Urban Livelihoods Class 6 Important Questions with Answers
Class 6 Civics Chapter 9 Urban Livelihoods Important Questions and answers cover all the topics and help students to understand the concepts better. Students can solve these for practice. They may come across some of these questions in the final exam.
Students can clear their doubts from the chapter by solving these CBSE Class 6 Civics Important Questions and prepare well for the board exams. The links to download the PDF version of these questions are given in a link to this article.
Class 6 Civics Chapter 9 Urban Livelihoods Important Questions
1. Fill in the blanks.
(i) Nirmala works in a garment factory.
(ii) There are almost one crore ‘street vendors’ in the country working in urban areas.
(iii) Street vending is now recognised as a general benefit and as a right of people to earn their livelihood.
(iv) A large number of people in the city work on the streets.
(v) Harpreet and Vandana are businesspersons.
2. True/False
(i) Vandana is a dress designer. True
(ii) Workers who work in offices, factories, and government departments are called casual workers. False
(iii) Working in Call Centres is a new form of employment in the big cities. True
(iv) Street shops are usually permanent structures. False
3. Name a new form of employment in the big cities.
Answer: Call centres
4. Who is Bachchu Manjhi?
Answer: Bachchu Manjhi is a Cycle-Rickshaw Puller.
5. What is mandatory for permanent shops?
Answer: Permanent shops need licence to do business.
6. What kind of threat temporary workers go through?
Answer: Temporary workers go through threat of being fired by the employer.
7. List some activities that are carried out on the streets?
Answer: Vending, hair cutting, shoe repairing, flower selling, newspaper selling etc.
8. How many towns and big cities are there in India?
Answer: There are more than five thousand towns and twenty seven big cities in India.
9. Which authority issues license to the permanent shops to do business?
Answer: Municipal corporation authority issues licence to the permanent shops to do business.
10. What is labour chowk?
Answer: The ‘labour chowk’ is a place where daily wage labourers wait with their tools for contractors to hire them.
11. Who decides on which day of the week the market has to remain closed?
Answer: The Municipal Corporation decides on which day of the week the market has to remain closed.
12. Why can’t Bachchu Manjhi live with his family?
Answer: Bachchu Manjhi can’t live with his family because he stays with his friends in a rented room.
13. How street vending was looked upon recently?
Answer: Street vending was till recently looked upon only as an obstruction to traffic and to people walking.
14. What was found in a survey of Ahmedabad city?
Answer: In a survey of Ahmedabad city it was found that 12 per cent of all the workers in the city were people working on the street.
15. Why foreign companies set up their call centres in India?
Answer: Foreign companies set up Call Centres in India as they can get people who can speak English and will work for lower wages.
16. Name some big cities that have more than a million people living and working there.
Answer: Big cities like Chennai, Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata etc. have more than a million people living and working there.
17. Why do you think small workshops and factories employ casual workers?
Answer: Small workshops and factories employ casual workers because they get large orders only during certain seasons.
18. Who are casual workers?
Answer: Casual workers are not part of the permanent workforce, but supply services on an irregular or flexible basis, often to meet a fluctuating demand for work.
19. Write characteristics of business persons?
Answer: Most businesspersons manage their own shops or business. They are not employed by anyone. But, they do employ a number of other workers as supervisors and helpers.
20. Why did Bachchu Manjhi come to the city?
Answer: Bachchu Manjhi worked as a mason in his village. In the village he did not get masonry work regularly. The income that he earned was not enough for his family. So, he came to the city in search of work.
21. What are the drawbacks of casual jobs?
Answer: There is no job security or protection in casual job. If workers complain about their pay or working conditions they are asked to leave. They are paid less and expected to work for very long hours.
22. What is a call centre?
Answer: A Call Centre is a centralised office that deals with problems and questions that consumers/customers have regarding goods purchased and services like banking, ticket booking, etc.
23. How do people earn their livelihood in the urban areas?
Answer: People of urban areas are engaged in different activities. Some are rickshaw pullers, some are vendors, some are business persons, some are shopkeepers, some works in call centres, some works in office etc.
24. What do street vendors usually sell?
Answer: Vendors sell things that are often prepared at home by their families who purchase, clean, sort and make them ready to sell. For example, those who sell food or snacks on the street, prepare most of these at home.
25. Discuss the problems faced by the vendors.
Answer: Their shops are usually temporary structures. They can be asked to dismantle their shops at any time by the police. They have no security. There are certain parts of the city where these hawkers are not allowed to enter.
26. Bachchu Manjhi has to think twice before taking a day off from work. Why?
Answer: Bachchu Manjhi is a Cycle-Rickshaw Puller. He earns between Rs. 80-100 every day, out of which he spend Rs. 50-60 on food and rent. The rest he saves for his family. If he takes off, he will not able to earn money for himself and his family.
27. What are normal working hours in a garment factory?
Answer: Workers have to work for very long hours in the months from December to April. A normal working day begins at 9 a.m. and finishes only by 10 p.m., sometimes even later. Workers work for six days a week. At times when the work needs to be done urgently, they work on Sundays, too.
28. Why government is thinking about modifying the law that banned street vendors?
Answer: The government is thinking about modifying the law that banned street vendors, so that they have a place to work and that there is also a free flow of traffic and people. Hawking zones have been suggested for towns and cities. It has also been suggested that mobile vendors should be allowed to move around freely.
29. What are the differences between those who sell on the street and those in the market?
Answer:
| who sell on the street | who sell in the market |
| They buy things from local market. | They buy things from the bigger towns or the manufacturing cities. |
| They don’t need licence to do business. | They need licence to do business. |
| Shops on the street are temporary. | Shops in the market are permanent. |
30. How do people working on the street manage their work?
Answer: They work on their own. They are not employed by anyone and therefore have to organise their own work. They have to plan how much to purchase, as well as where and how to set up their shops. Their shops are usually temporary structures: sometimes just some boards or papers spread over discarded box or maybe a canvas sheet hung up on a few poles. They may also use their own carts or simply a plastic sheet spread on the pavement.
31. In what ways is a permanent and regular job different from a casual job? Discuss.
Answer: Permanent and regular job: In Permanent and regular job employee get a regular salary every month. Apart from salary, also gets other benefits such as savings for old age, holidays, medical facilities for their family etc.
Casual job: There is no job security or protection in casual job. If workers complain about their pay or working conditions they are asked to leave. They are paid less and expected to work for very long hours.
32. What work does Sudha do?
Answer: Sudha is a marketing manager in a company which manufactures biscuits. She supervises the work of 50 salespersons who travel to different parts of the city. They get orders from shopkeepers and collect payments from them. She has divided the city into six regions and once a week she meets the salespersons of each region. She checks their progress report and discusses problems they face. She has to plan the sales in the entire city and often has to work late and travel to different places.
33. What are the benefits of a permanent job?
Answer: People in permanent jobs have following benefits:
- They get regular salary every month.
- They can expect their job to continue for a long period of time.
- They get off on Sundays and national holidays. They also gets some days as annual leave.
- A part of their salary is kept in a fund with the government. They will earn interest on these savings. When they retire from their job they will get this money.
34. Talk to a shop owner in a market and find out how he plans his work. Have there been any changes in his business in the past twenty years?
Answer: He owns a garment shop in a busy market. He does financial planning and budgeting at the end of each month. He decides about the vendor to be contacted and types of garments to be ordered. He keeps in mind people’s preference and change in fashion while placing an order.
Yes, his business has been changed a lot with time. Previously, there were only 2-3 shops in the area. And therefore there was not much competition. Now, there are many shops in the area and customers are more aware. Now, he has to be more competitive.
35. Why did Harpreet and Vandana start a showroom? What do they have to do to run the showroom?
Answer: These days people prefer to buy readymade clothes, rather than have them stitched. The trend these days is for readymade garments. Therefore Harpreet and Vandana started a showroom.
For their showroom, they buy things from different places. They buy most of the materials from Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Ludhiana and Tripura. Some materials also come from Noida and Gurgaon, towns near Delhi. They get some dress items from foreign countries, too. There are several things they need to do to run this showroom properly. They advertise in various newspapers, cinema theatres, television and radio channels.
36. Write a note on the living conditions of workers who come to the labour Chowk.
Answer: Most workers that we find at the labour chowk cannot afford permanent accommodation and so sleep on pavements near the chowk, or they pay Rs 6 a night for a bed at a nearby night shelter run by the Municipal Corporation. To compensate for the lack of security, local tea and cigarette shops function as banks, moneylenders and safety lockers, all rolled into one. Most workers leave their tools at these shops for the night for safekeeping, and pass on any extra money to them. The shopkeepers keep the money safely and also offer loans to labourers in need. Thus, the living conditions of the workers are very poor and depressing.
37. What benefits does Sudha get along with her salary?
Answer: Being a permanent worker she also gets other benefits such as the following:
Savings for old age: A part of her salary is kept in a fund with the government. She will earn interest on these savings. When she retires from this job she will get this money in the form of pension.
Holidays: She gets off on Sundays and national holidays. She also gets some days as annual leave.
Medical facilities for her family: Her company pays the medical expenses up to a certain amount for her and her family members. She gets medical leave if she falls ill and her salary is not cut if she takes this leave.
38. Would you say that domestic workers like housemaids are also casual workers? Why? Describe the workday of one such woman detailing the work she does in other peoples’ houses?
Answer: Yes, domestic workers like housemaids are also casual workers because
1. They work for very long hours.
2. They don’t have job security. They are at the will of their employer.
3. They are paid less.
4. They don’t get other benefits such as provident funds, holidays, allowance etc.
I know such woman who works as domestic help in my neighbourhood. Her name is Anita. She has been there for past three years. Her day usually starts at 5 O’clock in the morning. She does each and every household works. She takes care of everything. She cooks food, washes clothes, cleans the house etc. She goes to bed at 11 O’clock. She earns Rupees 5000 per month.
39. Describe the working conditions of people like Nirmala keeping in mind the following: working hours, conditions in the workplace, earnings, and the days of work available.
Answer: Nirmala works as a tailor in an export garment unit. The factory where she works makes summer clothes for people in foreign countries like U.S.A., U.K., Germany and the Netherlands.
Working Hours – She has to work for very long hours in the months from December to April. A normal working day begins at 9 a.m. and finishes only by 10 p.m., sometimes even later. She works for six days a week. At times when the work needs to be done urgently, she works on Sundays, too.
Conditions in the workplace – Her job is not permanent. If workers complain about their pay or working conditions they are asked to leave. There is no job security or protection if there is ill treatment. They are also expected to work very long hours.
Earnings – Nirmala is paid Rs 80 a day for eight hours and Rs 40 extra for working late.
The days of work available – Most workers, like Nirmala, are employed on what is known as casual basis i.e. they are required to come as and when the employer needs them. They are employed when the employer gets large orders or during certain seasons. At other times of the year they have to find some other work.
Practice Sheet
1. In what ways is a permanent and regular job different from a casual job? Discuss.
2. ________________ is now recognised as a general benefit and as a right of people to earn their livelihood.
3. Workers who work in offices, factories, and government departments are called casual workers. True or False?
4. What is required for permanent shops?
5. Mention the kind of threats that temporary workers go through.
6. Give a list of activities carried out in the streets.
7. Give the number of towns and big cities in India.
8. Give reasons why people prefer to work in Organised sectors.
9. Define Labour Chowk.
10. Write a short note about the working conditions of workers in the factories.
11. What was the living conditions of workers who come to the labour Chowk?
12. What are the features of business persons? Mention any two.
13. What was found in a survey of Ahmedabad City?
14. Why do small workshops and factories employ casual workers? Give your answers.
15. What are the livelihood challenges faced by rural and urban women? Give a comparison.
16. What are some of the duties of a marketing manager? Mention some of the benefits enjoyed by them.
17. What are the differences between marketing and selling?
18. Describe markets.
19. Mention the chief problems faced by vendors.
20. Define Casual Workers.