Q 1 – In what ways is a hawker different from a shop owner?
Ans. A hawker provides door-to-door service. He sells his goods by calling out the names of his items. He generally owns a the which we may call a movable shop and keeps in it different items of our everyday use. He sells his goods at a minimum profit.
A shop owner runs his shop at one fixed place. Whenever we need anything we go there and purchase it. Here, we get things at a somewhat costlier rate.
Q 2 – Explain how a chain of markets is formed. What purpose does it serve?
Ans. Goods are produced in factories, Goods are also produced in farms and in homes. But we are not required to go to factories or farms to buy goods of our need, because the producers are not interested in selling us small quantities. The wholesale traders do this job. They are the people who come in between the producer and the final consumer. They first buy goods in bulk. Then they sell these goods to the retailers, who finally sell this to the consumers.
From the above instance we come to the conclusion that from factories to final consumers a chain is formed, which we may call a chain of markets. We can better understand it through the flow chart given below:
It serves a great purpose. It maintains the flow of money. It makes easy availability of various items of our daily use. It also promotes coordination in society
Q 3 – All persons have equal rights to visit any shop in a marketplace.’ Do you think this is true of shops with expensive products? Explain with examples
Ans. It is true that all persons have equal rights to visit any shop in the marketplace. But this is not true of shops with expensive products. It is because of the following:
- People with high incomes can buy expensive products. Hence, these people go to the shops with expensive products and not the poor or people with low income.
- The low-income group people visit the shops or weekly markets to buy goods as these goods are available at cheaper rates
Q 4 – Buying and selling can take place without going to a marketplace’. Explain this statement with the help of examples.
Ans. It is correct that buying and selling can take place without going to a market place. It is done in the following manner.
Q 5 – Why is a weekly market called so?
Ans. A weekly market is called so because it is held a specific day of the week.
Q 6 – Why is there competition among the shops in the weekly market?
Ans. In the weekly market, there are many shops that sell the same goods. This creates competition among them.
Q 7 – Who is Scunner? What does he do?
Ans. Sameer is a small trader in the weekly market. He buys clothes from a large trader and sells them in six different markets in a week.
Q 8 – Give some examples of roadside stalls.
Ans. Vegetable hawker, fruit vendor, mechanic.
Q 9 – How are shops in the neighborhood useful?
Ans. These types of shops are close to our home and we can go there any time. As the buyer and seller know each other these shops also provide goods on credit
Q 10 – Where are the goods produced?
Ans. Goods are produced in factories, on farms, and in homes.
Q 11 – Why do we not buy directly from the producer?
Ans. It is because the producer is not interested in selling goods in small quantities. 9*
Q 12 – Who is a retailer?
Ans. A retailer is a small trader who buys goods from the wholesale trader and sells this to the consumer.
Q 13 – Who is Aftab?
Ans. Aftab is a wholesaler in the city. He purchases vegetables in bulk and sells them to hawkers and shopkeepers.
Q 14 – How are buyers, different people?
Ans. There are many buyers who cannot afford even the cheapest of goods. While others frequently visit malls and buy different items.
Q 15 – What is done in the wholesale markets?
Ans. This is where goods first reach and are then supplied to other traders.
Q 16 – Write in brief about shopping complexes and malls.
Ans. Shopping complexes and malls are usually found in urban areas. These are large multi-storeyed air-conditioned buildings with shops on different floors. These shops sell both branded and non-branded goods. Fewer people visit malls because they sell costly items. Only well-to-do people can afford to buy these items.
Q 17 – What is the job of a wholesale trader
Ans. A wholesale trader buys goods from the producer in large quantities. He then sells them to other traders, say small traders. These small traders sell different items to the final consumer. Thus, the wholesale trader establishes link between the producer and the consumer. It is through these links of traders that goods reach faraway places.
Q 18 – How are shop owners in a weekly market and those in a shopping complex very different people?
Ans. Both are undoubtedly different people.
(a) The shop owners in a weekly market are small traders who run their shop with little money. On the other hand, the shop owners of a shopping complex are big parties. They have a lot of money to spend on their shops.
(b) What these two types of shop owners earn is also not equal. The weekly market trader earns little compared to the profit of a regular shop owner in a shopping complex.
Q 19 – Write a brief note on ‘Aftab—the wholesaler in the city’.
Ans. Aftab is a wholesaler of vegetables. His work usually starts at around 2 o’clock in the early morning. This is the time when vegetables reach the market or mandi and with them start the activities. The vegetables come in trucks, matadors, etc. and soon the process of auctions begins. Aftab participates in this auction and decides what he will buy. He buys vegetables in bulk. After that, he sells them to hawkers and shopkeepers who usually come to him around six in the morning.
Q 20 – Do you see equality in the market? If not, why not? Explain with examples.
Or
Write in brief on ‘market and equality’.
Ans. We do not see equality in the market. Big and powerful business persons earn huge profits while small traders earn very little. For example, the shop owners in a weekly market and those in a shopping complex are two different people. One is a small trader who has little money to run the shop. Whereas the other has a lot of money to spend on the shop. The earning of these two people is also unequal. The weekly market trader earns little profit whereas the shopping complex owner gains huge income.
Not only the shop owners are different people, but also the buyers. In the market we see different types of buyers There are several buyers who Eire not able to afford even the cheapest of goods white others are busy shopping for different luxurious items in malls. Thus, we see no equality in the market place.
Q 21 – Who was Swapna?
Ans. Swapna was a small farmer in Kumool, Andhra Pradesh who grows cotton on her small piece of land. She supplied cotton to the trader.
Q 22 – Why did Swapna take loan from the local trader?
Ans. Swapna took a loan from the local trader for seeds, fertilizers, and pesticides.
Q 23 – How much time is consumed in growing cotton?
Ans. It takes four months to grow the cotton
Q 24 – What inputs are required in cultivation of cotton?
Ans. Cultivation of cotton requires high levels of inputs as fertilizers and pesticides and the farmers have to incur heavy expenses on account of these.
Q 25 – Why do traders pay cotton growers a low price?
Ans. Cotton growers take loans from traders for growing the cotton. They have to sell the finished material to such traders. Therefore, traders pay cotton growers a low price.
Q 26 – Describe about Erode’s bi-weekly cloth market.
Ans. Erode’s bi-weekly cloth market in Tamil Nadu is one of the largest cloth markets in the world. A large variety of cloth is sold in this market. Clothes are made by weavers in the villages around and also brought here for sale.
Q 27 – In what respects is the cotton trader a powerful man in the village?
Ans. Traders supply loans to peasants and take all the cotton for further sale.
Q 28 – What does a merchant do with the prepared cloth?
Ans. At the cloth market, the merchants sell the cloth to the garment factories. In this way, the market works more in favor of the merchants.
Q 29 – What are the items produced in the looms?
Ans. A variety of sarees, towels, shirts, ladies dress material and bed-sheets are produced in these looms.
Q 30 – What is a ginning mill?
Ans. It is a factory where seeds are removed from cotton bolls. The cotton is pressed into bales to be sent for spinning into thread.
Q 31 – Who is an exporter?
Ans. A person who sells goods abroad is an exporter.
Q 32 – How do the merchants prepare clothes?
Ans. Weavers bring cloth that has been made on order from the merchant. These merchants supply cloth in order to garment manufacturers and exporters around the country. They purchase the yam and give instructions to the weavers about the kind of cloth that is to be made. Weavers get the yam from the merchants and supply them the cloth.
Q 33 – What are the advantages to the weavers when they work with merchants?
Ans. This arrangement has two advantages. The weavers do not have to spend their money on the purchase of yam. Secondly, the weavers know from the outset what cloth they should make and how much of it is to be woven.
Q 34 – How are the weavers in the grip of the local trader?
Ans. Weavers are required to invest a lot of money to buy looms. The weavers invest their savings or borrow money at high-interest rates. One loom cost is around 20,000/- and they require at least two looms. These looms cannot be operated alone and hence their family members work together. They earn about 3,500/¬per month. Thus the weavers are always in the grip of the local trader.
Q 35 – What do you understand about putting-out system?
Ans. In the putting-out system the merchant supplies the raw material and receives the finished product. It is prevalent in the weaving industry in most regions of India. Weavers are paid very little by the merchant under the putting-out system.
Q 36 – Describe in brief the status of workers working in factory?
Ans. In the garment factory many workers work. Most of these workers are employed on a temporary basis. Whenever, the employer feels that a worker is not needed, the worker can be asked to leave. Workers’ wages are fixed according to their skills. In most of the cases women are employed as helpers for thread cutting, buttoning, ironing and packaging. These jobs have the lowest wages.
Q 37 – Describe the role of weaver’s cooperatives to reduce the dependence on the merchant.
Ans. Weaver’s cooperatives are one way to reduce the dependence on the merchant and to earn a higher income for the weavers. In a cooperative, people with common interests come together and work for their mutual benefit.
In a weaver’s cooperative, the weavers form a group and take up certain activities collectively. They produce yarn from the yam dealer and distribute it among the weavers. The cooperative also does the marketing. So, the role of the merchant is reduced, and weavers get a fair price on the cloth.
Q 38 – Where does the story of a shirt begin and where does it end?
Ans.
- The story of the shirt begins with the production of cotton.
- It ends with the sale of a shirt.
Q 39 – How does the chain of markets play an important role in the story of the shirt?
Ans.
- A chain of markets links the producer of cotton to the buyer of the shirt in the supermarket.
- Buying and selling takes place at every step in the chain.
- Everyone in the chain does not benefit equally from this.
- The retailer benefits the most from this chain.
Q 40 – Briefly write about Swapna as a farmer in Kuraool?
Ans. Swapna is a small farmer in Kumool. She grows cotton on a small piece of land.
- Once cotton bolls ripen she picks them
- It takes several days as cotton bolls burst open at different times
- She takes’her harvest to local trader and not to Kurlnool market.
- She had taken Rs 2,500 loan at high interest rate from that trader to grow cotton.
- She had made a promise to sell her produce to him