CH-6

ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES OR OCCUPATION

1. What do you mean by occupation?

Answer: Occupation generally means the activities performed by people to earn their livelihood. The type of occupation depends on the availability of resources and the environmental conditions of a place.

2. Mainly, how many types of occupations are there? State them with examples.

Answer: There are mainly four types of occupations.

1. Primary Occupation – These are the oldest forms of human activities where people directly collect resources from nature to meet their needs. It includes agriculture, fishing, lumbering and extraction of minerals. Example: cultivation of crops or catching fish in rivers and seas.

2. Secondary Occupation – In this type, raw materials collected from nature are processed and converted into usable products through industries. It mainly involves manufacturing and refining. Example: rice milling from paddy, producing goods in factories, or preparing baby food.

3. Tertiary Occupation – These occupations do not produce goods directly but help in their distribution and provide essential services to people. It includes transport, communication, trade, education, health, and tourism. Example: teachers, doctors, traders, or people engaged in transport services.

4. Quaternary Occupation – These are advanced occupations that have grown with the development of modern science, technology, and globalisation. They support the activities of the primary, secondary, and tertiary sectors. Example: banking, insurance, research, media, and administration.

3. Write the meaning of primary occupation.

Answer: Primary occupations are the activities directly related to the collection of natural resources. These are the earliest economic activities of humans through which people fulfilled their basic needs like food, shelter, and clothing. It mainly includes agriculture, fishing, lumbering, and the extraction of minerals. Most of the products of this sector cannot be used directly and need processing before consumption. Example: catching fish from water bodies or cultivating crops in the fields.

4. Mention the difference between primary and secondary occupations.

Answer:

1. Primary Occupation: These are activities directly associated with the collection of resources from nature.

Secondary Occupation: These are activities where raw materials from nature or agriculture are processed and made usable.

2. Primary Occupation: It includes agriculture, fishing, lumbering, and the extraction of minerals.

Secondary Occupation: It includes manufacturing and refining in industries.

3. Primary Occupation: Most of the products of this sector cannot be used directly without processing.

Secondary Occupation: The products of this sector are mostly ready for human use after processing.

4. Primary Occupation: Example: cultivation of crops, catching fish.

Secondary Occupation: Example: rice milling from paddy, producing baby food, and making goods in factories.

5. Which of the economic activities are included in the tertiary occupation? State them with examples.

Answer: Tertiary occupations are those activities which do not produce goods directly but help in their distribution and provide important services to people. The goods produced by primary and secondary sectors reach the consumers through transport, communication, and trade. Besides this, many people are also engaged in services like education, health, information technology, banking, and tourism.

Examples: teachers, doctors, traders, transport workers, and people working in tourism and communication sectors

6. Write about the importance of a quaternary occupation.

Answer: Quaternary occupations are advanced services that have become important due to the progress of science, technology, transport, and communication. Their main importance lies in the fact that they support and improve the functioning of the primary, secondary, and tertiary sectors.

They include activities like banking, financial and business services, insurance, administration, media, and research. These occupations help producers to connect with national and international markets, maintain quality, and face competition. With the growing impact of globalisation, the role of quaternary occupation has become highly significant in modern economic development.

7. Write how economic development causes occupational change.

Answer: Economic development improves the use of resources and production, which leads to changes in occupation. When industries grow in an agricultural area, some workers shift from primary to secondary activities because agriculture may have extra workers and industries give higher income. Industrialisation also creates trade and service opportunities, which engage people in the tertiary sector. Thus, with development, people gradually move from primary to secondary, tertiary, and quaternary occupations

8. Write a brief note on the occupational changes in Assam.

Answer: Before the coming of the British, most people in Assam were engaged in primary occupations like agriculture, fishing, collecting forest resources, and household weaving. With British rule, tea, petroleum, and coal industries were introduced, and many people started working in these industries. This created scope for secondary occupations.

Later, people also got engaged in administrative offices, courts, trade, educational institutions, and hospitals, which increased tertiary occupations. After independence, transport and administrative services further expanded. At present, with the growth of banking, finance, research, information technology, and media, quaternary occupations have also become important in the state.

9. State the factors responsible for bringing about change in the field of occupation.

Answer: Factors Responsible for Change in Occupation –

1. Economic development improves the use of resources and production, leading to new occupations.

2. Establishment of industries in agricultural areas attracts workers to secondary activities.

3. More workers in agriculture than required force people to shift to other sectors.

4. Higher income and better opportunities in industries and services encourage people to change occupation.

5. Industrialisation opens scope for trade and commerce, increasing tertiary activities.

6. Growth of banking, finance, research, information technology, and media promotes quaternary occupations.