Class 6 Social Science Chapter 13: The Value of Work Notes

Everyone around us works

The chapter opens with Swami Vivekananda’s advice to give any work our full attention, as if it were worship. Then Anu and Kabir, playing in the park, see their neighbour Geeta Aunty, a pilot in the Indian Air Force, coming home in her uniform. Kabir’s grandfather, who retired from the Border Security Force, now teaches Geography to the neighbourhood children without charging them, tends the vegetable garden and runs errands for the home. Anu’s parents run a shop selling uniforms and ready-made clothes, and her mother also helps a voluntary group that teaches stitching to women. Anu’s brother Rohan is a software engineer who, on weekends, teaches computer skills to young people as a volunteer. As Kabir says, everyone around us does so many things every day.

Economic and non-economic activities

All these activities fall into two groups. Economic activities involve money, or are done in exchange for money or money’s worth: a business person selling school bags in a market, farmers selling their harvest, a lawyer arguing a case for a fee, a truck driver carrying goods, workers in a car factory. Non-economic activities do not earn income or wealth; they are done out of love, care, gratitude and respect: parents cooking for the family or helping with schoolwork, young people caring for their grandparents, family members repairing the house.

The same person often does both. Geeta Aunty serves the country and is paid a salary, so her work is economic. Rohan is paid by his company, but his weekend teaching is non-economic. Read more in economic and non-economic activities.

How people are paid

On a visit to her aunt in Kamlapur, Kavya sees a highway being built that will cut the trip to the town from five hours to two. Her uncle, a technician who operates a bulldozer, gets a monthly salary. Her aunt works at the village post office for a salary, and in the evenings runs online classes for school exams, for which she charges a weekly fee. At a mango orchard, Kavya meets Sahil, a farm labourer who earns a daily wage: part of it in cash and the rest in mangoes of equal value, which is payment in kind.

Value addition

Economic activities have value in terms of money, and they add value at each stage of turning something into another form. This is value addition. Kavya’s father, Rajesh, a carpenter, buys wood for ₹600, uses his tools and skill to make a chair, and sells it for ₹1,000. The remaining ₹400 is the money value of his skill, time and effort. From buying the wood to selling the chair, every step involves payment, so all of it is economic activity.

Why non-economic activities matter

Non-economic activities may not involve money, but the value they create is important in our lives:

• Sevā (selfless service): seen at temples, gurudwaras, mosques and churches. Langars, or community kitchens, at gurudwaras serve food to every visitor without charge. Such practices build satisfaction and gratitude and are a way of giving back to society without expecting anything in return.
• Swachh Bharat Abhiyan: we keep our own homes clean, and people also come together to clean streets, roads, parks and public places, for a clean neighbourhood, society and nation.
• Van Mahotsav: the festival of forests brings the community together for tree plantation drives and spreads awareness about trees and forests.

Together, such activities add to social welfare, personal wellbeing and the overall quality of life. Answers to every question in the chapter are in the NCERT solutions for Chapter 13.