DEVELOPMENT (ECO – CH.

– 1)

Learning outcomes
Understand meaning and concept of development.
Familiarize with macroeconomic concepts of National Income, GDP, Literacy Rate etc.
Rationale and importance of setting development goals.
Modern concept of Sustainable development and its significance.
1. What is development? Mention its characteristics.
❖ It is a comprehensive term which includes increase in real per capita income, improvement in living standard & reduction in
poverty, illiteracy, crime etc. It is related to improvement, progress & aspirations of people.
❖ CHARACTERISTICS:
• Income is the most important component of development.
• For development people look at mixed goals.
• Different people have different development goals.
• What maybe development for one may not be for others.
2. Define the following terms:
COMMON GOALS: There are certain goals which are the same or common for all like income, freedom, equality, respect,
opportunity to learn, good working conditions, pollution-free atmosphere, job security etc. Better income is not the only
developmental goals. Quality of our life also depends on non-material things, for example, the role of our friends in our life
which cannot be measured but mean a lot to us.
DIFFERENT GOALS: Development does not mean the same thing for every individual. Each individual has his own idea of
development. Different persons have different notions of development because: people are different & life situations of persons
are different.
E.g. - development for a farmer might be better irrigation facilities, for an unemployed youth it may be better job opportunities.
CONFLICTING GOALS: All persons do not have the same notion of development or progress. Each one of them seeks different
things. They seek things that are most important for them, i.e., that which can fulfil their aspirations or desires. What maybe
development for some, may become destruction for some others.
E.g.- industrialist may want dams for electricity but conflicting for those who would be displaced. Construction of flyover may be
developmental goals for some but conflicting for slum dwellers if it is made by demolition of slums.
MIXED GOALS: For development people look at a mix of goals. Though income is one of the most important components of
development but there are other important goals which people look at for development.
People also seek things like equal treatment, freedom, security and respect.
Women need a safe and secure environment to take up a variety of jobs or to run business and entrepreneurs.
People seek a pollution free environment.
Students seek better education and equal opportunities to learn.
INFANT MORTALITY RATE: It indicates the number of children that die before the age of 1 year as a proportion of 1000 live
children born in that particular year.
LITERACY RATE: It 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 6 to 10 attending school as a percentage of total
number of children in the same age group.
BMI: It stands for Body Mass Index. It is calculated by dividing the weight of a person in kilograms (kgs) by the square of his/her
height in metres. It is an indicator of the level of nourishment in adults.
NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT: It refers to ability of a nation to improve standard of living of its citizens. Standards of living of
citizens depend upon: Per capital income, Gross domestic product, Literacy rate, Availability of health etc.
NATIONAL INCOME: It is the total value a country’s final output of all new goods and services produced in one year.
AVERAGE INCOME: It is the total income of the country divided by the total population. It is also called per capita income.
 GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT (GDP): It is the aggregate value of goods and services produced in a country. Formula for
Calculation of GDP = consumption + investment + government spending + exports - imports.
HDI: Human Development Index is the criteria developed by UNDP to compare development of different countries. Main
components are per capita income, health, education & life expectancy.
3. “What may be development for one may not be development for the other.” Explain with a suitable example. OR
Conflicting goals can also be developmental goals. Elaborate with examples.
Explain Different & Conflicting Goals.

4. What are common developmental goals? Give any two suitable examples of common developmental goals.
Explain Common Goals.

5. What is the main criterion used by the World Bank in classifying different countries? What are the limitations of this
criterion, if any?

❖ World Bank uses the per capita income to classify different countries.
❖ For the year 2017, the countries with per capita income of US $12,056 per annum were declared rich countries and the
countries with per capita income of US $ 955 or less are called low-income countries.
❖ Limitations:
• Average income hides disparities.
• It covers only economic aspect. Other important factors, including literacy rate, infant mortality rate, healthcare, are ignored.
• No information about the unequal distribution of income.
6. In what respects is the criterion used by the UNDP for measuring development different from the one used by the World Bank?

UNDP WORLD BANK

Takes education, health, life expectancy along with income to Takes only per capita income as base for economic
measure development. development.

Broad concept as it takes into account income & other Narrow concept as it takes into account only income.
important components of development.

It ranks countries on different components of dev. It classifies countries into four income groups—low, lower-
middle, upper-middle, and high-income countries

E.g., India HDI Rank (2020) – 131, Sri Lanka – 72, Norway – 1. E.g., low income < 1,036 USD; High income > 12,535 (July
2020)

7. Why do we use averages? Are there any limitations to their use? Illustrate with your own examples related to development.
❖ Different countries have a different population, so calculating the average helps in getting an estimated answer which can be
used to compare income of different countries.
❖ Limitations:
• Average income hides disparities.
• It covers only economic aspect. Other important factors, including literacy rate, infant mortality rate, healthcare, are ignored.
• No information about the unequal distribution of income.
❖ For example, students differ in height, health, talents and interests. The healthiest student may not be the most intelligent or
topper in studies. Similar is the case in respect of countries or states. A country may be ahead than the other country in one field
but may lag behind in the other field. So, averages do not give the correct picture.
8. Kerala, with lower per capita income has a better human development ranking than Haryana. Hence, per capita income is not
a useful criterion at all and should not be used to compare states. Do you agree? Discuss.
❖ Kerala, with lower per capita income, has a better human development ranking than Haryana.
❖ Hence, per capita income is not a useful criterion at all and should not be used to compare states.
❖ Literacy rate, infant mortality rate, healthcare facilities, etc. are better in Kerala in comparison to Haryana.
❖ The per capita income is only calculated by calculating the average income of the state.
❖ Other than income other factors are also very important for overall human development.
9. Find out the present sources of energy that are used by people in India. What could be the other possibilities 50 years from now?
❖ Conventional or non-renewable like Coal, Petroleum, firewood and natural gas.
❖ Renewable or non-conventional like solar, hydroelectricity, geothermal.
❖ Conventional sources of energy are the main source of energy.
❖ Renewable resources are underdeveloped for want of technology.
❖ Future seems bleak in case alternative sources are not developed.
10. Why is the issue of sustainability important for development?
❖ Sustainable economic development means judicious use of resources, that is, balancing the need to use resources and also
conserving for future.
❖ We need sustainable development because of the following factors:
• To ensure quality of life and health
• To conserve environment
• To raise the standard of living of the present generation without compromising the interest of future generations.
❖ The issue of sustainable development has emerged from rapid industrialization. Industrialization has led to the reckless
exploitation of natural resources.
❖ The stock of natural resources is limited. So, the growth of all countries in the future is likely to be endangered if the limited
resources are completely exhausted.
11. “The Earth has enough resources to meet the needs of all but not enough to satisfy the greed of even one person”. How is
this statement relevant to the discussion of development? Discuss.
❖ Resources are limited. Human wants are unlimited and infinite.
❖ Due to greed and mad race for development there has been over use of available resources.
❖ There is availability of sufficient resources to meet our genuine needs.
❖ However, we restore to deforestation, unstainable fuel extraction, over drawing of underground water etc.
❖ If natural resources are not used wisely now, the future generations may not be able to use them for their needs, which will
result in the downfall of development of a country.
❖ For the sustainability of development, the consumption and maintenance of resources is also crucial.
12. List a few examples of environmental degradation that you may have observed around you.
❖ Pollution caused by vehicles and the excess use of fuels in vehicles.
❖ Industrial waste collected in residential areas and discarded into water bodies.
❖ Deforestation; Mining; Soil Erosion.
❖ The increased pollution in the environment has resulted in global warming and depletion of glaciers and the atmospheric
conditions.
13. “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.
❖ 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 dean 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.
14. Why are public facilities needed for the development of the country? Explain any four public facilities.
❖ Public facilities are those facilities which are not possible for any individual to access at economic cost, so government provides
such facilities to the public to ensure quality of life.
❖ Economic and social development are both dependent on public facilities.
❖ Without these people cannot achieve their full potential.
❖ Four major facilities are as follow:
• Proper education and value education can be provided by the govt.
• Basic health facilities - hospitals, vaccine programmes to maintain basic quality of life.
• Public distribution system (PDS) - food security in a country.
• Infrastructure facilities like road, irrigation projects, drinking water supplies.
15. Explain any five fields other than income where development is needed.
❖ Education: Govt must provide adequate education facilities in all rural and urban areas. Proper schools and quality education.
❖ Health: Basic health care facilities are a must for all. Subsidized and unadulterated medicines to the poorer sections of society.
❖ Nutrition: An effective Public Distribution System—proper functioning of ration shops and equitable distribution of food grains.
❖ Transportation: A well-developed public transport system to make it easy for general public to commute.
❖ Electricity: Electricity at reasonable rates to the common man and prevent him from exploitation by private companies.