, under-utilized or mis-utilized due to capital shortage, less efficiency
of labour, lack of skill and knowledge, backward state of technology, improper government
actions and limited home market.
(xii) Market Imperfection
Market is imperfect in accordance with market conditions, rules and regulations in the most
of developing nations. There exist monopolies, mis-leading information, immobility of
factors; hoarding and smuggling etc. that cause the market to remain imperfect.
Due to backwardness, developing countries have to export raw material because the quality
of their products is not according to international standard ISO etc. Lower developing nations
have to import finished and capital goods.
According to vicious circle of poverty, less developed nations are trapped by their own
poverty. Vicious circle of poverty is also applied in case of Pakistani economy. Due to
poverty, national income is low which causes low saving and low investment. So, rate of
capital formation is very low.
(xv) Inflation
High rate of inflation causes economic backwardness in poor nations. Due to high level of
price, purchasing power, value of money and saving of the consumers tend to decrease.
India has a large proportion of well watered fertile lands. In the alluvial soil of the Northern
Great Plains of the Sutlej-Ganga plains and Brahmaputra Valley wheat, rice, maize,
sugarcane, jute, cotton, rapeseed, mustard, sesumum, linseed, etc. are grown in abundance.In
the black soil of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat cotton and sugarcane
are grown. The improper use of soil destroys its composition, texture and structure
unscientific irrigation causes capillary action making soil alkaline and unsuitable for
cultivation. The proper management of soil is important for soil conservation in India.
India is quite rich in some minerals like iron, coal, mineral oil, manganese, bauxite,
chromites, copper, tungsten, gypsum, limestone, mica and so on. A number of organizations
like Geological Survey of India, Indian Bureau of Mines, etc. are engaged in the exploration
and development of mineral resource in India.
Hills, mountains and less fertile lands are put under pasture. Scientific methods are followed
in rearing cattle. India maintains rich domestic animal diversity. India has good population of
goat, sheep, poultry, cattle, buffalo, etc. Indian livestock plays a vital role in improving the
socio-economic status of the rural masses.
(iv) Horticulture:
(v) Fisheries:
Fish production has been showing increasing trend. India is one of the leading fish producer.
India possesses a variety of natural vegetation since the country has a varied relief and
climate. These forests are confined to the plateaus and hilly mountainous areas. India has a
great variety of fauna. There are many national parks and hundreds of wild life sanctuaries.
Forests are called ‘green gold’. They are renewable resources. They provide quality
environment. They eat up CO2, the poisons of urbanization, industrialization, explosion of
population, etc. They regulate climate as they act as natural ‘sponge’. Arresting soil erosion,
increasing soil fertility growing forest based industries, providing medicinal herbs, animal
habitats, cattle fodder, domestic fuel and foreign exchange they contribute substantially to
Indian economy.
Unfortunately India’s forest cover is diminishing at an alarming rate. So, various measures for
afforestation have been introduced. The forest (conservation) Act 1980 was made in India. No
forest can be diverted for non-forest purpose.
The Forest Research Institute was established at Dehradun for research in forestry development.
Cutting trees selectively, planting new trees, protecting trees, observing world Forestry Day
every March 21 by planting trees, etc. are the schemes of afforestation.
Land Resources in India enclose approximately 1.3 million sq miles and is a cape, protruding
into the Indian Ocean, in between the Bay of Bengal on the east and Arabian Sea on the west.
Indian land resources are segmented into varied relief features, 43% of land area is plain region;
Indian mountain region constitutes 30% of the area, where as plateaus account for 27 % of the
total surface area on the nation.
Land resources in India are considered as non-renewable energy reserve. Further, they are
associated with a host of several other elements such as agrarian base of rural as well as urban
economy, accessibility of water, and other factors. Speedy urban expansion and the rising land
usages have changed because of the increasing population growth and economic development in
some selected landscapes is being observed in India. The monitoring of land use changes is
essential to understand land use over different sequential or spatial time scales for successful
land management.
Today, with increasing urbanisation as well as industrialisation, an increased pressure has been
witnessed on land, water and other environment resources, mainly in big metropolitan cities.
In order to utilise available land resources in India effectively, the country is re- organising
efforts in the areas of land resource management. Thus, there has been a growth in land resource
companies as well as in other service providers across the country. India occupies a land area of
around 3,287,263 sq km.
There are different types of land in India, of which 54.7 % of it is civilised land. The several
types of land resources in India include agricultural land, farmland, barren land, real estate land,
commercial land and residential land. Majority of the population of India are engaged in
agricultural and allied activities and thus agricultural land accounts for near about 56.78 % of the
total land area of the country. In India, the total cultivable area is 1,269,219 sq km. Moreover,
land is also used in India for grazing and as permanent pastures.
Land resources in India also include vast barren lands. They are mostly found in states like
Rajasthan, parts of Leh and Jammu as snowfall prevents any major cultivation here. Real Estate
lands are growing at an incredible rate in India. With the people becoming mobile due to
transferable jobs the growth of houses and apartments has increased hugely all over India.
Havelis in Rajasthan Commercial land is becoming more expensive with passing years. There is
a strong competition in acquiring the best of farmlands, as they can be nestled in the lap of
picturesque valleys replete with streams, private piece of beach in Goa, Pondicherry or private
Havelis in Rajasthan.
The trend of love for nature and due to less available space in city apartments, farm land is fast
becoming the best option for land resources in India. Thus, land resources in India are crucial
factors dealt by the Indian government and managed effectively according to the requirements.
In order to make appropriate utilisation of obtainable land resources, the nation is making efforts
to manage land resources effectively. Thus, there has been an increase in the number of land
resource companies and service providers.
India –
Physiography
India, with a geographical area of about 329 Million Hectares (M.ha), is a land of many
mountains and rivers, some of them figuring amongst the mightiest rivers of the world.
Physiographically, India may be divided into seven well defined regions. These are: the Northern
Mountains comprising the mighty Himalayan ranges; the Great Plains traversed by the Indus,
Ganga and Brahmaputra river systems; the Central Highlands, consisting of a wide belt of hills
running east-west between the Great Plains and the deccan plateau; the Peninsular Plateaus; the
East Coast, a belt of land of about 100-130 km wide, bordering the Bay of Bengal; the West
Coast, a narrow belt of land of about 10-25 km wide, bordering the Arabian Sea; and the islands,
comprising the coral islands of Lakshadweep in Arabian Sea and Andaman and Nicobar group of
islands in the Bay of Bengal.
Climate
The great mountain mass of Himalayas in the North and the ocean in the South are the two major
influences operating on the climate of India. The Himalaya poses an impenetrable barrier to the
influence of cold winds from central Asia and gives the sub-continent the elements of tropical
type of climate. The oceans are the source of moisture-laden winds, giving India the elements of
the oceanic type of climate.
India has a very great diversity and variety of climate and an even greater variety of weather
conditions. The climate ranges from extremes of heat to extremes of cold; from extreme aridity
and negligible rainfall to excessive humidity and torrential rainfall. The climatic condition
influences to a great extent the water resources utilization in the country
Rainfall
Rainfall in India is dependent on the South-West and North-East monsoons, on shallow cyclonic
depressions and disturbances and on violent local storms which form regions where cool humid
winds from the sea meet hot dry winds from the land and occasionally reach cyclonic dimension.
Most of the rainfall in India takes place under the influence of South West monsoon between
June to September except in Tamil Nadu where it is under the influence of North-East monsoon
during October and November. The average rainfall, i.e. total precipitation divided by the total
land area, is about 1215 mm. However, there is considerable spatial variation in rainfall which
ranges from less than 100 mm in the western Rajasthan to more than 2500 mm in North-Eastern
areas.
Rivers of India
India is blessed with many rivers. Land slope determines the river to which the rain falling on an
area will eventually flow. A river basin, also called catchment area of the river, is the area from
which the rain will flow into that particular river. The shape and size of the river basin is
determined by the topography. Following are the major river basins groups in India.
Indus system
This comprises the river Indus and its tributaries like the Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas and Sutlej.
These originate in the North and generally flow in a West or South-West direction to eventually
flow into Arabian Sea through Pakistan.
Ganga-Brahmaputra-Meghana system
The main river Ganga and its tributaries like the Yamuna, Sone, Gandak, Kosi and many others;
similarly main rivers Brahmaputra, Meghna and their tributaries. All these eventually flow into
Bay of Bengal, through Bangladesh. Some of the tributaries of these rivers are larger than other
independent rivers. e.g. Yamuna, a tributary of Ganga, has a larger catchment area than the Tapi,
a small peninsula river.
Mahi, Sabarmati, Luni etc. These are rivers of arid regions, they carry relatively little flow, some
of them flow to Arabian Sea through Gujarat while some are land-locked and their flow is lost
through percolation and evaporation in the vast arid regions.
The important members of this group are Damodar, Mahanadi, Brhamanai, Baitrani,
Subarnarekha, Krishna-Godavari and Kaveri. The all flow in to Bay of Bengal at various places
along the Eastern coast of India.
Narmada and Tapi. These originate in Central India and flow in a Western direction to meet
Arabian Sea south of Gujarat.
A large number of rivers in the Western Coast - i.e. coastal Maharashtra and Karnataka, and
entire Kerala. These rivers are small in length but carry a significant amount of water due to very
high rainfall in western ghats. They drain only 3 % of the India’s land area but carry 11 % of
India’s water resources.
Population size
Change in
Census Population Between Percent Change Annual Growth
Years Population Censuses Between Censuses Rate (percent)
1901 238,396,327 — — —
The fall in death rates that is decline in mortality rate is one fundamental causes of
overpopulation. Owing to the advancements in medicine, man has found cures to the
previously fatal diseases. The new inventions in medicine have brought in treatments for
most of the dreadful diseases. This has resulted in an increase in the life expectancy of
individuals. Mortality rate has declined leading to an increase in population.
Owing to modern medications and improved treatments to various illnesses, the overall death
rate has gone down. The brighter side of it is that we have been able to fight many diseases
and prevent deaths. On the other hand, the medical boon has brought with it, the curse of
overpopulation.
ii. Rise in the Birth Rate:
Thanks to the new discoveries in nutritional science, we have been able to bring in increase
in the fertility rates of human beings. Medicines of today can boost the reproductive rate in
human beings. There are medicines and treatments, which can help in conception. Thus,
science has led to an increase in birth rate. This is certainly a reason to be proud and happy
but advances in medicine have also become a cause of overpopulation.
iii. Migration:
Immigration is a problem in some parts of the world. If the inhabitants of various countries
migrate to a particular part of the world and settle over there, the area is bound to suffer from
the ill effects of overpopulation. If the rates of emigration from a certain nation do not match
the rates of immigration to that country, overpopulation makes its way. The country becomes
overly populated. Crowding of immigrants in certain parts of the world, results in an
imbalance in the density of population.
B. Economic Measures:
The following are the economic measures:
1. More employment opportunities:
The first and foremost measure is to raise, the employment avenues in rural as well as urban
areas. Generally in rural areas there is disguised unemployment. So efforts should be made to
migrate unemployed persons from rural side to urban side. This step can check the
population growth.
2. Development of Agriculture and Industry:
If agriculture and industry are properly developed, large number of people will get
employment. When their income is increased they would improve their standard of living and
adopt small family norms.
3. Standard of Living:
Improved standard of living acts as a deterrent to large family norm. In order to maintain
their higher standard of living people prefer to have a small family. According to A.K. Das
Gupta those who earn less than Rs. 100 per month have on the average a reproduction rate of
3.4 children and those who earn more than Rs. 300 per month have a reproduction rate of 2.8
children.
4. Urbanization:
It is on record that people in urban areas have low birth rate than those living in rural areas.
Urbanization should therefore be encouraged.
C. Other Measures:
The following are the other measures:
1. Late Marriage:
As far as possible, marriage should be solemnized at the age of 30 years. This will reduce the
period of reproduction among the females bringing down the birth rate. The govt. has fixed
the minimum marriage age at 21 yrs. for males and 18 yrs. for females.
2. Self Control:
According to some experts, self control is one of the powerful methods to control the
population. It is an ideal and healthy approach and people should be provided to follow. It
helps in reducing birth rate.
3. Family Planning:
This method implies family by choice and not by chance. By applying preventive measures,
people can regulate birth rate. This method is being used extensively; success of this method
depends on the availability of cheap contraceptive devices for birth control. According to
Chander Shekher, “Hurry for the first child, Delay the second child and avoid the third.”
4. Recreational Facilities:
Birth rate will likely to fall if there are different recreational facilities like cinema; theatre,
sports and dance etc. are available to the people.
5. Publicity:
The communication media like T.V., radio and newspaper are the good means to propagate
the benefits of the planned family to the uneducated and illiterate persons especially in the
rural and backward areas of country.
6. Incentives:
The govt. can give various types of incentives to the people to adopt birth control measures.
Monetary incentives and other facilities like leave and promotion can be extended to the
working class which adopts small family norms.
7. Employment to Woman:
Another method to check the population is to provide employment to women. Women should
be given incentive to give services in different fields. Women are taking active part in
competitive examinations. As a result their number in teaching, medical and banking etc. is
increasing rapidly. In brief by taking, all there measures we can control the growth of
population.
Sex Composition
Sex ratio is used to describe the number of females per 1000 of males. Sex ratio is a valuable
source for finding the population of women in India and what is the ratio of women to that of
men in India.
In the Population Census of 2011 it was revealed that the population ratio in India 2011 is 940
females per 1000 of males. The Sex Ratio 2011 shows an upward trend from the census 2001
data. Census 2001 revealed that there were 933 females to that of 1000 males. Since decades
India has seen a decrease in the sex ratio 2011, but since the last two of the decades there has
been in slight increase in the sex ratio. Since the last five decades the sex ratio has been moving
around 930 of females to that of 1000 of males.
The major cause of the decrease of the female birth ratio in India is considered to be the violent
treatments meted out to the girl child at the time of the birth. The Sex Ratio in India was almost
normal during the phase of the years of independence, but thereafter it started showing gradual
signs of decrease. Though the Sex Ratio in India has gone through commendable signs of
improvement in the past 10 years, there are still some states where the sex ratio is still low and is
a cause of concern for the NGO organizations. One of the states which is showing a decreasing
trend in the population of women 2011 and is a cause of concern is Haryana. The state of
Haryana has the lowest rate of sex ratio in India and the figure shows a number of 877 of females
to that of 1000 of males.
There are also states such as Puducherry and Kerala where the number of women is more than
the number of men. Kerala houses a number of 1084 females to that of 1000 males. While
Puducherry and Kerala are the only two states where the number of female is more than the
number of men, there are also states in India like that of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and
Maharashtra where the sex ratio 2011 is showing considerable signs of improvement. Some facts
related to the Sex Ratio in India follows, the main cause of the decline of the sex ration in India
is due to the biased attitude which is meted out to the women. The main cause of this gender bias
is inadequate education. Pondicherry and Kerala houses the maximum number of female while
the regions of Daman and Diu and Haryana have the lowest density of female population.
Migration is defined as a move from one migration defining area to another, usually crossing
administrative boundaries made during a given migration interval and involving a change of
residence (UN 1993). Apart from its spatial dimension, migration also implies the disruption of
work, schooling, social life, and other patterns. A migrant is someone who breaks off activities
and associations in one place and reorganizes their daily life in another place. The change in
residence can take place either permanent or semi-permanent or temporary basis (Premi, 1990).
Migrations are caused by a variety of factors including economic, social and political factors.
They are briefly described as under.
i. Marriage: Marriage is a very important social factor of migration. Every girl has to migrate
to her in-law’s place of residence after marriage. Thus, the entire female population of India
has to migrate over short or long distance. Among the people who shifted their resistance
more than half (56.1%) moved due to marriage in 1991.
ii. Employment: People migrate in large number from rural to urban areas in search of
employment. The agricultural base of rural areas does not provide employment to all the
people living there. Even the small-scale and cottage industries of the villages fail to provide
employment to the entire rural folk. Contrary to this, urban areas provide vast scope for
employment in industries, trade, transport and services. About 8.8 per cent of migrants
migrated for employment in 1991.
iii. Education: Rural areas, by and large, lack educational facilities, especially those of higher
education and rural people have to migrate to the urban centres for this purpose. Many of
them settle down in the cities for earning a livelihood after completing their education.
iv. Lack of Security: Political disturbances and interethnic conflicts drive people away from
their homes. Large number of people has migrated out of Jammu and Kashmir and Assam
during the last few years due to disturbed conditions there. People also migrate on a short-
term basis in search of better opportunities for recreation, health care facilities, and legal
advices or for availing service which the nearby towns provide.
‘Pull’ and ‘Push’ Factors: Urban centres provide vast scope for employment in industries,
transport, trade and other services. They also offer modem facilities of life. Thus, they act as
‘magnets’ for the migrant population and attract people from outside. In other words, cities pull
people from other areas. This is known as “pull factor”.
People also migrate due to ‘push factors’ such as unemployment, hunger and starvation. When
they do not find means of livelihood in their home villages, they are ‘pushed’ out to the nearby
or distant towns.
Millions of people who migrated from their far-off villages to the big cities of Kolkata, Mumbai
or Delhi did so because these cities offered them some promise for a better living. Their home
villages had virtually rejected them as surplus population which the rural resources of land were
not able to sustain any longer.
Rural-urban migration
It is the movement of people from the countryside to the city. This causes three things to happen:
Urban growth - towns and cities are expanding, covering a greater area of land. Urbanisation -
an increasing proportion of people living in towns and cities.
On migrants and their families: Poorer migrant workers, crowded into the lower ends of the
labour market, have few entitlements vis a vis their employers or the public authorities in the
destination areas. They have meagre personal assets and suffer a range of deprivations in the
destination areas. In the source areas, migration has both negative and positive consequences for
migrants and their families.
Living conditions:
labourers working in harsh circumstances and living in unhygienic conditions suffer from serious
occupational health problems and are vulnerable to disease. Those working in quarries,
construction sites and mines suffer from various health hazards, mostly lung diseases. As the
employer does not follow safety measures, accidents are quite frequent. Migrants cannot access
various health and family care programmes due to their temporary status. Free public health care
facilities and programmes are not accessible to them. For women workers, there is no provision
of maternity leave, forcing them to resume work almost immediately after childbirth. Workers,
particularly those working in tile factories and brick kilns suffer from occupational health
hazards such as body ache, sunstroke and skin irritation.
As there are no crèche facilities, children often accompany their families to the workplace to be
exposed to health hazards. They are also deprived of education: the schooling system at home
does not take into account their migration pattern and their temporary status in the destination
areas does not make them eligible for schooling there. In the case of male-only migration, the
impact on family relations and on women, children and the elderly left behind can be quite
significant. The absence of men adds to material and psychological insecurity, leading to
pressures and negotiations with wider family. Male outmigration has been seen to influence the
participation of women in the directly productive sphere of the economy as workers and
decision-makers and increase the level of their interaction with the outside world and
forthcoming). But given the patriarchal set up, women may have to cope with a number of
problems which are exacerbated due to the uncertainty of the timing and magnitude of
remittances on which the precarious household economy depends. This, in turn, pushes women
and children from poor laboring households to participate in the labour market under adverse
conditions. Thus, the impact of migration on the women can be two-sided but the strong
influence of patriarchy restricts the scope of women’s autonomy.
The impact of male migration can be especially adverse for girls, who often have to bear
additional domestic responsibilities and take care of younger siblings. The absence of male
supervision further reduces their chances of acquiring education. There are several cases where
women participate in the migration streams along with male members of their households. It is
usual in such cases for younger siblings and older children to accompany their parents and to
work along with them. Family migration usually implies migration of the younger members of
the family, leaving the elderly to cope with additional responsibilities while at the same time
fend for their subsistence and other basic requirements.
Changes in migrants’ attitudes: Exposure to a different environment, including the stresses that it
carries, has a deep impact on the attitudes, habits and awareness levels of migrant workers,
depending upon the length of migration and the place to which it occurs. Changes are more
dramatic in the case of urban migrants. Migrant workers develop greater awareness regarding
conditions of work. Life style and changes in awareness may lead to a mixed impact on family
members. The increased awareness which migrants, especially in urban areas, gain often helps
them realize the importance of their children’s education.
CONCEPT OF NATIONAL INCOME
National income means the value of goods and services produced by a country during a financial
year. The National Income is the total amount of income accruing to a country from economic
activities in a years time. It includes payments made to all resources either in the form of wages,
interest, rent, and profits.
Definition of National Income
Traditional Definition: According to Marshall: “The labor and capital of a country acting on
its natural resources produce annually a certain net aggregate of commodities, material and
immaterial including services of all kinds. This is the true net annual income or revenue of the
country or national dividend.”
Modern Definition: Simon Kuznets defines national income as “the net output of commodities
and services flowing during the year from the country’s productive system in the hands of the
ultimate consumers.”
Basic concepts in National Income
• Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
• Net Domestic Product (NDP)
• Gross National product ( GNP)
• Net National Product (NNP)
• Personal Income (PI)
• Disposable Personal Income (DPI)
• Real Income
a). Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
The total value of goods produced and services rendered within a country during a year is
its Gross Domestic Product.
GDP is calculated at market price and is defined as GDP at market prices.
Different constituents of GDP are:
1. Wages and salaries
2. Rent
3. Interest
4. Undistributed profits
5. Mixed-income
6. Direct taxes
7. Dividend
8. Depreciation
b). Net Domestic Product (NDP)
While calculating GDP no provision is made for depreciation allowance (also called capital
consumption allowance). In such a situation gross domestic product will not reveal complete
flow of goods and services through various sectors.
A part of is therefore, set aside in the form of depreciation allowance. When depreciation
allowance is subtracted from gross domestic product we get net domestic product.
NDP = GDP – Depreciation
c). Gross National Product (GNP)
Gross national product is defined as the sum of the gross domestic product and net factor
incomes from abroad. Thus in order to estimate the gross national product of India we have to
add net factor income from abroad – income earned by non-resident in India to form the gross
domestic product of India.
GNP = GDP +NFIA
Where,
GDP = Gross Domestic Product
NFIA = Net Factor Income from Abroad
Part – B
productivity has doubled and the business will benefit from a fall in unit cost as more units are being produces at
the same costs of production.
Higher profits for the firm will mean more funds available for its expansion, new business ventures and
community support. It may also wish to pass on the benefits of lower costs to consumers in the form of lower
prices.
Productivity has the following advantages:
It emphasizes the efficient utilization of all the factors of production which are scarce universally. It
attempts to eliminate wastage.
It facilitates the comparison of the performance of a company to its competitors or Related firms, in
terms of aggregate results and of major components of performance.
It enables the management to control the performance of the company by identifying the comparative
benefits arising out of the use of different inputs.
Production Productivity
The Table reveals that total production of food grains had increased from 55 million tonnes in 1949-50 to 89
million tonnes in 1964-65 and then increased to 176 million tonnes in 1990-91. But in 1991-92, total production
of food grains came down to 167 million tonnes mainly due to fall in the production of coarse cereals and in
1993-94, the production was around 184 million tonnes.
In 2002- 03, total production of food grains has further decreased to 174.8 million tonnes. As per advance
estimates, total production of food grains has again increased to 233.9 million tonnes in 2008-09. Thus in the
pre-green revolution period (1950-65) the food grains production had experienced impressive annual growth rate
of 3.2 per cent and in the post- green revolution period (1967-2007), the same annual growth rate was to the
extent of 2.7 per cent.
The major cereals like rice and wheat recorded a high growth rate, i.e., 3.5 and 4.0 per cent respectively during
the first period (1950-65) and again to the extent of 2.2 and 5.0 per cent respectively during the second period
(1967-2007). But the growth rate in coarse cereals and pulses remained quite marginal.
Total production of rice and wheat have increased from 24 million tonnes and 6 million tonnes in 1949-50 to 39
million tonnes and 12 million tonnes in 1964-65 and then to 99.2 million tonnes and 80.6 million tonnes
respectively in 2008-09. In respect of non-food grains the trends in production in respect of potato and sugarcane
were quite impressive and that of cotton and oilseeds were not up to the mark.
The table further shows that the new agricultural strategy could not bring a breakthrough in agricultural output
of the country excepting wheat and potato which recorded about 4.8 per cent and 6.7 per cent annual growth rate
respectively during the post-green revolution period. The growth in output in respect of all other crops remained
low and that of coarse cereals and pulses were only marginal where the annual growth rates were only 0.4 and
1.04 per cent respectively.
From the above analysis we can draw the following important observations:
(i) In the pre-green revolution period, the growth of output has mainly contributed by the growth or expansion
in area but in the post-green revolution period, improvement in agricultural productivity arising from the
adoption of modern technique has contributed to growth in output.
(i) In-spite of adopting modern technology, the growth rate in output, excepting wheat could not maintain a
steady level.
(ii) During the post-green revolution period the growth rate in output was comparatively lower than the first
annual growth rate in food grains was maintained at the level of 2.7 per cent in the second period.
(iv) The growth rate in output of oil seeds, pulses and coarse food grains declined substantially in the second
period as the cultivation of these crops have been shifted to inferior lands.
(v) Although agricultural production attained a substantial increase since independence but these production
trends have been subjected to continuous fluctuations mainly due to variation of monsoons and other natural
factors.
(C). Trends in Agricultural Productivity
By the term agricultural productivity we mean the varying relationship between the agricultural output and one
of the major inputs such as land. The most commonly used term for representing agricultural productivity is the
average yield per hectare of land.
After the introduction of modern agricultural technique along-with the adoption of hybrid seeds, extension of
irrigation facilities and application of intensive method of cultivation in India, yield per hectare of all crops has
recorded a steep rising trend. Table shows the trend in agricultural productivity in India, i.e., the average yield
per hectare.The Table reveals that in India the average yield per hectare for all food-grains has recorded an
increase from 5.5 quintals in 1949- 50 to 7.6 quintals in 1964-65 and then to 18.98 quintals in 2008- 09 showing
an annual growth rate of 1.4 per cent during 1950-65 and 2.4 per cent during 1965-2007.
Moreover, the average yield per hectare in respect of rice and wheat which were 7.1 quintals and 6.6 quintals
respectively in 1949-50 gradually increased to 10.8 quintals and 9.1 quintals in 1964-65 showing an annual
growth rate of 2.1 per cent and 1.3 per cent in respect of rice and wheat respectively.
Again during the post-green revolution period (1965-2009), the average yield per hectare in respect of rice and
wheat has again increased to 21.86 quintals and 28.91 quintals respectively showing a considerable annual
growth rate of 3.4 per cent in respect of wheat and 2.3 per cent in respect of rice. But the annual growth rate of
coarse cereals increased by only 1.3 per cent and that of pulses of only 0.5 per cent during the period 1967-2009.
Moreover, the annual growth rate of yield per hectare of all crops went up to 2.49 per cent during the period
1980-81 to 1993- 94 as compared to that of 1.28 per cent during 1967-68 to 1980-81.
Among the non-food-grains, cotton and sugarcane achieved a modest growth rate of 2.0 per cent and 1.0 per cent
respectively during 1950-65 and again to the extent of 2.4 per cent and 1.2 per cent respectively during 1967-
2009.
Moreover, potato has recorded a considerable increase in annual growth rate from 1.6 per cent during 1950-65 to
3.0 per cent during 1967-2009. Again, taking all crops together, the annual average growth rate of all crops rose
from 1.3 per cent during 1950-1965 to 1.9 per cent during 1967-2009. Thus the above data reveal that the green
revolution and the application of new bio- chemical technology have become very much effective only in case of
wheat and potato but proved ineffective in case of other crops.
Moreover, if we compare the average yield per hectare of various crops in India with foreign countries then we
find that India lags far behind the other developed countries of the world. In 1990- 91, the annual average yield
of rice per hectare was only 17.5 quintals in India as against 41 quintals in U.S.A., 61.9 quintals in Japan and 54
quintals in China. Again, the annual average yield of wheat per hectare was only 22.7 quintals in India as against
68 quintals in Germany, 61 quintals in France and 30 quintals in China.
NEW AGRICULTURAL STRATEGY
FEATURES OF NEW AGRICULTURAL STRATEGY
1. Consolidation of Land Holdings:
Land ownership rights to the tillers and basic forward outlook Punjab farmers were the basic reason for
providing ground to the green revolution in the northern India.
2. Improved Variety of Seeds:
Agricultural revolution is primarily due to the miracle of improved varieties of seeds which have increased
yields per acre.
3. Greater Intensity of Cropping:
The new agricultural strategy is not only concerned with higher yield but also with greater intensity of cropping.
Therefore, new crop rotations have been made possible by developing short duration varieties of paddy, jowar,
bajra and maize which are suited to different agro- climatic conditions. In the same way, other crops like barley,
oilseed, potato and vegetables have also been considered for rotation.
4. Extension of Irrigation:
In the areas, where new agricultural strategy is being applied, irrigation facilities are speedily being expanded to
assure the adequate water supply. During the last 10-12 years, there has occurred a remarkable growth of tube-
wells, pump-sets etc.
5. Modern Farm Machinery:
Modern farm machinery like tractors, harvesters, pumping sets, tube-well, etc. are being increasingly used and
are replacing the bullocks. Being, time saving, use of modern machinery in agriculture is conducive to multiple
cropping. Because of accuracy and timelines of use of inputs by machines, the costs have been reduced.
6. Role of Public Institutions:
Several new public institutions like National Seeds Corporation, Agro Industries Corporations, National Co-
operative Development Corporation etc. have been set up to promote services to the cultivators at door steps.
Moreover, they have been provided with sufficient funds to lend liberal loans to peasants to adopt latest farm
technology.
7. Package of Inputs:
The main thrust of the new agricultural strategy is the application of the package of improved practices. In other
words, it aimed at making the cultivators to adopt simultaneously all the elements needed for augmenting
production. The main constituents of the package practices are improved seed, fertilizers, plant protection
measures and water use etc.
8. Guaranteed Minimum Prices:
The guaranteed minimum prices have been given due recognition as an incentive to agricultural production.
Support price policy for food-grains was adopted in 1964 throughout the country. In order to advice the govt. for
suitable price policies for agriculture, Agricultural Price Commission was set up in the subsequent years.
Similarly, Food Corporation of India was also set up to purchase food-grains.
9. Agricultural Research and Education:
A number of measures have been adopted in this direction of facilitate organisation and development of
agricultural research. The Indian Council of Agricultural Research was reorganised in 1965. Agricultural
Universities have been set up in most of the states which were conceived as combining the function of
education, research and extension.
10. Plant Protection Measures:
As pests and diseases have been causing severe damage to crops, plant protection has been considered another
major component of new agricultural strategy. This programme includes seeds treatment, intensive aerial and
ground spraying against insects, weed control and rodent control.
NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL POLICY 2000
The first ever National Agriculture Policy was announced on 28 th July, 2000. The formulation of Agriculture
Policy had been under consideration of the Government for the last few years as a comprehensive National
Agriculture Policy was absolutely essential to build on the inherent strength of the agriculture and allied sectors
to address the constraints and to make optimal use of resources and opportunities emerging as a result of
advancement in science and technology and emerging of a new economic regime.
National Agriculture Policy seeks to actualise vast untapped growth potential of Indian Agriculture, strengthen
rural infrastructure to support faster agricultural development, promote value addition, accelerate the growth of
agro-business create employment in rural areas, secure affair standard of living for the farmers and agricultural
workers and their families, discourage
migration to urban areas and face the challenges arising out of economic liberalization and globalization over the
next two decades, it aims to attain:
A growth rate in excess of four per cent annum in the agriculture sector;
Growth that is based on efficient use of resources and conserves our soil, water and bio- diversity;
Growth with equality, i.e. growth which is widespread across regions and famers;
Growth that is demand driven and caters to domestic markets and maximizes benefits from exports of
agricultural products in the face of the challenges arising from economic liberalization and globalisation
Growth that is sustainable technologically, environmentally and economically.
A nine pronged strategy has been devised to meet the challenges of enhancing production and strengthening
rural economies while taking care to promote technically sound, economically viable, environmentally non-
degrading and socially acceptable use of country's natural resources-land and water particular.
The unutilised wastelands will be put to use for agriculture and afforestation besides reclamation of degraded
lands. Integrated and holistic development of rainfed areas, conjunctive use of surface and ground water, on
farm water management, sensitization of farming community with environmental concerns will be given
priority. Survey and evaluation of genetic resources and safe conservation of both indigenous and exogenously
introduced genetic variability in crop productivity and utility needs particular attention. The use of bio-
technologies will be promoted for evolving plants which consume less water, are drought resistant, pest resistant,
contain more nutrition, give higher yields and are environmentally safe. Conservation of bio-resources through
their exsitu preservation in gene banks as also in situ conservation in their natural habitats through bio-diversity
parks, etc will receive a high priority to present their extinction.
A regionally differentiated strategy for development of crops horticulture, floriculture, roots and tubers,
plantation crops, aromatic and medicinal plants, bee keeping and sericulture shall be adopted. Live-stock
breeding, dairying, poultry, agriculture shall be promoted through generation and dissemination of appropriate
technologies. Research and extension linkages will be broad based and strengthened to improve effective use of
new technologies. Adequate and timely supply of quality inputs such as seed, fertilizers, plant protection
chemicals, bio pesticides, agriculture machinery and credit at reasonable rates to farmers will be the endeavour
of the government.
Agriculture in India has suffered for want of infrastructural facilities. The National Agriculture Policy gives
emphasis on stepping up public investment for narrowing regional imbalances, accelerating development of
supportive infrastructure for agriculture and rural development particularly rural connectivity. A conducive
climate will be created through a favourable price
and trade regime to promote farmers' own investments as also investments by industries producing inputs for
agriculture and agro-based industries. High priority is also given to rural electrification, development of market
infrastructure and setting up of agro-processing units to reduce wastage particularly of horticulture produce, and
to enhance value addition with the objective to create off- farm employment in rural areas. To safeguard the
interest of farmers, National Agricultural Insurance Scheme covering all farmers and all crops throughout the
country with built in provisions for insulating farmers from financial distress caused by natural disasters and
making agriculture financially viable will be made more farmer specific and effective. Endeavour will be made
to provide a package insurance policy for the farmers, right from sowing of the crops to post harvest operations,
including market fluctuations in the prises of agriculture produce.
Indian Agriculture is characterised by predominance of small and marginal farmers. Institutional reforms will be
so pursued as to channelize their energies for achieving productivity and production. The approach to rural
development and land reforms will focus on the following areas:
Consolidation of holdings all over the country on the pattern of north-western states
Redistribution of ceiling surplus lands and waste lands among the landless farmers, unemployed youth with
initial start with capital
Tenancy reforms to recognise the rights of the tenants and share croppers
Development of lease markets for increasing the size of the holdings by making legal provisions for giving
private lands on lease for cultivation and agri-business
Updating and improvement of land records, computerization and issue of land pass-books to the farmers;
and
Recognition of women's rights on land
People's participation through Panchayati Raj Institutions, Voluntary groups, social activists and community
leaders shall be adequately encouraged for implementation of programmes. Progressive institutionalization of
rural and farm credit for providing timely and adequate credit to farmers will be continued Cooperative sector
shall be strengthened by:
Structural reforms for promoting greater efficiency and viability by freeing them from excessive
bureaucratic control and political inferences;
Creation of infrastructure and human resource development
Improvement in financial viability and organizational sustainability of cooperatives
also had to continue. So, the Green Revolution continued with this quantitative expansion of farmlands.
Double cropping was a primary feature of the Green Revolution. Instead of one crop season per year, the
decision was made to have two crop seasons per year. The one-season- per-year practice was based on the fact
that there is only one rainy season annually. Water for the second phase now came from huge irrigation projects.
Dams were built and other simple irrigation techniques were also adopted.
Using seeds with superior genetics was the scientific aspect of the Green Revolution. The Indian Council for
Agricultural Research (which was established by the British in 1929) was reorganized in 1965 and then again in
1973. It developed new strains of high yield variety seeds, mainly wheat and rice and also millet and corn.
The Green Revolution was a technology package comprising material components of improved high yielding
varieties of two staple cereals (rice and wheat), irrigation or controlled water supply and improved moisture
utilization, fertilizers, and pesticides, and associated management skills.
Some of the important components of the green revolution in India:
i. High Yielding Varieties (HYV) of seeds.
ii. Irrigation - (a) surface and (b) ground.
iii. Use of fertilizers (chemical).
iv. Use of Insecticides and Pesticides.
v. Command Area Development (CAD).
vi. Consolidation of holdings.
vii. Land reforms.
viii. Supply of agricultural credit.
ix. Rural electrification.
x. Rural Roads and Marketing.
xi. Farm Mechanisation.
xii. Agricultural Universities.
Benefits
Thanks to the new seeds, tens of millions of extra tonnes of grain a year are being harvested. The Green
Revolution resulted in a record grain output of 131 million tonnes in 1978/79. This established India as one of
the world's biggest agricultural producers. Yield per unit of farmland improved by more than 30% between1947
(when India gained political independence) and 1979. The crop area under high yielding varieties of wheat and
rice grew considerably during the Green Revolution.
The Green Revolution also created plenty of jobs not only for agricultural workers but also industrial workers by
the creation of related facilities such as factories and hydroelectric power stations.
MAJOR ECONOMIC IMPACT OF GREEN REVOLUTION IN INDIA:
1. Increase in Agricultural Production:
The introduction of Green Revolution in 1967-68 has resulted in phenomenal increase in the production of
agricultural crops especially in food-grains. From 1967 onwards, the Green Revolution aimed at bringing about
a Grain Revolution.
2. Prosperity of Farmers:
With the increase in farm production the earnings of the farmers also increased and they became prosperous.
This has, especially, been the case with big farmers having more than 10 hectares of land.
3. Reduction in import of food-grains:
The main benefit of Green Revolution was the increase in the production of food-grains, as a result of which
there was a drastic reduction in their imports. We are now self sufficient in food-grains and have sufficient stock
in the central pool. Sometimes we are in a position to export food-grains also.
4. Capitalistic Farming:
Big farmers having more than 10 hectares of land have tended to get the maximum benefit from Green
Revolution technology by investing large amount of money in various inputs like HYV seeds, fertilizers,
machines, etc. This has encouraged capitalistic farming.
5. Ploughing back of profit:
The introduction of Green Revolution helped the farmers in raising their level of income. Wiser farmers
ploughed back their surplus income for improving agricultural productivity. This led to further improvement in
agriculture. According to a study conducted by Punjab Agriculture University, Ludhiana farmers plough back
about 55 per cent of their income for agricultural progress.
6. Industrial Growth:
Green Revolution brought about large scale farm mechanisation which created demand for different types of
machines like tractors, harvestors, threshers, combines, diesel engines, electric motors, pumping sets, etc.
Besides, demand for chemical fertilizers, pesticides, insecticides, weedicides, etc. also increased considerably.
7. Rural Employment:
While on one hand, large scale unemployment was feared due to mechanization of farming with the introduction
of Green Revolution technology in India, there was an appreciable increase in the demand for labour force due
to multiple cropping and use of fertilizers.
8. Change in the Attitude of Farmers:
The Indian farmer had remained illiterate, backward and traditional and had been using conventional methods of
cultivation since the early times. But Green Revolution has brought about a basic change in his attitude towards
farming. The way he has readily adopted the Green Revolution technology has exploded the myth that the Indian
farmer is basically tradition bound and does not use new methods and techniques.
SHORTCOMINGS OR WEAKNESSES OF GREEN REVOLUTION
Following are some of basic weaknesses of Green Revolution
(i) More inequality among farmers (Inter-personal inequalities):
The new technology requires a huge amount of investment which can be only, afforded by the big farmers.
Hence, these farmers are getting the absolute benefits of the green revolution and became comparatively more
rich than farmers. This increases inequality in rural India
(ii)Regional inequality:
Benefits of the new technology remained concentrated in wheat growing area since green revolution remained
limited to wheat for a number of years. These were thy regions of Punjab, Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh.
On account of the above reasons new agricultural strategy has led to an increase in regional inequalities.
(ii) The Question of Labour Absorption:
There is a general consensus that the adoption of new technology had reduced labour absorption in agriculture.
The uneven regional growth was mainly responsible for the low absorption of labour within agriculture. The
growth of output was also slow to generate
adequate employment opportunities. The sudden rise in the demand for labour in these areas induced
mechanisation and labour-saving practices in general.
(iv) Undesirable Social Consequences:
Some micro level socio-economic studies of green revolution areas have revealed certain undesirable social
consequences of the green revolution. Many large farmers have evicted tenants as they now find it more
profitable to cultivate land themselves.
(v) Health Hazards:
The health hazards of the new technology can also not be lost sight of. Increased mechanization that has
accompanied the modernisation of farm technology in green revolution areas carries with it the risk of
incapitation due to accidents. The attitude of the Government towards the problems of treatment and
rehabilitation of victims of accidents on farm machines is that of total ambivalence. Meagre compensation is
provided to victims.
(vi) Change in Attitudes:
A healthy contribution of green revolution is the change in the attitudes of fanners in areas where the new
agricultural strategy was practised. Increase in productivity in these areas has enhanced the status of agriculture
from a low level subsistence activity to a money- making activity. The desire for better farming methods and
better standard of living is growing up.
PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM (PDS)
The Public distribution system (PDS) is an Indian food Security System established under the Ministry of
Consumer Affairs, Food, and Public Distribution. PDS evolved as a system of management of scarcity through
distribution of food grains at affordable prices. PDS is operated under the joint responsibility of the Central and
the State Governments. The Central Government, through Food Corporation of India (FCI), has assumed the
responsibility for procurement, storage, transportation and bulk allocation of food grains to the State
Governments. The operational responsibilities including allocation within the State, identification of eligible
families, issue of Ration Cards and supervision of the functioning of Fair Price Shops (FPSs) etc., rest with the
State Governments. Under the PDS, presently the commodities namely wheat, rice, sugar and kerosene are being
allocated to the States/UTs for distribution. Some States/UTs also distribute additional items of mass
consumption through the PDS outlets such as pulses, edible oils, iodized salt, spices, etc.
Objectives of PDS
The objectives of the Public Distribution System are as follows:
To improve distribution of basic goods
To control prices of essential commodities & stability in prices
To meet consumption needs of masses
Prices charged are lower than the market prices, generally, subsidies are extended by the government
Subsidies are given by the government for essential commodities hence the commodities are available at
a lower cost than the market price
Importance of PDS
It helps in ensuring Food and Nutritional Security of the nation.
It has helped in stabilising food prices and making food available to the poor at affordable prices.
It maintains the buffer stock of food grains in the warehouse so that the flow of food remain active
even during the period of less agricultural food production.
It has helped in redistribution of grains by supplying food from surplus regions of the country to
deficient regions.
The system of minimum support price and procurement has contributed to the increase in food grain
production.
Issues Associated with PDS System in India
Identification of beneficiaries: Studies have shown that targeting mechanisms such as TPDS are prone
to large inclusion and exclusion errors. This implies that entitled beneficiaries are not getting food
grains while those that are ineligible are getting undue benefits.
According to the estimation of an expert group set up in 2009, PDS suffers from nearly 61% error of
exclusion and 25% inclusion of beneficiaries, i.e. the misclassification of the poor as non-poor and vice
versa.
Leakage of food grains: (Transportation leakages + Black Marketing by FPS owners) TPDS suffers
from large leakages of food grains during transportation to and from ration shops into the open market. In
an evaluation of TPDS, the erstwhile Planning Commission found 36% leakage of PDS rice and wheat at
the all-India level.
Issue with procurement: Open-ended Procurement i.e., all incoming grains accepted even if buffer
stock is filled, creates a shortage in the open market.
Issues with storage: A performance audit by the CAG has revealed a serious shortfall in the
government’s storage capacity.
Given the increasing procurement and incidents of rotting food grains, the lack of adequate covered
storage is bound to be a cause for concern.
The provision of minimum support price (MSP) has encouraged farmers to divert land from production
of coarse grains that are consumed by the poor, to rice and wheat and thus, discourages crop
diversification.
Environmental issues: The over-emphasis on attaining self-sufficiency and a surplus in food grains,
which are water-intensive, has been found to be environmentally unsustainable.
Procuring states such as Punjab and Haryana are under environmental stress, including rapid
groundwater depletion, deteriorating soil and water conditions from overuse of fertilisers.
It was found that due to cultivation of rice in north-west India, the water table went down by 33 cm per
year during 2002-08.
PDS Reforms
Role of Aadhar: Integrating Aadhar with TPDS will help in better identification of beneficiaries and
address the problem of inclusion and exclusion errors. According to a study by the Unique
Identification Authority of India, using Aadhaar with TPDS would help eliminate duplicate and ghost
(fake) beneficiaries, and make identification of beneficiaries more accurate.
Technology-based reforms of TPDS implemented by states: Wadhwa Committee, appointed by
the Supreme court, found that certain states had implemented computerisation and other technology-
based reforms to TPDS. Technology-based reforms helped plug leakages of food grains during TPDS.
Tamil Nadu implements a universal PDS, such that every household is entitled to subsidized food grains.
States such as Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh have implemented IT measures to streamline TPDS,
through the digitisation of ration cards, the use of GPS tracking of delivery, and the use of SMS based
monitoring by citizens.
Regional Rural Banks were established with the following objectives in mind:
a) Taking the banking services to the doorstep of rural masses, particularly in hitherto unbanked rural
areas. Identify the financial need specifically in rural areas.
b) Making available institutional credit to the weaker section of the society who had by far little or no
access to cheaper loans and had perforce been depending on the private money lenders. To enhance
banking & financing facilities in backward or unbanked areas.
c) Mobilize rural savings and channelize them for supporting productive activities in rural areas.
d) To provide finance to the weaker sections of society like small farmers, rural artisans, small producer,
rural labourers etc.
e) To create a supplementary channel for the flow the central money market to the rural areas through
refinances.
f) To provide finance to co-operative societies, Primary Credit societies, Agricultural marketing societies.
g) To provide finance to co-operative societies, Primary Credit societies, Agricultural marketing societies.
h) Enhance & improve banking facilities to semi urban, rural & other untapped market. With these
objectives in mind, knowledge of the local language by the staff is an important qualification.
Functions of the RRB:
a. Granting of loans and advances to small and marginal farmers and agricultural labourers, whether
individually or in groups, and to co-operative societies, agricultural processing societies, co-operative
farming societies, primarily for agricultural purposes or for agricultural operations and other related
purposes;
b. Granting of loans and advances to artisans, small entrepreneurs and persons of small means engaged in
trade, commerce and industry or other productive activities within its area of co-operation; and
c. Accepting deposits.
State wise list of Regional Rural Banks
Presently there are 45 RRBs in India. On 1 April 2020 the Bank Reduced from 45 to 36
MEANING OF INDUSTRY
The industry refers to economic activity that is concerned with the production of goods, extraction of
minerals, or the provision of services. Industries are classified according to the raw material used,
size, and ownership.
6. Capital-Intensive Industries:
Industries requiring huge investments are called capital-intensive industries. Iron and steel,
cement and aluminium are outstanding examples of capital-intensive industries.
7. Labour-Intensive Industries:
Industries which require huge labour force for running them are called labour-intensive
industries. In these industries, labour is more important than capital. Shoe- making and
bidi- manufacturing, etc. are included in these industries.
SMALL SCALE INDUSTRIES
Essentially small scale industries comprise of small enterprises who manufacture goods or
services with the help of relatively smaller machines and a few workers and employees.
Basically, the enterprise must fall under the guidelines set by the Government of India. At
the time being such limits are as follows,
For Manufacturing Units for Goods: Investment in plant and machinery must be between
25 lakhs and five crores.
For Service Providers: Investment in machinery must be between 10 lakhs and two
crores. Examples and Ideas of Small Scale Industries
Bakeries
Candles
School stationeries
Water bottles
Leather belt
Small toys
Paper Bags
Xerox and printing
T-shirt Printing
Photography
Characteristics of Small Scale Industries
Ownership: Such units are generally under single ownership. So it is a sole proprietorship
or sometimes a partnership.
Management: Both the management and the control generally is with the owner/owners.
So the owner is actively involved with the daily running of the business.
Limited Reach: Small scale industries have a restricted area of operations. So they meet
local and regional demand.
Labor Intensive: These small scale industries tend to use labour and manpower for their
production activities. So their dependence on technology is pretty limited.
Flexibility: These units are more adaptable to their changing business environment. So in
case of sudden changes or unexpected developments, they are flexible enough to adapt and
keep carrying on. Large industries do not have this advantage.
Resources: They use local and readily available resources. This also helps the economy
with better utilization of natural resources and less wastage.
develops byproducts like biodiesel from Jatropha seeds. Due to industrialisation, we have
made progress in atomic science, satellite communication and missiles etc.
3. Capital Formation:
Acute deficiency of capital is the main problem of Indian economy. In agricultural sector,
the surplus is small. Its mobilisation is also very difficult. In large scale industries, the
surplus is very high. By using external and internal economies, industry can get higher
profit. These profits can be reinvested for expansion and development. So industrialisation
helps in capital formation.
4. Industrialisation and Urbanisation:
Urbanisation succeeds industrialisation. Industrialisation in a particular region brings
growth of transport and communication. Schools, colleges, technical institutions, banking
and health facilities are established near industrial base. Rourkela was dense forest but now
is ultra modern town in Orissa. Many ancillary units have been established after setting up
of big industry.
5. Self-reliance in Defence Production:
To achieve self-reliance in defence production, industrialisation is necessary. During war
and emergency dependence on foreign countries for war weapons may prove fatal. Self-
reliance in capital goods and industrial infra-structure is also necessary. Atomic explosion
at Pokhran (Rajasthan) and Agni Missile are examples of industrial growth.
6. Importance in International Trade:
Industrialisation plays an important role in the promotion of trade. The advanced nations
gain in trade than countries who are industrially backward. The underdeveloped countries
export primary products and import industrial products. Agricultural products command
lower prices and their demand is generally elastic. While industrial products command
higher values & their demand is inelastic. This causes trade gap. To meet the deficit in
balance of payments we have to produce import substitute products or go for export
promotion through industrial development.
7. Use of Natural Resources:
It is a common saying that India is a rich country inhabited by the poor. It implies that
India is rich in natural resources but due to lack of capital and technology, these resources
have not been tapped. Resources should be properly utilized to transform them into
finished industrial products. The British people took India’s cheap raw-materials for
producing industrial goods in their country. India was used as a market for their industrial
products. So India fought with poverty and England gained during industrial revolution.
Hence industrialisation plays important role for proper utilisation of resources.
8. Alleviation of Poverty and Unemployment:
Poverty and unemployment can be eradicated quickly through rapid industrialisation. It has
occurred in industrially advanced countries like Japan. The slow growth of industrial sector
is responsible for widespread poverty and mass unemployment. So with fast growth of
industrial sector, surplus labour from villages can be put into use in industry.
9. Main Sector of Economic Development:
Industry is viewed as leading sector to economic development. We can have economies of
scale by applying advanced technology and division of labour and scientific management.
So production and employment will increase rapidly. This will bring economic growth and
capital formation.
10. Fast Growth of National and Per Capita Income:
Industrial development helps in the rapid growth of national and per capita income. The
history of economic development of advanced countries shows that there is a close relation
between the level of industrial development and the level of national and per capita
income. For instance, the share of industrial sector to national income was 26% and the per
capita income in year 2000 was 36,240 dollar in USA.
The share of agriculture in the same year was only 2%. In Japan, the share of industrial
sector in her GDP was 36% and her per capita income was 36210 dollar. In India due to
industrialisation, the contribution of industrial sector to GDP has gone upto 28.5% in 2000-
01 and per capita income has risen to Rs. 16,486 in 2000.
11. Sign of Higher Standard of Living and Social Change:
A country cannot produce goods and services of high quality in order to attain decent
living standard without the progress of industrial sector.
INDUSTRIAL POLICY 1991
MAJOR OBJECTIVES OF INDIA’S NEW INDUSTRIAL POLICY 1991 ARE AS
FOLLOWS;
With the gradual liberalisation of the 1956 Industrial policy in the mid-eighties the tempo
of industrial development started picking up. But the industry was still feeling the burden
of many controls and regulations. For a faster growth of industry, it was necessary that
even these impediments should be removed. The new government by Shri Narasimha Rao,
which took office in June 1991, announced a package of liberalisation measures under its
Industrial Policy on July 24, 1991.
Objectives:
The New Industrial Policy,1991 seeks to liberate the industry from the shackles of
licensing system Drastically reduce the role of public sector and encourage foreign
participation in India’s industrial development.
The broad objectives of New Industrial Policy are as follows:
1. Liberalizing the industry from the regulatory devices such as licenses and controls.
2. Enhancing support to the small scale sector.
3. Increasing competitiveness of industries for the benefit of the common man.
4. Ensuring running of public enterprises on business lines and thus cutting their losses.
5. Providing more incentives for industrialization of the backward areas, and
6. Ensuring rapid industrial development in a competitive environment .
The New Industrial Policy has made very significant changes in four main areas viz.,
industrial licensing role of public sector, foreign investment and technology and the MRTP
act.
THE MAJOR PROVISIONS OF THIS POLICY ARE DISCUSSED BELOW.
(1) Abolition of Industrial Licensing:
In the earlier industrial policy, industries were subjected to tight regulation through the
licensing system. Though some liberalisation measures were introduced during 1980’s that
positively affected the growth of industry. Still industrial development remained
constrained to a considerable extent.
The new industrial policy abolishes the system of industrial licensing for most of the
industries under this policy no licenses are required for setting up new industrial units or
for substantial expansion in the capacity of the existing units, except for a short list of
industries relating to country’s security and strategic concerns, hazardous industries and
industries causing environmental degradation.
To begin with, 18 industries were placed in this list of industries that require licenses.
Through later amendment to the policy, this list was reduced. It now covers only five
industries relating to health security and strategic concerns that require compulsory
licensing. Thus the industry has been almost completely made free of the licensing
provisions and the constraints attached with it.
(2) De-reservation of Industries for Public Sector:
The public sector which was conceived as a vehicle for rapid industrial development,
largely failed to do the job assigned to it. Most public sector enterprises became symbols of
inefficiency and imposed heavy burden on the government through their perpetual losses.
Since a large field of industry was reserved exclusively for public sector where it remained
a virtual non performer (except for a few units like the ONGC). The industrial
development was thus the biggest casualty. The new industrial policy seeks to limit the
role of public sector and encourage private sector’s participation over a wider field of
industry. With this view, the following changes were made in the policy regarding public
sector industries:
(i) Reduced reservation for public sector:
Out of the 17 industries reserved for the public sector under the 1956 industrial policy, the
new policy de-reserved 9 industries and thus limited the scope of public sector to only 8
industries. Later, a few more industries were de-reserved and now the exclusive area of the
public sector remains confined to only 4 industrial sectors which are: (i) defence
production,
(ii) atomic energy, (iii) railways and (iv) minerals used in generation of atomic energy.
However, if need be even some of these areas can be opened up for the private sector. The
public sector can also be allowed to set up units in areas that have now been thrown open
for private sector, if the national interest so demands.
(ii) Efforts to revive loss making enterprise:
Those public enterprises which are chronically sick and making persistent losses would be
returned to the Board of Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR) or similar other
high level institutions created for this purpose. The BIFR or other such institutions will
formulate schemes for rehabilitation and revival of such industrial units.
(iii) Disinvestment in selected public sector industrial units:
As a measure to raise large resources and introduce wider private participation in public
sector units, the government would sell a part of its share holding of these industries to
Mutual Funds, financial institutions, general public and workers. For this purposes, the
Government of India set up a ‘Disinvestment Commission’ in August 1996 which works
out the modalities of disinvestment. On the basis of recommendations of the
‘Disinvestment Commission’ the government sells the shares of public enterprise.
(iv) Greater autonomy to public enterprises:
The New Industrial Policy seeks to give greater autonomy to the public enterprises in their
day-to-day working. The trust would be on performance improvement of public enterprises
through a mix of greater autonomy and more accountability.
(3) Liberalised Policy Towards Foreign Capital and Technology:
The inflow of foreign capital and import of technology was tightly regulated under the
earlier Industrial policy. Each proposal of foreign investment was to be cleared by the
Government in advance. Wherever foreign investment was allowed, the share of foreign
equity was kept very low so that majority of ownership control remains with Indians. But
such a policy kept the inflow of foreign capital very small and industrial development
suffered for want of capital resources and technology. The July, 1991 Industrial policy
made several concessions to encourage flow of foreign capital and technology into India,
which are follows:
(i) Relaxation in Upper Limit of Foreign Investment:
The maximum limit of foreign equity participation was placed at 40 per cent in the total
equity capital of industrial units which were open to foreign investments under the 1991
policy; this limit was raised to 51 per cent. 34 specified more industries were added to this
list of 51 per cent foreign equity participation. In some industries the ratio of foreign equity
was raised to 74 percent. Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) was further liberalised and now
100 per cent foreign equity is permitted the case of mining, including coal and lignite,
pollution control related equipment, projects for electricity generation, transmission and
distribution, ports, harbours etc. Recent decision taken to further liberalise FDI include
permission for 100 per cent FDI in oil refining, all manufacturing activities in Special
Economic Zones (SEZ’s), some activities in telecom see tor etc.
(ii) Automatic Permission for Foreign Technology Agreement:
The New Industrial Policy states that automatic permission will be granted to foreign
technology agreements in the high priority industries. Previously technology agreement by
an Indian company with foreign parties for import of technology required advance
clearance from the government.
This delayed the import of technology and hampered modernisation of industries. Now the
Indian companies could enter into technology agreements with foreign companies and
import foreign technology for which permission would be automatically granted provided
the agreements involved a lump sum payment of upto Rs. 1 crore and royalty upto 5
percent on domestic sales and 8 per cent on exports.
(4) Changes in the MRTP Act:
According to the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices (MRTP) Act, 1969, all big
companies and large business houses (which had assets of Rs. 100 crores or more,
according to the 1985 amendment to the Act) were required to obtain clearance from the
MRTP Commission for setting up any new industrial unit, because such companies (called
MRTP companies) were allowed to invest only in some selected industries.
Thus, besides obtaining a licence they were also required to get MRTP clearance. This was
a big impediment for industrial development as the big business firms which had the
resources for development could not grow and diversify their activities. The Industrial
Policy, 1991 has put these industries on par with others by abolishing those provisions of
the MRTP Act which mediate mandatory for the large industrial houses to seek prior
clearance from MRTP Commission for their new projects.
Under the amended Act, the MRTP Commission will concern itself only with the control
of Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices that are unfair and restrict competition to
the detriment of consumer s interests. No prior approval of or clearance from the MRTP
Commission is now required for setting up industrial units by the large business houses.
(5) Greater Support to Small-Scale Industries:
The New Industrial Policy seeks to provide greater government support to the small-scale
industries so that they may grow rapidly under environment of economic efficiency and
technological upgradation. A package of measures announced in this context provides for
setting up of an agency to ensure that credit needs of these industries are fully met. It also
allows for equity participation by the large industries in the small scale sector not
exceeding 24 per cent of their total shareholding. This has been done with a view to
provide small scale sector an access to the capital market and to encourage their
upgradation and modernisation the government would also encourage the production of
parts and components required by the public sector industries in the small-scale sector.
sector enterprises only (excluding public administration and defence) in NDP was also
increased from 3.5 per cent in 1950-51 to 11.12 per cent in 2005-06.
2. Capital Formation:
Public sector has been playing an important role in the gross domestic capital formation of
the country. The share of public sector in gross domestic capital formation has increased
from 3.5 per cent during the First Plan to 9.2 per cent during the Eighth Plan. The
comparative shares of public sector in the gross capital formation of the country also
recorded a change from 33.67 per cent during the First Plan to 50 per cent during the, Sixth
Plan and then declined to 21.9 per cent in 2005-06.
3. Employment:
Public sector is playing an important role in generating employment in the country.
a) Public sector employment in government administration, defence and other government
services and
(b) Employment in public sector economic enterprises of both Centre, State and Local
bodies. In 1971, the public sector offered employment opportunities to about 11 million
persons but in 2003 their number rose to 18.6 million showing about 69 per cent increase
during this period.
4. Infrastructure:
Without the development of infrastructural facilities, economic development is impossible.
Public sector investment on infrastructure sector like power, transportation,
communication, basic and heavy industries, irrigation, education and technical training etc.
has paved the way for agricultural and industrial development of the country leading to the
overall development of the economy as a whole. Private sector investments are also
depending on these infrastructural facilities developed by the public sector of the country.
5. Strong Industrial base:
Another important role of the public sector is that it has successfully build the strong
industrial base in the country. The industrial base of the economy is now considerably
strengthened with the development of public sector industries in various fields like—iron
and steel, coal, heavy engineering, heavy electrical machinery, petroleum and natural gas,
fertilizers, chemicals, drugs etc.
6. Export Promotion and Import Substitution:
Public sector enterprises have been contributing a lot for the promotion of India’s exports.
The foreign exchange earning of the public enterprises rose from Rs. 35 crore in 1965-66
to Rs. 5,831 crore in 1984-85 and then to Rs. 34,893 crore in 2003- 04. Thus, the export
performance of the public sector enterprises in India is quite satisfactory.
7. Contribution to Central Exchequer:
The public sector enterprises are contributing a good amount of resources to the central
exchequer regularly in the form of dividend, excise duty, custom duty, corporate taxes etc.
During the Sixth Plan, the contribution of public enterprises to the central exchequer was
to the tune of Rs. 27,570 crore.
8. Checking Concentration of Income and Wealth:
Expansion of public sector enterprises in India has been successfully checking the
concentration of economic power into the hands of a few and thus are redressing the
problem of inequalities of income and-wealth of the economy. Thus, the public sector can
reduce this problem of inequalities through diversion of profits for the welfare of the poor
people, undertaking measures for labour welfare and also by producing commodities for
mass consumption.
9. Removal of Regional Disparities:
From the very beginning industrial development in India was very much skewed towards
certain big port cities like Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai. In order to remove regional
disparities, the public sector tried to disperse various units towards the backward states like
Bihar, Orissa, and Madhya Pradesh. Thus, considering all these foregoing aspects it can be
observed that in-spite of showing poor performance, the public sector is playing dominant
role in all-round development of the economy of the country.
INDUSTRIAL FINANCE IN INDIA:
Finance is considered as the life-force of industry. Without getting adequate finance
industrial development is not at all possible. Due to the lack of adequate finance, industrial
development in India could not achieve a significant position and shape. Industries require
both short term, medium term and long term finance for meeting their requirements of
fixed capital expenditure and also to meet their working capital needs.
Long-Term, Medium-Term and Short-Term Finance:
Long term finance for industries includes those financial resources which are advanced to
the industries by the banks for a period of 3 years and above. Long term finance is quite
important for the expansion and modernisation of industrial projects and also to meet its
fixed capital expenditure requirement.
Long term finance is mostly available from the sale of shares and debentures, and loan
from term lending financial institutions like IDBI, IFCI, ICICI etc. Medium term loan is
also available from banks and other financial institutions for a period above 1 year and up
to 3 years.
Short-term finance for industries includes those financial resources which are advanced by
hanks to the industries for a period varying between 1 month to 12 months. Short-term
finance is required to meet working capital needs and other sundry expenses of the
industrial projects. Commercial banks offer short term loans on cash-credit basis on the
security or stocks and overdraft facilities to the industries. Industries can also raise short
term finance by raising public deposits for one to three years.
1. It was approved by the Parliament in 1973. It was approved by the Parliament in 1999.
5. Under FERA, only "citizenship" was a criterion As per this law; a person who is living in
to conclude the residential status of a person. India from last 6 months can be considered
as an Indian.
6. The crime was kept in criminal offence The crime was kept in Civil offence
category. category.
7. If anyone found guilty of FERA violation; Fine or imprisonment (if the person does
there was a provision of punishment directly. not deposit the prescribed penalty within
90 days from the date of conviction).
8. The accused was considered guilty as soon as In FEMA, the accused is not liable to
the lawsuit was filed and he had to prove that prove his innocence but burden lies on the
he is innocent. FEMA officer to prove him guilty.
9. A person has to obtain permission of RBI with There is no requirement of pre approval
regard to transfer of funds related to external from RBI related to remittances & external
operations. trade.
PART B
1.Discuss on the role of Industries in Economic Development.
2.Classify the various types of Industries.
3.Summarize the Provision, Features and Evaluation of the New Industrial Policy of 1991.
4.Explain the Role of Public Sector Enterprises in India’s Industrialization.
5.Elaborate on the various sources of Industrial Finance in India.
6.Analyze on the Term Lending Institutions of India.
7. Enumerate the types and discuss the role of FDI in Indian
Economy. 8.Write Short note on
(A) FERA
(b) FEMA
9.Analyze in detail about Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development.
10.Discuss about Balance of Trade and Balance of Payment Concepts.
References:
The main objective of Indian planning is to achieve the goal of economic development
economic development is necessary for under developed countries because they can solve
the problems of general poverty, unemployment and backwardness through it. Economic
development is concerned with the increase in per capita income and causes behind this
increase.
2. Increase Employment:
Another objective of the plans is better utilization of man power resource and increasing
employment opportunities. Measures have been taken to provide employment to millions
of people during plans. It is estimated that by the end of Tenth Plan (2007) 39 crore
people will be employed.
3. Self-Sufficient:
It has been the objective of the plans that the country becomes self-sufficient regarding
food grains and industrial raw material like iron and steel etc. Also, growth is to be self
sustained for which rates of saving and investment are to be raised. With the completion
of Third Plan, Indian economy has reached the take off stage of development. The main
objective of the Tenth Plan is to get rid of dependence on foreign aid by increasing export
trade and developing internal resources.
4. Economic Stability:
The objective of the five year plans has been to promote labour welfare, economic
development of backward classes and social welfare of the poor people. Development of
social services like education, health, technical education, scientific advancement etc. has
also been the objective of the Plans.
6. Regional Development:
Different regions of India are not economically equally developed. Punjab, Haryana,
Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh etc. are relatively more developed.
But U.P., Bihar, Orissa, Nagaland, Meghalaya and H.P. are economically backward.
Rapid economic development of backward regions is one of the priorities of five year
plans to achieve regional equality.
7. Comprehensive Development:
All round development of the economy is another objective of the five year plans.
Development of all economic activities viz. agriculture, industry, transport, power etc. is
sought to be simultaneously achieved. First Plan laid emphasis on the development of
agriculture. Second plan gave priority to the development of heavy industries. In the
Eighth Plan maximum stress was on the development of human resources.
Every Plan has aimed at reducing economic inequalities. Economic inequalities are
indicative of exploitation and injustice in the country. It results in making the rich richer
and the poor poorer. Several measures have been taken in the plans to achieve the
objectives of economic equality specially by way of progressive taxation and reservation
of jobs for the economically backward classes. The goal of socialistic pattern of society
was set in the second plan mainly to achieve this objective.
9. Social Justice:
Another objective of every plan has been to promote social justice. It is possible in two
ways, one is to reduce the poverty of the poorest section of the society and the other is to
reduce the inequalities of wealth and income. According to Eighth Plan, a person is poor
if the spends on consumption less than Rs. 328 per month in rural area and Rs. 454 per
month in urban area at 1999-2000 prices. About 26 percent of Indian population lives
below poverty line. The tenth plan aims to reduce this to 21%.
The other objective of the plan is to increase the standard of living of the people. Standard
of living depends on many factors such as per capita increase in income, price stability,
equal distribution of income etc. During the period of Plans, the per capita income at
current prices has reached only up to Rs. 20988.
The first Indian Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru presented the First Five-Year Plan
to the Parliament of India.
The First Five-Year Plan was on the Harrod–Domar model with few modifications.
The total plan budget of Rs.2069 crore (2378 crore later) was allocated to seven broad
mainly concentrated on Agriculture and Transport and Communications.
At the end of the plan period in 1956, five Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) took
a start as major technical institutions.
The total amount under the Second Five-Year Plan in India was Rs.48 billion.
Many cement and fertilizer plants built. Punjab began producing an abundance
of wheat.
Panchayat elections were started and the states were given more development
responsibilities.
Due to the miserable failure of the Third Plan, the government forcibly declared “plan
holidays” (from 1966–67, 1967–68, and 1968–69).
The main reasons for plan holidays were the war, lack of resources, and an increase in
inflation after that planned holiday.
The Indira Gandhi government nationalized 14 major Indian banks and the
Green Revolution in India advanced agriculture.
India tests the Smiling Buddha underground nuclear test (Pokhran-1) in Rajasthan.
A Slogan of Garibi Hatao is given during the 1971 elections by Indira Gandhi.
This plan got rejection by the Indian National Congress government in 1980.
Sixth five-year plan is the only Five-Year Plan which was done twice.
The plan laid stress on improving the productivity level of industries by upgrading of
technology.
The main objectives of the Seventh Five-Year Plan were to establish growth in areas
of increasing economic productivity, production of food grains, and generating
employment through Social Justice.
Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the Prime Minister of India during the Ninth Five-Year
Plan.
The Ninth Five-Year Plan saw contributions towards development from the general
public as well as governmental agencies in both the rural and urban areas of the
country.
The Ninth Five-Year Plan focused on the relationship between rapid economic growth
and the quality of life for the people of the country.
Providing gainful and high-quality employment at least to the addition to the labor
force
Reduction in gender gaps in literacy and wage rates by at least 50% by 2007
The Twelfth Five-Year Plan of the Government of India has made to achieve a growth
rate of 8.2%.
But the National Development Council (NDC) on 27 Dec 2012 approved 8% growth
rate for the 12th five-year plan.
The plan aims towards the betterment of the infrastructural projects of the nation
avoiding all types of bottlenecks.
To develop mechanisms to formulate credible plans at the village level and aggregate
these progressively at higher levels of government.
To ensure, on areas that are specifically referred to it, that the interests of national
security are incorporated in economic strategy and policy.
To pay special attention to the sections of our society that may be at risk of not benefiting
adequately from economic progress.
To design strategic and long term policy and programme frameworks and initiatives, and
monitor their progress and their efficacy. The lessons learnt through monitoring and
feedback will be used for making innovative improvements, including necessary mid-
course corrections.
To provide advice and encourage partnerships between key stakeholders and national and
international like-minded Think tanks, as well as educational and policy research
institutions.
To offer a platform for resolution of inter-sectoral and inter departmental issues in order
to accelerate the implementation of the development agenda.
To undertake other activities as may be necessary in order to further the execution of the
national development agenda, and the objectives mentioned above.
Achievements of Planning:
Economic planning in India aims at bringing about a rapid economic development in all
sectors. That is to say, it aims at a higher growth rate. India’s macroeconomic
performance has been only moderately good in terms of GDP growth rates. The overall
rate of growth stands at 4.8 per cent for the whole planning period (1950-2007)
Compared with India’s own past (1900- 1920) when she was caught in a low level
equilibrium trap, growth acceleration during the last 60 years has been impressive indeed.
Another major area of success of Indian planning is the growth of basic and capital goods
industries. With the adoption of the Mahalanobis Strategy of development during the
Second Plan period, some basic and capital goods industries like iron and steel witnessed
spectacular growth.
The most significant aspect of India’s Five Year Plans is that the overall rate of growth of
food production has now exceeded the rate of growth of population. Though in the early
years of planning, agricultural performance was miserable resulting in the emergence of
food crisis. But now, due to the impact of bio-chemical revolution in Indian agriculture,
food crisis seems to be a thing of the past. She has attained self-sufficiency in food grains.
5. Savings and Investment:
The rise in the domestic savings rate from 10 p.c. of GDP at the initial stages of planning
to around 19 p.c. in 1980-81 is definitely impressive. However, this rate increased to 34.8
p.c. by the end of March 2007. Similarly, India’s record in gross domestic capital
formation rose from 20.3 p.c. in 1980-81 to 22.8 p.c. of GDP in 2001- 02. But it rose to
36 p.c. in 2006-07.
In quantitative terms, the growth rate of the Indian economy may be good but not
satisfactory by any standards. Except the First and Sixth Five Year Plans, the actual
growth rate remained below the targeted growth rates of GNP and per capita income.
Only in recent plans (both Ninth and Tenth plan), actual growth rate has exceeded the
plan targets. In terms of per capita income, India is one of the poorest nations of the world
even after more than 58 years of democratic planning.
The twin aspects of social justice involves on the one hand, the reduction in economic
inequalities, and, on the other, the reduction of poverty. A rise in national income with
concentration of economic power in the hands of a few people is not desirable.
In an otherwise capitalist framework, inequality in the distribution of income and wealth
is inevitable. In India’s socio-political set-up, vast inequalities exist. Indian plans aim at
reducing such inequalities, so that the benefits of economic development percolate down
to the lower group of the society.
4. Unemployment:
Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is considered to be the father of New Economic
Policy (NEP) of India. Manmohan Singh introduced the NEP on July 24,1991.
3. It intended to move towards higher economic growth rate and to build sufficient foreign
exchange reserves.
4. To achieve economic stabilization and to convert the economy into a market economy by
removing all kinds of un-necessary restrictions.
5. To permit the international flow of goods, services, capital, human resources and
technology, without many restrictions.
6. It wanted to increase the participation of private players in the all sectors of the economy.
That is why the reserved numbers of sectors for government were reduced.
6. Reforms related to the Public sector enterprises: reforms in the public sector were
aimed at enhancing efficiency and competitiveness of the sector. The public sector will be
concentrating in key and strategic sectors. Government has adopted disinvestment policy
for the restructuring of the public sector in the country along with several other policies.
7. Abolition of MRTP Act: The New Industrial Policy of 1991 has abolished the Monopoly
and Restricted Trade Practice Act. In 2010, the Competition Commission has emerged as
the watchdog in monitoring competitive practices in the economy.
Under the policy of liberalisation interest rate of the banking system will not be
determined by RBI rather all commercial Banks are independent to determine the rate of
interest.
(ii) Increase in the investment limit for the Small Scale Industries (SSIs):
Investment limit of the small scale industries has been raised to Rs. 1 crore. So these
companies can upgrade their machinery and improve their efficiency.
Indian industries will be free to buy machines and raw materials from foreign countries to
do their holistic development.
In this new liberalized era now the Industries are free to diversify their production
capacities and reduce the cost of production. Earlier government used to fix the maximum
limit of production capacity. No industry could produce beyond that limit. Now the
industries are free to decide their production by their own on the basis of the requirement
of the markets.
According to Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices (MRTP) Act 1969, all those
companies having assets worth Rs. 100 crore or more were called MRTP firms and were
subjected to several restrictions. Now these firms have not to obtain prior approval of the
Govt. for taking investment decision. Now MRTP Act is replaced by the competition Act,
2002.
1. Liberalisation
Previously private sector had to obtain license from Govt. for starting a new venture. In this
policy private sector has been freed from licensing and other restrictions.
(ii) Cigarette
(v) Drugs
2. Privatisation:
Simply speaking, privatisation means permitting the private sector to set up industries which
were previously reserved for the public sector. Under this policy many PSU’s were sold to
private sector. Literally speaking, privatisation is the process of involving the private sector-
in the ownership of Public Sector Units (PSU’s).
The main reason for privatisation was in currency of PSU’s are running in losses due to
political interference. The managers cannot work independently. Production capacity
remained under-utilized. To increase competition and efficiency privatisation of PSUs was
inevitable.
Indian Govt. started selling shares of PSU’s to public and financial institution e.g. Govt. sold
shares of Maruti Udyog Ltd. Now the private sector will acquire ownership of these PSU’s.
The share of private sector has increased from 45% to 55%.
2. Disinvestment in PSU’s:
The Govt. has started the process of disinvestment in those PSU’s which had been running
into loss. It means that Govt. has been selling out these industries to private sector. Govt. has
sold enterprises worth Rs. 30,000 crores to the private sector.
3. Minimisation of Public Sector:
Previously Public sector was given the importance with a view to help in industralisation and
removal of poverty. But these PSU’s could not able to achieve this objective and policy of
contraction of PSU’s was followed under new economic reforms. Number of industries
reserved for public sector was reduces from 17 to 2.
4. Globalization:
Literally speaking Globalisation means to make Global or worldwide, otherwise taking into
consideration the whole world. Broadly speaking, Globalisation means the interaction of the
domestic economy with the rest of the world with regard to foreign investment, trade,
production and financial matters.
Custom duties and tariffs imposed on imports and exports are reduced gradually just to
make India economy attractive to the global investors.
Partial convertibility can be defined as to convert Indian currency (up to specific extent)
in the currency of other countries. So that the flow of foreign investment in terms
of Foreign Institutional Investment (FII) and foreign Direct Investment (FDI).
Equity limit of foreign capital investment has been raised from 40% to 100% percent. In
47 high priority industries foreign direct investment (FDI) to the extent of 100% will be
allowed without any restriction. In this regard Foreign Exchange Management Act
(FEMA) will be enforced.
If the Indian economy is shining at the world map currently, its sole attribution goes to the
implementation of the New Economic Policy in 1991.
3. Real GDP growth averaged 5.7 per cent per annum in the 1990s, which accelerated
further to 7.3 per cent per annum in 2000s.
4. There is gain in the share of services, including construction, from 5 per cent to 65 per
cent during the period 1990s to 2010-2011
5. Exports and imports of goods and services have more than doubled from 23 per cent
of GDP in the 1990s to 50 per cent in the year 2009-11
6. Debt-GDP ratio has declined from 29% to 18.6 %. & Debt-service ratio fell to 24.9
% to 4.7 % for the period of 1991 to 2009-11
7. The high growth was achieved in an environment of price stability as headline WPI
inflation dropped to an annual average of 5.5 per cent in 2008 from 8.1 per cent in
1990s.
The first Industrial Policy based on the mixed economy principle was announced in 1948
which demarcated clearly the areas of operation of the public and private sectors. This policy
was revised in 1956 which laid greater emphasis on the expanding role of the public sector.
This was in keeping with the Mahalanobis strategy of industrialisation embodied in the
Second Five Year Plan (1956-1961).
India reached the crossroads in 1991 when unprecedented economic crises called for
unprecedented changes in economic policies. Making a sharp departure from the 1956
Industrial Policy, the Government of India announced liberalised Industrial Policy on July 24,
1991. Instead of state-sponsored development, the new policy put emphasis on market-led
development.
In a mixed economy of our sort, the government should declare its industrial policy clearly
indicating what should be the sphere of the State and of the private enterprise. A mixed
economy means coexistence of the two sectors public and private. This the Government of
India did by a policy resolution on 30 April 1948 called the First Industrial Policy Resolution
or Industrial Policy Resolution of 1948, which made it clear that India was going to have a
mixed economy.
On 30 April 1956, the Government revised its first Industrial Policy (i.e., the policy of 1948),
and announced the Industrial Policy of 1956.
The long-awaited liberalised industrial policy was announced by the Government of India on
24 July 1991. There are several important departures in the latest policy. The New Industrial
Policy has scrapped the asset limit for MRTP companies and abolished industrial licensing of
all projects, except for 18 (now 5) specific groups.
2. Trade Policy:
The two giant advocates of free trade—Adam Smith and David Ricardo—about two hundred
years ago argued that free flow of goods and services, i.e., unrestricted trade, would be
beneficial.
As a result of free trade, each country specialises in production in which it has a comparative
advantage. This will enable each country to reap gain from trade. After the Second World
War (1939-1945), commercial policy underwent a change when the wave of protectionism
swept all over the world. It was argued at that time that though some trade is better than no
trade, there is no reason to suppose that free trade is the best.
3. Monetary Policy:
Monetary policy or credit policy concerns itself with the cost (i.e., the rate of interest) and the
availability of credit to affect the overall supply of money. The hallmark of the RBI’s
monetary policy in the 1950s was that of controlled monetary expansion. To supplement the
process of macro stabilisation and structural adjustment programmes launched in mid-1991,
monetary policy has been redesigned. Market-oriented reforms (such as interest rate
liberalisation, entry of private Indian and foreign banks, development of alternative system of
monetary controls, etc.), are being constantly made since monetary policy measures are
continuous.
4. Fiscal Policy:
Another arm of economic policy is the fiscal policy which is concerned with the policy of
taxation, expenditure and borrowing. Fiscal policy as evolved over time has resulted in a tax
structure with its great reliance on indirect taxation. As it has failed to contain non-plan
expenditures, reinvestible surpluses could not be generated. The government then relied on
deficit financing and public borrowing.
Immediately after independence, the country was faced with two major problems: food crisis
and shortage of industrial raw materials. The major objectives of the First Plan in the field of
agriculture were to correct the imbalances caused by Partition in the supply of food grains
and commercial crops and improve infrastructural facilities.
At the time of launching of the First Five Year Plan (1951), socialists believed that
institutional factors were responsible for low productivity. Another school of thought pointed
to the technological backwardness as the prime factor in holding back agricultural
production.
In view of the problems associated with the agricultural sector during the 1990s, the National
Agricultural Policy was announced on July 2000.
Although a nation’s BOP always balances in the accounting sense, it need not balance in an
economic sense. An unbalance in the BOP account has the following implications.
9. EXIM Policy:
MONETARY POLICY
Monetary policy refers to the use of instruments under the control of the central bank (RBI)
to regulate the availability, cost and use of money and credit.
According to Johnson, “Monetary policy is defined as policy employing central bank’s
control of the supply of money as an instrument for achieving the objectives of general
economic policy.”
Bank Rate is also known as discount rate. It is the rate at which RBI lends to the
commercial banks or rediscounts their bills. If bank rate is increased ,then commercial
banks also charge higher rate of interest on loans given by banks to public because now
commercial banks get funds from RBI at higher rate of interest. Higher rate of interest
will contract credit in the economy i.e. public will take lesser loans because of higher rate
of interest. The current bank rate is 6.75%.
2. Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR)
Cash Reserve Ratio is a certain percentage of bank deposits which banks are required to
keep with RBI in the form of reserves or balances . Higher the CRR with the RBI lower
will be the liquidity in the system and vice-versa. RBI is empowered to vary CRR
between 15 percent and 3 percent. But as per the suggestion by the Narshimam committee
Report the CRR was reduced from 15% in the 1990 to 5 percent in 2002. The current
CRR is 4.00 %.
Repo rate is the rate at which RBI lends to commercial banks generally against
government securities. Reverse Repo rate is the rate at which RBI borrows money from
the commercial banks. Reduction in Repo rate helps the commercial banks to get money
at a cheaper rate and increase in Repo rate discourages the commercial banks to get
money as the rate increases and becomes expensive. As the rates are high the availability
of credit and demand decreases resulting to decrease in inflation. This increase in Repo
Rate and Reverse Repo Rate is a symbol of tightening of the policy. The current repo rate
is 6.25 % and reserve repo rate is 5.75 %.
It means that the bank controls the flow of credit through the sale and purchase of
securities in the open market. When securities are purchased by central bank, then RBI
makes payment to commercial banks and public. So, the public and commercial banks
now have more money with them. It increases money supply with commercial banks and
public. This will expand credit in the economy. In year 2012-13 RBI Purchases securities
8,000 crore.
FISCAL POLICY
“It refers to a policy concerning the use of state treasury or the government finances to
achieve the macro-economic goals”.
“Government policy of changing its taxation and public expenditure programs intended to
achieve its objective”.
“Government uses its expenditure and revenue program to produce desirable effects on
National Income production and employment”.
Fiscal policy deals with the taxation and expenditure decisions of the government. These
include, tax policy, expenditure policy, investment or disinvestment strategies and debt or
surplus management. - Kaushik Basu ( Former Chief Economic Adviser )
Deficit Financing refers to financing the budgetary deficit. Budgetary deficit here means
excess of government expenditure over government income. It means “Taking loans from
reserve bank of India by the government to meet the budgetary deficit”. Reserve bank
gives loans buy issuing new currency notes. Increase in money supply leads to fall in
value of money. Fall in value of money in turn leads to increase in price level. So deficit
financing should be kept low as it leads to price rise in economy. Thus due to deficit
financing necessary funds are made available for economic Growth and on the other
inflation of country increases.
2. Public Expenditutre
Public expenditure influences the economic activities of country very much. Public
expenditure may be of two kinds i.e. developmental and non developmental. Expenditure
on developmental activities requires huge amount of capital. So much capital cannot be
made available by private sector alone. It requires substantial increase in public
expenditure. Public expenditure may be made in many ways:- (1) Development of state
enterprises, (2) Support to private sector, (3) Development of infrastructure & (4) Social
Welfare.
3. Taxation Policy
Taxes are the main source of revenue of government. Government levies both direct and
indirect taxes in India. Direct taxes are those which are directly paid by the assesses to the
government i.e. income tax, wealth tax etc. Indirect tax are paid indirectly by the public to
the government i.e. excise duty, custom duty, VAT etc. Direct tax are progressive in
nature. Indirect tax are not progressive. These change from all the segments of society at
same rate. The main objectives of taxation policy are: (1) Mobilization of resources, (2)
To promote saving, (3) To promote saving & (4) To bring Equality of income and wealth.
4. Public Debt
Government needs lot of funds for economic development of the country. No government can mobilize so much
funds by way of tax alone. It is therefore , ecomes inevitable for the government to mobilize resources for
economic development by resorting the public debt. Public debt is obtained from two kinds:- (1) Internal Debt
(2) External Debt.
QUESTIONS
PART A
1. Write about Sarvodaya Plan 1950.
2. What is Economic Stability.
3. Mention any two objectives of economic planning.
4. Write about the First Five year plan (1951 – 1956).
5. What do you mean by reduction of economic inequalities?
6. Infer on plan holiday 1966 – 1969.
7. State the meaning of NITI AAYOG.
8. Mention any two achievements and failures under Five year plan period.
9. Interpret the significant shift in the strategy of Second plan (1956-1961).
10. State the main objectives of new economic reforms 1991.
11. List the branches of new economic policy.
12. Write about Exim policy.
13. Define Monetary policy.
14. Define Fiscal policy.
15. What is Repo rate?
16. Interpret cash reservation.’
PART – B
INFRASTRUCTURE
Infrastructure is the basic requirement of economic development. It does not directly produce goods
and services but facilitates production in primary, secondary and tertiary economic activities by
creating external economies. It is an admitted fact that the level of economic development in any
country directly depends on the development of infrastructure.
MEANING OF INFRASTRUCTURE
Simply speaking, “Infrastructure means those basic facilities and services which facilitates different
economic activities and thereby help in economic development of the country, Education, Health,
Transport and Communication, banking and insurance, irrigation and power and science and
technology etc. are the examples of infrastructure. These are also called social over head capital.
These do not directly produce goods and services but induce production in agriculture, industry and
trade by generating external economies. For example, an industry situated on or near the railway
line or national highway will produce commodities at less cost.
DEFINITIONS
The Readers Digest Universal Dictionary defines the term infrastructure as “an underlying base or
supporting structure, the basic facilities, equipment, services and installations needed for the growth
and functioning of a country, community, operation or organization”.
The Infrastructure Development Department (IDD) of Government of Karnataka defines the term
‘infrastructure’ as “any public work relating to facilities for utilization of natural resources or
provision of services, by way of Physical structures or systems”.
The Commission further recommended that considering characteristics (b), (d) and (e) also, the
above list may be extended to include the following in the second stage:
TYPES OF INFRASTRUCTURE:
There is no unanimity of opinion among developmental economists with regard to the items to be
included in infrastructure. A large number of items extending from transport and power to
education, law and order and social values have been included in infrastructure given by various
economists.
Singer has included education system, health services, housing, transport, power and irrigation
among over head capital.
Economic Infrastructure:
1. Transport:
a. Roads
b. Railways
d. Airports
e. Transport Equipments.
2. Communication:
a. Ports
b. Telegraphs
c. Telephones
d. Radio
e. Television
f. Cinema etc
3. Energy/Power:
a. Coal
b. Electricity
c. Wind power
d. Solar energy
e. Oil
a. Minerals
b. Steel
d. Basic chemicals
a. Reclamation of land
b. Irrigation (Major/Medium/Minor)
c. Drainage
e. Consolidation of holdings
Fishing boats
h. Fishing equipments and refrigeration
i. Afforestation and development of commercial projects.
6. Science and Technology:
b. National laboratories
7. Information system:
a. Mass Media
Finance Infrastructure:
i. Finance and Banking
c. Capital Markets
Social Infrastructure:
1. Human Resource Development:
a. Health
c. Disease eradication
d. Public hygiene
e. Family Planning
f. Medical facilities
g. Education, Literacy
i. Professional Education
k. Development disciplines
Thus, the scope of infrastructure is growing rapidly over time. The items to be covered in the term
infrastructure are rather difficult. They differ from country to country depending on the level of
economic development. A country may go in for broader base of infrastructure development as
development proceeds over the time periods.
Infrastructure is also classified into different categories based on the purpose of the study. It is
classified as ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ infrastructure, development and rehabilitative infrastructure (on the
basis of stages of development) urban and rural infrastructure and institutional and on institutional
infrastructure.
In the economic category all these facilities are included which are directly required for the process
of development of productive activities.
They are mainly
i. Irrigation
ii. Power
iii. Transport and
iv. Communication
On the other hand the term ‘social infrastructure’ refers to those overhead facilities which lead to
the improvement in the quality of the population. These may include facilities like,
1. Health Services
2. Educational facilities.
3. Provision of nutrition
5. Sanitation etc
COMPONENTS OF INFRASTRUCTURE
I. Economic Infrastructure
2. Energy
3. Banking
4. Cooperatives
5. Irrigation
1. Education
2. Health
9. The growth of GDP. There exists a very close relationship between spending for
infrastructure and GDP growth. Studies reveal that 1% growth in the stock of
infrastructure often associates with 1% growth in per capita GDP.
b. It also facilitates large-scale production for the purpose of smooth functioning of the
economy.
j. The economy and the nation will be able to meet any emergencies that arise.
4. In 2016, India jumped 19 places in World Bank's Logistics Performance Index (LPI)
2016, to rank 35th amongst 160 countries.
Value of total roads and bridges infrastructure in India is estimated to have expanded
at a CAGR of 13.6 per cent over FY09–17 to US$ 19.2 billion
In April 2017, the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corp. bagged a
project to build 5 tunnels worth US$ 3.42 billion. These tunnels, namely, Zojila tunnel
at Zojila Pass (14 kms), Vailoo Tunnel at Sinthan Pass (8-10 kms), Z-Morah tunnel
(6.5 kms), Pir-Ki-Gali Tunnel on National Highway-244 (8.5 kms) and Daranga
Tunnel at Shudh Mahadev (4.5 kms), will help in avoiding road accidents because of
avalanches
An outlay of Rs 6.92 trillion (US$ 107.64 billion) was approved by the Government
of India in October 2017 to build a road network of 83,677 km over the next five
years. The outlay includes the Bharatmala projects worth Rs 5.35 trillion (83.25
billion).
In January 2017, the government proposed to lay down cycle tracks on all highways
and major roads pan India, to promote the use of electric cars and public transport.
Highway network in the country is expected to cover 50,0000 km by 2019. The
National Highway Authority of India has created a new highway operations division
to focus on all non-commercial highway operational activities like electronic toll
collection, road safety, incident management, and other modern amenities .
Strong revenue growth for Indian Railways
Revenue growth has been strong over the years; during FY07–17, revenues increased
at a CAGR of 11 per cent to US$ 24.60 billion in FY17.
Revenues from the sector are estimated to reach to US$ 44.5 billion by the end of
FY20
The Ministry of Railways is working on a plan to earn Rs 15,000 crore (US$ 1.56
billion) over the next 10-20 years through a rail display network (RDN), enabling
real-time information to passengers.
Indian Railway sector aims to boost passenger amenities
In March 2017, Railways started a new segment of revenue generation channel
through auctioning for advertising and branding contracts on 1000 trains. The front
running brands are to sign this contract for 5 years.
All Indian Railways trains will become electric by 2022, resulting in annual savings
of Rs 11,500 crore (US$ 1.79 billion).
Installed capacity increased steadily over the years, posting a CAGR of 10.57 per
cent in FY09–17 and stood at 326.84 (GW) by the end of FY17.
As of October 2017, India had a power generation capacity of 331.1 GW.
As of June 2017, energy generation from conventional sources stood at 307.7 billion
units (BU).
Indian energy sector is expected to offer investment opportunities worth US$ 300
billion over the next 10 years.
Summary of Infrastructure Projects completed during the 12th Five Year Plan
INFLATION
Inflation is the rate in which the prices for goods and services increase. Inflation often affects the
buying capacity of consumers.
According to Crowther, “Inflation is a state in which the value of money is falling, i.e, prices are
rising”.
However, we should remember one important point. That is, there can be inflation even without a
rise in the price level. This is known as ‘Repressed Inflation’.
TYPES OF INFLATION
1. Demand-pull inflation:
It is loosely described as “too much money chasing too few goods”. This refers to the
situation where general price level rises because the demand for goods and services
exceeds the supply available at the existing prices.
2. Cost-push inflation:
Cost – push inflation is induced by rising costs, including wages, so that rising wages and other
costs push up prices. We can also speak of wage inflation or price inflation when we mean increase
in wages or prices.
a) Creeping or Persistent inflation : Since the end of world War II, i.e. since 1945,
there has been a tendency for prices and wages to push one another upwards. This
situation has been described as creeping or persistent inflation.
b) Hyper – Inflation: This is a serious type of inflation. For example, it was experienced in
Germany after World War I and in Hungary and China after World War II. In this situation, prices
rise to a very great extent at high speed and high prices have to be paid even for cheap things. And
money becomes quite worthless and new currency has to be introduced. This situation is known as
galloping inflation or hyper-inflation.
c) Bottleneck Inflation : This refers to inflation that results from shortages, imbalances and rising
marginal costs as full employment output is approached.
d) Profit – Push Inflation : Just as trade unions manage to push up wages,
oligopolists and monopolists will raise prices more than enough to cover increase
in costs with the aim of making monopoly profits.
2. National Debt: There are a number of factors that influence national debt, which
include the nations borrowing and spending. In a situation where a country’s debt
increases, the respective country is left with two options: (i) Taxes can be raised
internally, (ii) Additional money can be printed to pay off the debt.
4. Cost-Push Effect: This theory states that when companies face increased input costs
on raw materials and wages for manufacturing consumer goods, they will preserve their
profitability by passing the increased production cost to the end consumer in the form of
increased prices.
3. Restrictions on imports
4. Rationing and
5. Price controls
Note: A healthy inflation rate (2-3%) is considered positive because it directly results in increasing
wages and corporate profitability and maintains capital flowing in a growing economy.
INFLATION AND INTEREST RATE
The interest rate affects inflation and both are closely related. They are generally referred together
in macroeconomics.
Inflation is the rate at which the general level of prices for goods and services rises. As for price
increase, this leads to falling in the purchasing power of the currency. It is very much necessary to
keep inflation rate within permissible limits for the smooth functioning of an economy.
Interest rate is the rate at which the lender is lending funds to the borrower. The interest rate has a
vital impact on the economy of the country and has a major impact on stock and other investments.
The interest rate is decided by considering two factors.
Capital availability, if a rate of interest is high then capital is costly.
If the rate of interest is low, bank customers will not get sufficient return on their fund
which will demotivate customers to keep the amount in the bank, as a result, the bank
will not have funds.
If money is cheap, people will get the motivation to get money in the market and as a result, the
value of money will decrease. This will increase inflation.
The rate of interest for loans and deposit are different. The rate of interest for loans are high
whereas for deposits comparatively less. The interest rate is a price for holding or loaning money
i.e. price for depositing or borrowing of money.
Demand for goods & services decrease Demand for goods & services increase
Interest rate increase leads to a fall in Inflation leads to a rise in the price
the price of services and goods of service and goods
If interest rate decrease, inflation If inflation decreases, the interest rate
increases increase
Demand for goods & services increase Demand for goods & services decrease
Interest rate decrease leads to a rise Inflation decrease leads to a fall in the price
in the price of services and goods of services and goods
Through this, we can say that the inflation and interest rate are dependent on each other and the
relation between them is an inverse relationship where one increases and other decrease and vice
versa.
UNEMPLOYMENT
Unemployment occurs when workers who want to work are unable to find jobs, which means lower
economic output, while still requiring subsistence.
Unemployment may be defined as “a situation in which the person is capable of working both
physically and mentally at the existing wage rate, but does not get a job to work”.
In other words unemployment means only involuntary unemployment wherein a person who is
willing to work at the existing wage rate does not get a job.
High rates of unemployment are a signal of economic distress, but extremely low rates of
unemployment may signal an overheated economy.
Open unemployment is a situation where in a large section of the labour force does not get a job
that may yield them regular income. This type of unemployment can be seen and counted in terms
of the number of unemployed persons. The labour force expands at a faster rate than the growth rate
of economy. Therefore all people do not get jobs.
2. Disguised Unemployment:
It is a situation in which more people are doing work than actually required. Even if some are
withdrawn, production does not suffer. In other words it refers to a situation of employment with
surplus manpower in which some workers have zero marginal productivity.
3. Seasonal Unemployment:
It is unemployment that occurs during certain seasons of the year. In some industries and
occupations like agriculture, holiday resorts, ice factories etc., production activities take place only
in some seasons. So they offer employment for only a certain period of time in a year. People
engaged in such type of activities may remain unemployed during the off- season.
4. Cyclical Unemployment:
It is caused by trade cycles at regular intervals. Generally capitalist economies are subject to trade
cycles. The down swing in business activities results in unemployment. Cyclical unemployment is
normally a shot-run phenomenon.
5. Educated Unemployment:
Among the educated people, apart from open unemployment, many are underemployed because
their qualification does not match the job. Faulty education system, mass output, preference for
white collar jobs, lack of employable skills and dwindling formal salaried jobs are mainly
responsible for unemployment among educated youths in India. Educated unemployment may be
either open or underemployment.
6. Technological Unemployment:
It is the result of certain changes in the techniques of production which may not warrant much
labour. Modern technology being capital intensive requires less labourers and contributes to this
kind of unemployment.
7. Structural Unemployment:
This type of unemployment arises due to drastic changes in the economic structure of a country.
These changes may affect either the supply of a factor or demand for a factor of production.
Structural employment is a natural outcome of economic development and technological
advancement and innovation that are taking place rapidly all over the world in every sphere.
8. Underemployment:
It is a situation in which people employed contribute less than their capacity to production. In this
type of unemployment people are not gainfully employed. They may be employed either on part-
time basis, or undertake a job for which lesser qualification is required. For example a Post
Graduate may work as a clerk for which only S.S.L.C. is enough.
9. Casual Unemployment:
When a person is employed on a day-to-day basis, casual unemployment may occur due to short-
term contracts, shortage of raw materials, fall in demand, change of ownership etc.
10. Chronic Unemployment:
Frictional unemployment is caused due to improper adjustment between supply of labour and
demand for labour. This type of unemployment is due to immobility of labour, lack of correct and
timely information, seasonal nature of work. etc.
In every society, there are some people who are unwilling to work at the prevailing wage rate, and
there are some who are lucky enough to get a continuous flow of unearned income from their
unemployed status. Jobs are available for them but they do not want to accept them. Voluntary
unemployment may be a national waste of human energy, but it is not a serious economic problem
with any social repercussions. Voluntary unemployment is consistent with the state of full
employment.
MEASUREMENT OF UNEMPLOYMENT:
There are three measures or estimates of unemployment. These are developed by National Sample
Survey Organisation (NSSO). They are:
Also known as open unemployment or chronic unemployment. This measure estimates the number
of persons who remained unemployed for a major part of the year. This measure gives the lowest
estimates of unemployment. This concept used to determine the usual activity status of a person as
employed or unemployed or outside the labour force. The persons covered may be classified into
those working or available for work in their principal activity sector and subsidiary sector.
The estimate measures unemployment with respect to one week. A person is said to be unemployed
if he is not able to work even for an hour during the survey period. In other words according to this
estimate a person is said to be employed for the week even if he/she is employed only for a day
during that week.
It considers the activity status of a person for each day of the preceding seven days. The reference
period here is a day. If a person did not find work on a day or some days during the survey week,
he/she is regarded as unemployed. Normally if a person works for four hours or more during a day,
he or she is considered as employed for the whole day. The daily status unemployment is
considered to be a comprehensive measure of unemployment.
MAIN CAUSES OF UNEMPLOYMENT IN INDIA
In India caste system is prevalent. The work is prohibited for specific castes in some areas. In many
cases, the work is not given to the deserving candidates but given to the person belonging to a
particular community. So this gives rise to unemployment.
Indian economy is underdeveloped and role of economic growth is very slow. This slow growth
fails to provide enough unemployment opportunities to the increasing population.
Constant increase in population has been a big problem in India. It is one of the main causes of
unemployment. The rate of unemployment is 11.1% in 10th Plan.
In big families having big business, many such persons will be available who do not do any work
and depend on the joint income of the family. Many of them seem to be working but they do not
add anything to production. So they encourage disguised unemployment.
The industrial development had adverse effect on cottage and small industries. The production of
cottage industries began to fall and many artisans became unemployed.
The rate of industrial growth is slow. Though emphasis is laid on industrialisation yet the avenues
of employment created by industrialisation are very few.
There is inadequate capital in India. Above all, this capital has been judiciously invested.
Investment depends on savings. Savings are inadequate. Due to shortage of savings and investment,
opportunities of employment have not been created.
(ix) Causes of Under Employment:
Inadequate availability of means of production is the main cause of under employment. People do
not get employment for the whole year due to shortage of electricity, coal and raw materials.
Defective planning is the one of the cause of unemployment. There is wide gap between supply and
demand for labour. No Plan had formulated any long term scheme for removal of unemployment.
The number of universities has increased manifold. There are 385 universities. As a result of this
educated unemployment or white collar unemployment has increased.
Even after the completion of 9th five plans, 39% of total cultivable area could get irrigation
facilities. Due to lack of irrigation, large area of land can grow only one crop in a year. Farmers
remain unemployed for most time of the year.
Mobility of labour in India is low. Due to attachment to the family, people do not go to far off areas
for jobs. Factors like language, religion, and climate are also responsible for low mobility.
Immobility of labour adds to unemployment.
It occurs when human resources leave their country (such as India) to go and work overseas in
developed countries such as Europe, North America and Australia.
2. Secondary external brain drain
It occurs when human resources leave their country (such as India) to go and work elsewhere in the
nearer region e.g. Sri Lanka, Malaysia, and Singapore.
It occurs when human resources are not employed in the fields of their expertise in their own
country or when human resources move from the public sector to the private sector or within a
sector. Many of our own IIT engineers take up banking jobs with alacrity. Money ultimately
beckons and our companies ask for a management degree everywhere.
2. Saudi Arabia
4. European Union
5. Canada
6. Australia
7. New Zealand
8. Kuwait
9. South Africa
10. Qatar
11. Thailand
12. Singapore
13. Malaysia
14. Israel
15. Oman
The exodus may lead to loss of confidence in the economy, which will cause persons
to desire to leave rather than stay
PART – B
1. Explain in detail about the types of infrastructure.
2. Summarize on the components, significance and importance of infrastructure.
3. Elaborate on the types and causes of inflation.
4. Analyze the methods of controlling inflation and bring about the relationship between inflation
and interest rate.
5. Describe in detail the various types of unemployment in modern society.
6. Criticize the main causes unemployment in India.
7. Categorize the various types of Brain drain and highlight the various causes.
8. Explain in detail the functions of Labor market.
9. Analyze on the infrastructure development and increasing FDI inflows into the infrastructure
sector in India.
10. Discuss about sectoral distribution of employment.
References: