People as Resource

What is “People as Resource”?

“People as Resource” is a way of looking at a country’s population as a productive asset rather than a liability. When we say people are a resource, we mean they are the workforce that contributes to creating goods and services. The same person who needs food, clothing and shelter can also, through their labour and skills, produce far more value than they consume. A population that is healthy, well-educated and trained becomes human capital — an investment that gives returns to the whole nation, just like investment in machines or land. Japan is a famous example: it has very few natural resources, yet it became a rich, developed country by investing in its people — importing raw materials and using highly skilled, healthy and educated workers to turn them into valuable products.

How human resource is different from other resources

Land and physical capital (machines, factories) cannot do anything on their own. It is human beings who use these resources, organise them and make them productive. A tractor is useless without a trained driver; a school building is empty without teachers. This is why human resource is considered superior to other resources — it makes every other resource usable.

Investment in human capital

Just as a businessman invests money in a factory expecting profit, a country invests in education and health expecting higher productivity. Money spent on educating and training people is called investment in human capital. Educated people earn more, can do skilled jobs, adopt new technology and even teach their children better — so the benefit spreads across generations. A healthy worker can work harder, stay regular at the job and contribute more. Therefore, spending on schools, colleges, hospitals and training is not a waste — it gives future returns in the form of a more productive economy.

Education

Education opens new windows for people. Its benefits go beyond a higher salary: it makes people aware of their rights, improves their thinking, helps them choose better jobs and participate in the development of the country. The government has set up schools, the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan for free and compulsory elementary education, mid-day meals to attract children, and many colleges and universities. Literacy rate in India has risen sharply since 1951. However, there is still a gap between boys and girls and between rural and urban areas that must be closed.

Health

The health of a person helps them realise their full potential and fight illness. An unhealthy person cannot work to capacity and becomes a liability rather than an asset. To improve health, the government has increased the number of hospitals, dispensaries, health centres, doctors and nurses. As a result, life expectancy has increased, infant mortality (death of babies) has fallen and many diseases are now controlled. Good health, like education, raises the quality of human capital.

Economic activities — the three sectors

The activities that produce goods and services and add value to national income are called economic activities. They are grouped into three sectors. The Primary sector includes agriculture, forestry, fishing, mining and dairy — activities that use natural resources directly. The Secondary sector (manufacturing/industry) turns raw materials into finished goods, for example making cloth from cotton or steel from iron ore. The Tertiary sector (services) supports the other two and includes transport, banking, trade, communication, education and health. Economic activities are also divided into market activities (work done for pay or profit, including government service) and non-market activities (production for self-consumption, like growing vegetables for your own family).

Economic and non-economic activities

An activity done to earn income (for money) is an economic activity, such as a teacher teaching in a school or a farmer selling crops. An activity done out of love or duty without payment is a non-economic activity, such as a mother cooking for her own family. The same act can be economic or non-economic depending on whether it is paid: a cook in a restaurant performs an economic activity, while the same person cooking at home for the family does not.

Unemployment

Unemployment exists when people who are willing and able to work at the going wage cannot find jobs. The working-age group is generally taken as 15 to 59 years. People below 15 and above 59 are dependents. There are different types of unemployment in India. Seasonal unemployment happens when people get work only during certain seasons, common in agriculture (busy at sowing and harvest, idle in between). Disguised unemployment happens when more people are engaged in a job than are actually required — for example, eight people working on a farm that needs only five; the extra three appear employed but add nothing to output, so removing them would not reduce production. In urban areas, educated unemployment has become a serious problem, where many graduates and post-graduates cannot find suitable jobs.

Effects of unemployment

Unemployment wastes a valuable resource — manpower that could have produced goods and services. It increases the dependence of the working population on the dependent population, lowers the quality of life, causes a sense of hopelessness and despair among the youth, and can push people into poverty. A country with high unemployment cannot fully convert its people into productive human capital.