UDGAM SCHOOL FOR CHILDREN

SUBJECT-Social Science (087) Economics (2021-22) Notes

Ch.1 Development Date: __________
Name: _______________________ Std. X / Sec: _____ Roll No.:______
_____________________________
Q1. What do you mean by development? Mention any four characteristics of development.

A. Development is a comprehensive term which includes increase in real per capita income,
improvement in living standard of people, reduction in poverty, illiteracy, crime rate, etc.
The four characteristics of development are as follows:
1. Different people have different developmental goals.
2. What may be development for one may not be development for the other.
3. The most important component of development is income. But along with income, people also
seek equal treatment, freedom, security, good health, respect of others, literacy and resent
discrimination.
4. For development, people look at a mix of goals.

Q2. ‘What may be development for one may not be development for the other.’ Justify the
statement by stating examples.

A. It is true that development for one may not be development for the other as every individual
is different from one another and hence their notion of development also varies. Two
individuals or group of people may have conflicting interests. The fulfilment of the desires of
one group may have an opposite effect on the other group. For e.g.

1. Regular work and more wages means development for a worker, but it may go against the
factory owner.
2. A farmer wants to sell food grains at a higher price but a poor worker /landless labourer wants
to purchase it for low prices.
3. The government undertakes various developmental projects like -construction of dams,
sufficient and cheap supply of electricity to the industries and irrigational facilities to the
farmers, but all these may go against the forest dwellers as submergence of their habitat and
disruption in their lives will force them to express their dissent through demonstration.
4. Rapid urbanisation, construction of flyovers, other infrastructural projects like Bus Rapid
Transit System etc. means advancement of the cities but these all developments may go
against the environment.

Q3. Explain common, different, and conflicting goals by giving appropriate examples.

A. Development goals can be common, different, or conflicting. They are as follows:

1.Common goals: Besides seeking more income and materialistic things in life, there are
some needs which are common to all like equal treatment, freedom, security, respect,
friendship and many more. All these are important goals. In fact, in some cases, these may
be more important as material goods are not all that we need to live.

2.Different goals: Development or progress may not mean same for every individual. Each
individual has his own idea of development. For e.g. development for a farmer might be
better irrigational facilities whereas for unemployed youth it may mean better employment
opportunities. Construction of luxurious apartments might bring an exponential growth for
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 a well-known builder whereas purchasing a flat in the same apartment may mean
development for a common person.

3.Conflicting goals – What may be development for some, may not be development for
others. For e.g. Industrialists may want the government to construct dams for supply of
electricity but their construction would disrupt the lives of the displaced tribal people.

Q4. What is Per Capita Income? How is it calculated? Why is ‘Per Capita Income’ not an
adequate indicator of economic development of a country? Explain.

A. Per capita income or average income is a measure of the amount of income earned per
person in a nation or geographic region. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income
by its total population.
Per Capita Income = Total income of the country \ Total population.

Per Capita Income is not an adequate indicator of economic development of a country as:
a. It is an average amount of the total income which means it cannot not show adequate
information on the actual income status of a country. Hence, per capita income might not
be the income of every individual in that state.
b. Only Per capita Income cannot indicate the development of a country alone.
c. It needs other important criterion to measure the economic development like literacy rate,
life expectancy, infant mortality rate and health status of the citizens.
d. Pollution free environment, less corruption, gender equality etc. are also important indicators.
e. Distribution of income amongst rich and poor class people is not reflected in the concept of
per capita income.

Q5. ‘Average income is an important criterion for development’. Explain.

A. Average income is an important criterion for development as:

1. It reveals us what an average person is likely to earn out of the total national income. It also
discloses about the rising standard of living of the people.
2. The prosperity of a country depends not only on its income but also on the population who
would share it.
a. For e.g. In India, the average income of the Indians is less as our population is humongous.
b. For e.g. The standard of living is usually higher in developed countries such as the United
States, than in less developed nations as their average income is more because the
population is less.
3. Average income is used to classify the countries into rich, poor or developing nations.
Average income is an indicator used by the government to make economic policies.

Q6. What is the main criterion used by the World Bank in classifying different countries?
What are the limitations of this criterion, if any?

A. The World Bank uses the per capita income to classify different countries. The per capita
income is calculated by dividing the total income of the country by the population of the
country. The countries with per capita income of US $ 12,056 per annum and above in
2017, were declared as rich countries and the countries with per capita income of US $955
or less as low – income countries.

The limitations of this criterion are as follows:

1.Other important factors including literacy rate, infant mortality rate, literacy level, health
care etc. are ignored while classifying the countries.
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 2.Information about the unequal distribution of income is not mentioned by the World Bank.
3.The economy of the country cannot determine the development of the country.

Q7. In what respect is the criterion used by the UNDP for measuring development
different from the one used by the World Bank.

UNDP WORLD BANK

1. UNDP has taken education (which World Bank has taken per capita income as
includes literacy rate and gross the base for economic development
enrolment ratio in schools), health status
(meaning life expectancy at birth) and
per capita income as the base for
development.
2. It is a broad concept as it considers all It is a narrow concept as it considers only
the important components of human the per capita income as a base.
development
3. UNDP ranks the countries. World Bank has divided countries into high,
E.g.: India was awarded 130th rank. upper and low-income countries.
(Report 2018) and dropped down to Countries having per capita income below
131st in 2020. US $ 955 or less come under low-income
countries. India comes under low middle -
income countries. (Report 2017)

Q8. Why do we use averages? Are there any limitations to their use? Illustrate with your
own examples related to development.

A. We use averages to compare two countries based on their total income. But such a
comparison is not a useful and feasible as all countries have different population.
While averages are useful for comparison, they also hide disparities. Yes, there are
limitations to the use of average income. They are:

a. Limitations to the use of average income: as it neglects inequality. In such a case, the
real situation of development is not reflected.
b. Illustration related to development: Consider two countries- A and B. For the sake of
simplicity, we assume that there are only 5 citizens each. Based on the date given below,
let us calculate the average income for both the countries.

Comparison of Two Countries

Country Monthly income of citizens of two countries in 2012

Population I II III IV V Average

Country A 9,500 10,500 9,800 10,000 10,200 10,000
Country B 500 500 500 500 48,000 10,000

In both the countries A and B, the average monthly income of citizens in 2012 was the
same, i.e. 10,000. But everybody would like to live in Country A because that is a country
with no rich and no poor citizen while in Country B there is much difference between the
rich and poor.
Hence, while average income is useful for comparison, it also hides disparities.
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Q9. 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.
A. Kerala, with lower per capita income has a better human development ranking than
Haryana.
No, I do not agree that per capita income should be used to compare states as money in
our pockets cannot buy all the goods and services that we may need to live well.

However, other factors like Infant Mortality Rate, Literacy Rate and Net Attendance Ratio
are also very crucial for overall human development. While keeping these factors in mind
along with per capita income, Kerala is better than Haryana.

Q10.‘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?
A. This statement indicates that the earth has abundant natural resources to satisfy everyone’s
needs but in our greed for empowering ourselves towards development and progress in this
modern world, we human beings are recklessly exploiting the resources.

1. Human activities like deforestation, pollution, depletion of fossil fuels, encroachment of

forest lands, excessive extraction of groundwater, soil erosion, exploitation of flora and
fauna, use of plastics, consumerism etc. are resulting in global warming.

2. Man needs to understand that the exploitation of natural resources not only harms the
environment but may cripple the future generations also.

3.To protect our earth from further damage, we need to believe in making conservational
efforts more efficient and effective. Sustainable Development can be achieved by
judicious use of renewable and non-renewable resources; without harming the balance of
environment and keeping in mind the requirement for present and future generations.

Q11.‘Environmental degradation is not just a regional or a national issue, but it is a

global issue and our future is linked together.’ Illustrate with examples.

A. Environmental degradation is not a regional, national but it is now a global issue which
has been discussed and debated over decades. The impact of the environmental
degradation is globally experienced.
There are many such environmental issues which are pancontinental and have long term
consequences. For e.g.

1. In North India, extreme air pollution during the winters due to the burning of agricultural
residue has worsened the air quality levels in the neighboring states of Haryana, Punjab,
UP and Rajasthan. This practice has deteriorated the already bad air quality levels in this
region. Due to this, people in the NCR are exposed to thick, toxic smog for weeks which
has led to serious health risk factors like respiratory problems, itching of eyes etc.

2.The Global Pandemic -Covid -19 is the latest example of how human impact on biodiverse
areas and wildlife habitats is linked to the spread of infectious diseases. Scientists have
observed that when animals at the top of the food chain disappear, the animals at the
bottom of the food chain, like rats and mice that carry more pathogens, tend to fill that space.

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 3.Forest fire and deforestation in the Tropical forests of Amazon have caused disturbance
in the rainfall pattern throughout South America.

4.Water and soil contamination in Punjab due to excessive use of chemical fertilisers and
pesticides have a detrimental effect on the health of the people.

5.Acid rain in Scandinavian countries is caused by air pollution in Britain and other countries
of Europe thus affecting trees, lakes, buildings and agricultural land.

Q12.‘Increase in total income of a country may or may not lead to great welfare of the
masses.’ Comment on this statement by stating examples.

A. Increase in total income of a country can be beneficial if the increase is evenly spread over
different social groups.
1.However, if only the rich people like the businessmen, industrialists, people of the
entertainment industries get richer and the poor remain where they were, income growth
does not lead to growth in social welfare.
2.Growth of high-tech jobs in cities like Bengaluru, Mumbai etc. has made things better off
for only a select group of people in India. The great majority of people specially in the rural
sector have remained untouched by the boom in national economy.

Q13.What is Sustainable Development? Why is the issue of sustainability important for

development?

A. 1.Sustainable development is the process of economic development which aims at

maintaining the quality of life of both the present as well as the future generations; without
damaging the environment and exploitation of resources.

2.Presently, indiscriminate exploitation of natural resources has engulfed mankind into

global ecological crisis. The rate of consumption of the non-renewable resources like the
fossil fuels should not exceed their rate of recovery as their stock is limited.

3.The issue of sustainability is important for development because:

a. If natural resources are not sustained, then development will not take place. It would
become too difficult to revive the stagnant economy.
b. Depleting the resources unlawfully will reverse the development that a country
has achieved, which will result in scarcity of those resources for the future progress.
So, development must be in sync with the future requirements.

Q14. Besides size of per capita income, what other property (attributes) of income is
important in comparing two or more societies?

A. Income is not only the important criterion, but it is one of the important indicators of
economic development. Some of the attributes are:

1. Infant Mortality Rate: (IMR) It 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. It is an indicator
of the health care facilities like availability of doctors, nurses, paramedics and medicines
etc. in the region. It also reveals the awareness of the people regarding diseases and their
prevention.

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 2. Literacy Rate: It measures the proportion of literate population in the 7 and above age
group. This is an indicator of the number of schools and teachers available in a region. It
also suggests whether the facilities provided by the government are being used or not by
the people for their children.

3. Life Expectancy at birth: It denotes the average expected length of life of a person at
the time of birth. This is also an indicator of the available facilities like rising living standards,
improved lifestyle, better education, as well as greater access to quality health services.

4. Net Attendance Ratio: It is the total number of children of age group 14-15 attending
school as a percentage of total number of children in the same age group.

Q15.“ Money cannot buy all goods and services that one needs to live well”. Explain the
statement (OR)
Give some examples wherein factors other than income is an important aspect of
our lives.

A. Though income is one of the most important aspect of our lives, yet there are other
important factors also such as:
1. People also seek for equality, freedom, security, and respect.
2. Women need safe environment to take up variety of jobs or to run a business.
3. People also need political rights and a type of government which takes decisions for the
welfare of the common people.
4. There are many facilities like schools, colleges, park, hospitals, etc. which an individual
cannot afford. All these are to be provided by the government or the society.
5. People also seek a pollution free environment.

Q16. Give suggestions for ensuring a better distribution of existing water resources
within the country.

A. Ground water is under serious threat of overuse in many parts of our country.
Overuse of groundwater is common in Punjab and Western UP, which are agriculturally
prosperous regions of India.
The suggestions are:
1. We should use as much ground water as is replenished by rain.
2. We should practice rainwater harvesting.
3. The government should impose reasonable restrictions on drilling of wells, restrict the
use of water for essential purposes and impose tax on water.
By practicing the above suggestions, we can ensure that there will be enough water for all
people.

Q17. Why countries of the Middle East are not called ‘developed’ in spite of high per
capita income?

A. The countries of the Middle East are not called ‘developed’ in spite of high per capita
income as:
1. These are small countries where the gap between the rich and the poor is very high.
There is unequal distribution of wealth.
2. These countries have high per capita income due to oil production which is the only one
major source of income.

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 3. The World Development Report brought out by the World bank has excluded these
countries from the list of developed countries.

Q18.a. What is Human Development Index?

b. State the importance/ components of Human Development Index in three points.

A. a. Human Development Index is a statistic composite index prepared by the UNDP under
which all the nations of the world are indexed or ranked according to their performance
under various parameters like per capita income, life expectancy and literacy rate.

b. The importance / components of HDI is/ are as follows:

i. It indicates the level of development of a country.
ii. It indicates to a country how far it has reached and how far it has yet to reach to achieve
high ranks in matters such as per capita income of the people.
iii. It enables us to know about the important indicators such as life expectancy, literacy rate,
and health status for the government to plan policies for the welfare of its people.

Q19. What are the economic and the non-economic factors which contribute to
Human Development?
(OR)
What are the factors on which the quality of life depends?

A. The economic and the non-economic factors which contribute to Human Development are
as follows:
1. Economic factors:
a. Physical environmental factors : include safe and secure environment, good quality of
living, accommodation, access to public services and other leisure outlets which will
enable to lead a good quality of life.
b. Socio-economic factors : include the general standard of living, opportunity to get
standard education, medical facility, earning regular income and other means of wealth
which will result in good quality of life.

2. Non- Economic factors:

a. Cultural factors: includes the age, class, gender, and religious leaning of the person.
b. Socio - environmental factors : include family, friends, social networks, self – respect,
equality and the levels of leisure activities which will build a strong relation and increase the
the quality of life.
c. Personality factors : include whether the person is an optimist or pessimist, decision
maker, level of satisfaction etc.
d. Health factors: include general health, mental well-being of the person and physical
mobility.

Q20. What is National Development? What are the aspects covered under it?

A. National Development is a comprehensive term which includes improvement in living

standard of the people, increase in per capita income, providing social amenities like
education, medical care, social services, etc to the citizens of the country.
The aspects covered under the National Development are as follows:
i. Under National Development, a country uses its resources in a fair and just way.
ii. Under this only those programmes and policies are implemented which would benefit a
larger number of people.
iii. Under National Development countries focus more on social infrastructure which includes
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 education, health and other social services.

Q21. Why does Haryana have a very low literacy rate in spite of having a very high per
capita income? (OR)
‘An average person in Haryana has more income than a person in Kerala, but he
lags behind in many other crucial areas.’ Justify the statement.

A. 1. According to 2015-16 the per capita income of Haryana is Rs. 1,80, 174 and Kerala is
Rs. 1,63,475.
2. Literacy rate of Haryana according to 2011 was 82 % and Kerala was 94%.i.e.Haryana
lags Kerala. The reason being the strong mindset of people of Haryana giving low
preference to the girl child. Also, agriculture being the preferred occupation results in low
literacy level.
3. Therefore, income by itself is not a completely adequate measure of material goods
and services that citizens are able to use.
4. Over the past decade, health and education indicators have come to be widely used
along with income as a measure for development.
5. Human Development Report published by UNDP compares countries on the basis of
educational levels of the people, health status and per capita income.
6. According to 2016, Kerala has a low infant mortality rate (10/ 1000 live births) as it has
adequate provisions of basic health and educational facilities whereas Haryana has a
high infant mortality rate (30 /1000 live births) which reveals lack of health and
educational
facilities.

Q22. Suppose records show that the average income in a country has been increasing
over a period of time. From this, we can conclude that all sections of the economy
have become better? Illustrate your answer with an example.
A. All the sections of the economy have become better cannot be concluded because
different sections of the economy may have become better or worse. An example is the
current situation in India, where the average income has increased every year; the
service sector has increased very much, but agriculture is having virtually no growth.

Q23. The following table shows the proportion of adults (aged 15-49) whose BMI is
below normal. (BMI <18.5 kg/m2) in India. It is based on a survey of various states
for the year 2015-16. Look at the table and answer the following questions.

State Male (%) Female ( %)

1. Kerala 8.5 10
2. Karnataka 17 21
3. Madhya Pradesh 28 28
All States 20 23

a. Compare the nutritional level of people in Kerala and Madhya Pradesh.

i. Undernourished adults in Kerala is low for both males and females as compared to Madhya
Pradesh.
ii. Health is given more importance in Kerala as compared to Madhya Pradesh.

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 b. Can you suggest why around 40% (one third) of people in the country are
undernourished even though it is argued that there is enough food in the country?
Describe in your own words.
Ans. There is enough food in the country but even then, 40% of the people in the
country are undernourished because:
i. There is lack of educational and health facilities in many parts of the country.
ii. Many people are below poverty line and are unable to get two meals of the day so
they remain undernourished.
iii. In most of the states, the Public Distribution System (PDS)is inefficient. Unequal
distribution of wealth amongst the people

Q24. Find out the present sources of energy that are used by the people in India. What
could be the other possibilities fifty years from now?
Ans. Firewood, biogas, coal, oil and natural gas are used by the people for domestic purposes
Other than this, hydro- electricity, thermal energy, solar energy, wind energy, nuclear
energy are the various sources of energy used for the industrial purposes.

The other possibilities fifty years from now would be:

People may start using the renewable sources of energy like the solar energy, wind
energy, tidal energy, biogas etc. to conserve environment for the present as well as for the
future, which may help to reduce our dependency on fossil fuels. This would enable the
replenishment of non-renewable resources.

Q25. List a few examples of environmental degradation that you may have observed.
Deforestation, Soil erosion, depletion in the underground water table, air pollution, water
pollution, excessive use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides and burning of coal and
mineral oil are some examples of environmental degradation.

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