AI-generated practice question — model-generated for extra practice, not a previous-year CBSE board question.
(A) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.
Flexible employment allows companies to hire workers only for short periods, avoiding payment for the whole year and skipping benefits like health insurance and provident fund, thereby reducing labour costs.
The textbook explicitly states that companies hire workers "flexibly" for short periods "to reduce the cost of labour." It also gives the example of Sushila, who lost health insurance and provident fund when she became a temporary worker. So R correctly and directly explains why A is true — option (A) is the right choice. Examiners expect students to link the assertion to its reason using textbook evidence.