Chapter: Development
1. What is Development?
Development means improvement in living standards, income, and quality of life.
Different people have different developmental goals, e.g., a rich businessman
wants more profit, while a farmer may want better irrigation.
2. Income and Other Goals
Income is the most important component, but non-material things like security,
respect, freedom are also crucial.
Example: A safe working environment, equal treatment, and job security are also
developmental goals.
3. National Development
It refers to increase in per capita income, improvement in health, education, and
living standards.
Different people may have different ideas of national development.
4. How to Compare Different Countries or States?
The average income which is the total income of the country divided by its total population.
The average income is also called per capita income.
5. Income is Not the Only Criterion
Per capita income doesn’t show distribution of income.
Other criteria like literacy rate, infant mortality rate (IMR), life expectancy, and
net attendance ratio are also considered.
6. Public Facilities
Non-income goals are supported by public facilities:
o Clean water, electricity, schools, hospitals.
o Kerala has high literacy due to investment in public education.
7. Sustainability of Development
Sustainable development: Using resources wisely to conserve them for future
generations.
Overuse of natural resources (e.g., groundwater, fossil fuels) can affect future
development.
Income and Other Criteria
Infant Mortality Rate (or IMR) indicates the number of children that die before the age of
one year as a proportion of 1000 live children born in that particular year.
Literacy Rate measures the proportion of literate population in the 7-and-above age group.
Net Attendance Ratio is the total number of children of age group of 15-17 years attending
school as a percentage of total number of children in the same age group.
6. Human Development Index
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) prepares this index, in which
an annual report of human development is published every year.
The major parameters include per capita income, literacy rate, and durability of a
person’s life, which measure the countries’ development.
Countries are marked as very high, high, medium, and low developed countries
respectively.
Apart from infant mortality rate, literacy rate, net attendance ratio; the BMI index also
plays an important role.
7. Body mass index (BMI) is measured to measure the adults who are undernourished by
calculating the weight of the person (kg) divided by the square of the height. If the value is
less than 18.5, the person is undernourished and if it is more than 25, then the person is
highly obese.
Q1. “Money cannot buy all the goods and services that one needs to live well” Do you agree
with this statement? Justify your answer with any three suitable arguments. (2015)
Answer:
Yes, I agree with the statement because money income and material goods alone are not an
adequate indicator of a good quality of life. Money cannot buy all the goods and services one
needs to live well.
Money cannot buy a pollution free and clean environment with fresh air.
It cannot protect us from infectious diseases and guarantee good health for us.
Money cannot assure that medicines available in the market are not adulterated.
To live well one needs non-material factors such as equal treatment, freedom, security,
equal opportunity to learn, a pollution free environment, good and safe working
conditions etc.
Q2. Explain the meaning of HDI. Mention three components of measuring HDI.
Answer: HDI refers to Human Development Index which is one of the criterion used by
World Bank in making Human Development Report.
Three Components of HDI:
Life Expectancy: It is the average expected length of life of a person at the time of birth.
Per Capita Income: Mean income of the people is an economic unit. It is calculated by
dividing the total national income of a country by population. It is calculated in dollars for all
the countries so that it can be compared.
Gross Enrolment Ratio : It means enrolment ratio for primary schools, secondary schools
and higher education beyond secondary level.
Q3. “Conflicting goals can be developmental goals”. Elaborate with examples.
Answer :
Q4. What is the criterion used by the UNDP for classifying countries.
Answer: The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) classifies countries
primarily using the Human Development Index (HDI). The HDI is a composite index that
measures average achievement in three key dimensions of human development:
1. Health – measured by life expectancy at birth.
2. Education – measured by:
o Mean years of schooling for adults aged 25 years and older.
o Expected years of schooling for children entering the education system.
3. Standard of living – measured by Gross National Income (GNI) per capita
(adjusted for purchasing power parity, PPP).
Q5. What do you understand by sustainability of development? What can be done to make
development sustainable?
Answer: Sustainable development means using resources in a way that meets our needs
today without harming the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
In other words, it’s about growing and improving life—but without damaging the
environment, economy, or society.
Three Main Pillars of Sustainable Development:
1. Economic Growth – Making sure people have jobs and businesses grow.
2. Social Development – Everyone gets access to basic needs like education, health, and
equality.
3. Environmental Protection – Taking care of nature: forests, water, air, and animals.
What Can Be Done to Make Development Sustainable?
1. Use renewable energy – like solar or wind instead of coal and oil.
2. Plant more trees – to keep air clean and protect the climate.
3. Save water and electricity – don’t waste resources.
4. Recycle and reduce waste – reuse items and avoid plastic.
5. Educate people – so everyone understands how to protect the Earth.
6. Use public transport – to reduce pollution from vehicles.
7. Support fair opportunities – so everyone benefits, not just the rich.
