CH-1 DEVELOPMENT

1. People have different developmental goals. Explain.

 People have different developmental goals, each one of them seeks different things
that are important for them, i.e., which can fulfill their aspirations and desires. For
example, a landless rural labourer would want more days of work and better
wages; local School is able to provide quality education for their children; there is no
social discrimination and they too can become leaders in the village but a rich
prosperous farmer from Punjab would want assured high family income through
higher support prices for their crops and through hard working and cheap
labourers; they should be able to settle their children abroad, thus, we all have
different developmental goals.

2. ‘People may have conflicting developmental goals. Explain.

 We have aspirations or desires about what we would like to do and how we would
like to live. We all seek different developmental goals. In fact, at times two persons
or group of persons may seek things which are conflicting. For example,
industrialist may want more dams to get more electricity. But this may submerge
the land and disrupt the lives of people who are displaced such as tribals. Thus, what
may be development for one may not be development for others. It may be
destructive or conflicting for others.

3. Differentiate between:

Economic Growth Economic Development

1. It is a narrow concept. It is a broader concept because it
includes economic growth and social
welfare.
2. It takes into account only It takes into account both qualitative
quantitative growth. as well as quantitative growth.
3. It is a long-term increase in It is a multi-dimensional process
income and output. It is a process including both monetary growth as
where the per capita income of a well as change in social welfare,
country increases over a long population attributes, reduction in
period of time. inequality, eradication of poverty,
infrastructure development etc.

4. ‘It will be wrong to conclude that what cannot be measured in terms of money is
not important.’ Comment.
 What people generally aspire for development are regular work, better wages and
fair price for their products. In other words, they want more income. Apart from
income, people also seek non-materialistic things like equal treatment, freedom,
respect, etc. There are many things that are not measured in terms of money but
they mean a lot to our lives. For example, one job may give you less salary but many
other facilities like more time for family, good working conditions. Another job may
give us more salary but no time for family and unhealthy working conditions.
Obviously, we would prefer the first job. Thus, the given statement is true.

5. Differentiate between materialistic and non-materialistic goals.

 Money or material things that one can buy with it are called materialistic goals.
They can be measured in materialistic terms. They are also called quantitative
goals. For example: Higher pay, luxuries, better house etc.
  Beside seeking more income people also seek things like equal treatment, freedom,
security and respect for others. These are called non-materialistic goals. They
cannot be measured in materialistic terms. They are also called qualitative goals.

6. Why greater income is considered be to the most important goal for development?
 For comparing countries, their income is considered to be one of the most important
attributes. Countries with higher income are more developed than others with less
income. This is based on the understanding that more income means more of all things
that human beings need. Whatever people like and should have, they will be able to
get with greater income. So, greater income is considered to be one important goal.

7. What are the limitations of National Income as an index of development?

OR
Why do you think average income is a better criterian for development than National
Income?
 Limitations of National Income are as follows:
 Despite the fact that National Income of a country is increasing, if the rate of
growth of population is greater than the rate of growth of National Income,
then the Per Capita Income (Standard of Living) would actually be falling. So, we
cannot say that if National Income of a country is increasing, the country is
developing.
 If we take National Income as an indicator of development, then the
countries with the less population like Japan and Canada would be poorer
than India, which is not true.

Note: If the question comes for more marks, then add limitation of Average Income
also in limitation of National Income.

8. What are the limitations of Per Capita Income as an index of Development?

 Per Capita Income ignores distribution of income. If income is not equitably
distributed in our country, there would be concentration of Income in few hands. If two
countries have same Per capita income, the country with more equitable distribution of
income would be more developed as in that country, none is either very rich or very
poor.
 Also, Per Capita Income doesn’t take into account the qualitative aspects of
development such as education, health, environment etc which are equally
important for development.
9. What are Public Facilities?
 There are some facilities which a person cannot purchase or arrange at individual level.
These are either provided by government or individuals arrange them collectively.
Availability of public facilities indicates high levels of development. They are essential for
better standard of living and quality of life. Some examples of Public Facilities are as follows:
 Pollution free environment
 Proper Law and Order
 Good quality Education Facilities
 Unadulterated Medicines
 Clean Drinking Water
 Sanitation
 Public Transport, etc.
 10. Explain the criteria used by World Bank to compare development between countries?
In which categories does India falls and Why?
 The Criteria used by World Bank in the world Development Report is Per Capita Income.
As per 2019 report, the criteria is as follows:

Category Per Capita Income (per annum US $)

Rich Countries Above or equal to US$ 49,300
Middle Income Countries Between US$ 2500 to US$ 49,300
Low Income Countries Below or Equal to US$ 2500

India comes in the category of low middle income countries because its PCI in 2019 was US$ 6700
p.a.

11. Define:
 National income: The National Income of the country is the sum of the income of
the residents of the country.
 Per Capita Income: The average income is the total income of the country divided by
its total population. The average income is also called per capita income.
PCI= National Income / Total Population
 Infant Mortality Rate: 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: It is the total number of children of age group 14 and 15 years
attending school as a percentage of total number of children in the same age group.

12. Write a note on Human Development Index.

 The quality of life Index was introduced by United Nations Development Programme
(UNDP); an agency of the United Nations, in its first human development report in 1990.
HDI is a comprehensive or composite measure of socio-economic development which takes
into account qualitative and quantitative aspect of development.
HDI is a cumulative measure of longevity, knowledge and decent standard of living. It is
measured on the basis of following indicators:
 Longevity: It is measured in terms of life expectancy at birth (avg. expected length
of life of a person at the time of birth)
 Knowledge or Educational Attainment: It is seen through mean years of Schooling
i.e. years that a person aged 25 years or older has spent in formal education.
 Decent Standard of Living: It is measured in terms of per capita income or per
capita GDP. Per Capita Income is calculated in US $ for all the countries so that they
can be compared. It is done in such a way that every dollar would buy the same
amount of good and services in any country.

Even HDI is not a perfect index of economic development as it ignores element such as
purity of environment, sustainable development, level of urbanisation, status of women
etc.
13. Differentiate between the criteria of UNDP and of World Bank?
 Difference between UNDP criterion and World Bank criterion:
  World Bank classifies the countries on the basis of Per Capita Income. While UNDP
classifies on the basis of HDI.
 Average Income focuses just on increase in money income while HDI focuses
on both quantitative and qualitative aspects of human life.
 HDI is a wider, multi-dimensional and comprehensive concept. It include health
and educational aspects along with increase in PCI.
 Income is important but utilisation of income in proper manner is much
more important which is taken care by HDI.
14. Why is the issue of sustainability important for development?
 Issue of sustainability is important for development because of the following factors:
 Consumption side factors:
 Wasteful and luxurious consumption pattern particularly in developed
countries. Even affluent sections of developing countries are also imitating
this consumption style.
 Large size and rapid rise in population particularly in developing countries
are also putting pressure over resources
 Production side factors:
 Present production technology is mercilessly exploiting natural resources.
It is using both type of resources i.e. non-renewable resources (coal,
petroleum) and renewable resources (forest, water, wildlife). It is feared
that if this process continues, future generations may be deprived of these
resources.
 Present production technology is polluting atmosphere and water bodies.
It is discharging garbage, litter, smoke and various types of harmful gases.
Because of this we are not getting clean air and water.
15. What are the main features of sustainable development? How can we make it a reality?
 The main features of the concept of sustainable development are as follows:
 It stresses meeting the needs of present generations.
 It emphasis distributional equity inter generation and intra generation.
 Conservation of human capital and natural capital.
 Cost of developmental loss should be taken care of.
 To make sustainable development a reality, efforts should be made in following direction:
 There should be restriction on wasteful and luxurious consumption pattern.
 Efforts should be made to invent the environment friendly technology.
 Fast growing population should be checked especially in developing countries.
 Optimal use of natural resources and environment considerations are required to be
integrated in the planning and implementation of developmental projects.
16. Define the following:
 Sustainable Development: - The development that meets the need of present generation
without compromising the ability of future generation to meet their own needs. Thus it
enables all generations, present and future to make the best use of their potential
capability.
 Environmental Degradation: - It refers to the damage to the quantity and quality of
natural resources in the process of production and consumption. It includes both pollution
(air and water) and degradation of resources (degradation, soil erosion).
 Body Mass Index: - One way to find out if people are under nourished or not is to calculate
Body Mass Index (BMI). Divide weight (in Kgs) by the square of the height (in m), the
number you get is called BMI.
17. Is HDI an adequate index of economic development? Discuss.
  Merits of HDI:
 Average income focuses on increase in money income only while HDI focuses
on both quantitative and qualitative improvement of human lives.
 HDI is a wider, multi-dimensional and comprehensive concept. It includes
health and educational aspects along with increase in Per Capita Income.
 Income is important but utilisation of income in proper manner is much more
important which is taken care by HDI.

 Demerits of HDI:
 If HDI is not the perfect index of economic development as it ignores elements
such as purity of environment, sustainable development, level of urbanisation,
status of women etc.

Hence HDI is not an adequate index of economic development.

18. What are the reasons for environmental degradation? How can it be prevented?
 Reasons:
 Overuse and exploitation of resources.
 Unplanned large-scale deforestation for industrialisation.
 Harmful emission by vehicles and factories.
 Draining of chemical waste into water bodies.
 Excessive use of chemical fertilizers in agriculture.
 Improper disposal of non-biodegradable waste.
 Preventive Measures:
 Following proper resource planning techniques.
 Afforestation in empty or abandoned land.
 Proper emission check on vehicles and factories and heavy fines on those violating.
 Laws making treatment of toxic waste compulsory before draining it into water.
 Control on the use of chemical fertilizers.
 Following the three R’s – Reuse, Recycle, Reduce.