Q1.
In the table given on page 185, did you notice the third empty column? Label this column ‘economic / non-economic activity’. Now classify them according to the nature of activity.
Answer
Yes — the third column was left blank on purpose. Label it ‘Economic / non-economic activity’ and fill it like this. Ask only one question for each row: is money or money’s worth being exchanged?
| Character in the story | Activities they are engaged in | Economic / non-economic activity |
|---|---|---|
| Geeta Aunty | Serving as a pilot in the Indian Air Force | Economic — she receives a salary (stated on page 187) |
| Kabir’s grandfather | Free Geography classes for the neighbourhood kids | Non-economic — “free”, so no payment at all |
| Tending the family’s vegetable garden | Non-economic — the vegetables are for the home, not for sale | |
| Running errands for the home | Non-economic — household work, done out of care for the family | |
| Anu’s father (Appa) | Running the shop that sells uniforms and ready-made garments | Economic — goods are sold for money and the family earns from it |
| Anu’s mother (Maa) | Helping at the family shop | Economic — this is part of running the business that earns the family’s income |
| Teaching stitching in a voluntary group | Non-economic — “voluntary”, so she is not paid for it | |
| Rohan | Working as a software engineer | Economic — “is given a salary for it” (page 187) |
| Weekend computer classes at the youth development programme | Non-economic — page 187 says so in exactly these words: “This is a non-economic activity” | |
| Anu and Kabir | Going to school, studying, playing | Non-economic — no money is exchanged by them; studying is an investment in their future |
| The taxi driver | Driving Geeta Aunty home from work | Economic — the passenger pays a fare for the ride |
Careful — the trap in this exercise: three people in the story appear twice, once on each side. Maa is economic at the shop and non-economic at the stitching group. Rohan is economic on weekdays and non-economic on weekends. Grandfather’s garden work is non-economic — but if he sold those vegetables in the market, the very same digging would become economic. Classify the activity, never the person.
Why the school row confuses students: a teacher teaching in school is doing an economic activity, because the school pays a salary. But you, sitting in the class and learning, are not — you pay no one and earn nothing from it today. Studying is still one of the most valuable things you can do, which is another proof that “non-economic” is not a smaller word than “economic”.