Rural Livelihoods - Solutions

CBSE Class –VI Social Science

NCERT Solutions
Political Science Chapter 8
Rural Livelihoods

Question 1. You have probably noticed that people in Kalpattu are engaged in a variety of non-farm work. List five of these.
Answer: The people of Kalpattu are engaged in the following non-farm work :

Making pots
Making basket
Making bricks
Making utensils
Making bullock-carts.

Question 2. List the different types of people you read about in Kalpattu who depend on farming. Who is the poorest among them and why?
Answer: There are three different types of people who depend on farming:

Big landowner
Small landowner
Landless farmers

In Kalpattu village, agricultural labourers are the poorest because they depend on the work they do on other people's fields to earn a living. Many of them are landless and others may own very small plots of land.

Question 3. Imagine you are a member of a fishing family and you are discussing whether to take a loan from the bank for an engine. What would you say?
Answer: If I were a member of the fishing family, I would say we must take a loan from the bank for an engine to improve my income.
A poor fisherman cannot purchase the costly product for its business for eg. Catamaran engine. So the only option is to take a loan from the bank as well as the bank is a trusted institution than a money lender.

Question 4. Poor rural labourers like Thulasi often do not have access to good medical facilities, good schools, and other resources. You have read about inequality in the first unit of this text. The difference between her and Ramalingam is one of inequality. Do you think this is a fair situation? What do you think can be done? Discuss in class.
Answer: This is not a fair situation. The difference between her and Ramalingam is showing in the inequality of getting the facilities. Efforts should be made to promote education among the poor. It will help them to know their rights and other awareness. Basics facilities like medical, good schools should be provided by the government to all classes of people.

Question 5. What do you think the government can do to help farmers like Sekar when they get into debt? Discuss.
Answer: The Government can provide assistance to farmers like Sekar in the following ways:

Interest-free loan or waiving the loan
Loan at the lowest rate
Subsidy of fertilisers and pesticides
Cultivation can be insured
Sufficient time to be given to pay the bank loan

Question 6. Compare the situation of Sekar and Ramalingam by filling out the following table:
Answer :

	Sekar	Ramalingam
1. Land cultivated	About 2 acres	About 20 acres
2. Labour required	During the time of harvesting required labour.	Labour required in large numbers.
3. Loans required	Yes loan required for fertilizers, seeds, pesticides etc.	He takes loans from govt, banks to set up a rice mill.
4. Selling of harvest	Sell at low cost to the lenders	Sell at a high cost to the traders
5. Other work done by them	He has a hybrid cow, whose milk he sells in the local milk cooperatives and also works in Ramalingam's rice mill.	He is the owner of a rice mill and has several shops.