What Development Promises – Different Peoples, Different Goals

1. Different people can have different developmental goals.

2. What may be development for one may not be development for the other person. It may even be
destructive for the other.

Income and Other Goals

People want more income. Money, or material things that one can buy with it, is one factor
on which our life depends. However, the quality of our life also depends on non-material
things such as equal treatment, freedom, security and respect for others. For development,
people look at a mix of goals. The developmental goals are not only about better income but
also about other important things in life.

National Development
Different persons could have different as well as conflicting notions of a country’s
development.

How to Compare Different Countries or States?

To compare countries, their income is considered to be one of the most important attributes.
Countries with higher incomes are more developed than others with less income. As different
countries have different populations, comparing total income will not tell us what an average
person earns. So, we compare the average income of countries.

Average income is the total income of the country divided by its total population. It is also
called per capita income.

Average Income = Total Income of Country / Total Population of Country

In World Development Reports, per capita income is used in classifying countries.

1. Countries with per capita income of US$ 12,056 per annum and above in 2017, are called rich
countries.
2. Countries with per capita income of US$ 955 or less are called low-income countries. Eg: India.

Income and Other Criteria

When we think of a nation or a region, besides average income, public facilities are equally
significant attributes.
Public Facilities: These are the services provided by the government to its citizens. Some of
the important public facilities include infrastructure, sanitation, public transport, health care,
water, etc.

Sustainability of Development
Sustainable development is defined as development that meets the needs of the present
without compromising the ability of future generations. Scientists have been warning that the
present type and levels of development are not sustainable. Some of the examples are:

 Overuse of groundwater
 Exhaustion of natural resources

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Questions
Q1.
What is ‘per capita income’?
Per capita income is a measure of the amount of income earned per person in a nation or
geographic region.
Q2
What are some of the public facilities in India?
Some of the public facilities in India are schools, healthcare, colleges, electricity, sanitation,
public transport, safe drinking water, etc.
Q3
What are the advantages of sustainable development?
1. Secure and proper lifestyle for future generations 2. Reduces various kinds of
pollution on Earth 3. Economic growth and development

Exercises Page No. 16

1. Development of a country can generally be determined by

a. its per capita income

b. its average literacy level
c. health status of its people
d. all of the above

Answer: d. all of the above

2. Which of the following neighbouring countries has better performance in terms of
human development than India?

a. Bangladesh
b. Sri Lanka
c. Nepal
d. Pakistan

Answer: b. Sri Lanka

3. Assume there are four families in a country. The average per capita income of these
families is Rs. 5000. If the income of three families is Rs. 4,000, Rs. 7,000 and Rs. 3,000,
respectively, what is the income of the fourth family?

a. Rs. 7,500
b. Rs. 3,000
c. Rs. 2,000
d. Rs. 6,000

Answer: d. Rs. 6,000

(4000+7000+3000+x) ÷ 4 = 5000

14000+x = 5000 × 4

x = 20000-14000

x = 6000

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

Answer: 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. For the year 2017, the countries with a per capita income of US $12,056 per
annum were declared rich countries, and the countries with a per capita income of US $ 955
or less are called low-income countries.

The limitations of the criterion are

1. Other important factors, including literacy rate, infant mortality rate, and healthcare, are ignored
while classifying the countries.
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.
5. In what respects is the criterion used by the UNDP for measuring development
different from the one used by the World Bank?

Answer: The criterion used by UNDP is different from the one used by the World Bank
because UNDP compares countries based on the educational level of the people, their health
status and per capita income. This is in contrast with the method used by the World Bank
because it only calculates the per capita income for measuring development.

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

Answer: Different countries have different populations, so calculating the average helps in
getting an estimated answer which can be used to compare different things at different levels.
There are limitations in calculating averages because we cannot know the difference in the
income of the people and the unfair distribution of income in a country or state.

For example, if we calculate the per capita income of two countries, A and B, with 5 people
each, the salary of five people in country A is Rs.23,000, Rs.22,000, Rs.23,500, Rs.28,000
and Rs.25,000, and the income of people living in country B is Rs.1,50,000, Rs. 22,000,
Rs.50,000, Rs.4,000, Rs.2,500. The average income of country A will be Rs.24,300, and that
of country B will be Rs.45,700. This proves that the average of country B is higher than that
of country A, and yet there is a disparity in the income distribution between country B, and
the income is evenly distributed in country A.

7. 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.

Answer: 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. This is true because the 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, irrespective of any other factor.

8. 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?

Answer: The present sources of energy used by people in India include firewood, coal,
petroleum, crude oil and natural gas. The other possibilities fifty years from now can be using
solar energy and wind energy as sources of various energy forms. This is because the current
usage of energy sources may result in the loss of natural resources for future generations.
9. Why is the issue of sustainability important for development?

Answer: Sustainable development refers to using natural resources in a manner that they can
be used by the present and future generations. The issue of sustainability is important for
development because if natural resources are not used carefully, they may not be available for
future generations. The depletion of resources of a country may ultimately result in a lack of
development of the country.

10. “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.

Answer: Development not just depends on the economic factors of a country but is also
dependent on resources that are available for the people of a country to use. The statement,
“The Earth has enough resources to meet the needs of all but not enough to satisfy the greed
of even one person”, is completely relevant in terms of the development of a country because
natural resources are non-renewable resources. It is the responsibility of the people to use
them to meet their needs and not to satisfy their greed. If natural resources are not used
wisely now, future generations may not be able to use them for their needs, which will result
in the downfall of the development of a country.

11. List a few examples of environmental degradation that you may have observed
around you.

Answer: A few examples of environmental degradation that we can observe around us are

1. Pollution caused by vehicles and the excess use of fuels in vehicles

2. Industrial waste collected in residential areas and discarded into water bodies
3. Deforestation
4. Mining
5. Soil erosion

The increased pollution in the environment has resulted in global warming, the melting of
glaciers, and worsening atmospheric conditions.

12. For each of the items given in Table 1.6, find out which country is at the top and
which is at the bottom.

Answer: As per table 1.6, Sri Lanka tops in all four categories. It has the highest Gross
National Income, Life Expectancy at birth, mean years of schooling of people aged 25 and
above and HDI rank in the world. Nepal has the lowest Gross National Income among the
given countries. Pakistan has the least Life Expectancy at birth and ranks the lowest HDI rank
in the world among the given countries. The mean years of schooling of people aged 25 and
above are the lowest for Myanmar and Nepal.

13. The following table shows the proportion of adults (aged 15-49 years) 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

Kerala 8.5 10
17 21
Karnataka
28 28
Madhya Pradesh

All States 20 23

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

Answer: The nutritional level of people in Kerala is higher than the nutritional level of
people in Madhya Pradesh.

b. Can you guess why around one-fifth 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.

Answer: One-fifth of the population in the country is undernourished even though it is

argued that there is enough food in the country because of the following reasons:

1. The disparity in the distribution of food grains by the Public Distribution System (PDS).
2. Nutritious food cannot be afforded by the poor population in the country.
3. Educational backwardness of people results in unemployment because of which people cannot
afford the basic necessity of food.
4. There is no proper distribution of ration at the fixed-price stores.