Change and Development in Industrial Society
Class 12 Sociology • Chapter 5 • NCERT Solutions
Q1
Choose any occupation you see around you – and describe it (social composition, labour process, wages, working conditions).
Model Answer: Occupation – Construction Worker at a building site.
a) Social Composition:
- Region/Migration: Most workers are migrants from poorer states like Bihar, Odisha, or rural Rajasthan.
- Caste: Majority belong to Scheduled Castes (SCs) or Scheduled Tribes (STs).
- Gender: Both men and women work, but there is a clear division. Men do the skilled masonry work, while women carry head-loads of bricks and cement (unskilled).
- Age: mostly young adults (18-40), though sometimes older children are also seen helping.
b) Labour Process:
- It is physically demanding manual labour.
- There is a chain of command: The Contractor gives orders to the Mistri (skilled mason), who directs the Beldars (laborers).
- Work is seasonal and stops during monsoons.
c) Wages and Benefits:
- Wages: Paid on a daily or weekly basis. Men (masons) earn significantly more than women (helpers), violating the Equal Remuneration Act.
- Benefits: No paid leave, no pension, no health insurance. If they don’t work for a day due to illness, they earn nothing.
d) Working Conditions:
- Safety: Very poor. Workers often work at heights without helmets or harnesses. Accidents are common.
- Hours: Long working hours (8 AM to 6 PM or later).
- Rest: Only a short lunch break. They often live in temporary shanties (jhuggis) on the construction site itself with no proper sanitation.
Q2
How has liberalisation affected employment patterns in India?
Liberalisation (since 1991) has fundamentally transformed the Indian job market:
- Decline of Secure Jobs: There has been a reduction in secure, permanent employment in the Organized (Public) Sector. The government has stopped hiring for many permanent posts.
- Informalisation: Even within the organized sector (like big factories or government offices), work is being outsourced to contractors. Permanent workers are replaced by contract workers who have no job security or benefits.
- Rise of Service Sector: There is a boom in the service sector (IT, BPO, banking, retail), creating high-paying jobs for the English-speaking middle class.
- Jobless Growth: While the GDP has grown, employment generation has not kept pace, leading to “jobless growth.”
- Footloose Labour: Liberalisation has increased migration as industries move to areas with cheaper labour and looser regulations.