Development

Qno. How do different people have different development goals ?

Every one seeks different things. They seek things that are most
important for them, i, that which can fulfill their aspirations or desires.
In fact, at times, two persons or groups of persons may seek things
which are conflicting.
For eg : A girl expects as much freedom and opportunity as her
brother, and that he also shares in the household work. Her brother
may not like this.
Similarly, to get more electricity. industrialists may want more dams.
But this may submerge the land and disrupt the lives of people who are
displaced-such as tribals. They might resent this and may prefer small
check dams or tanks to irrigate their land.
So, two things are quite clear one, different persons can have ,
different developmental goals and two, what may be development for
one may not be development for the other. It may even be
destructive for the other.

Qno. Not only income ? Elucidate ?

Income is considered as the most important component of

development at it can buy material goods' and services.
Apart from income, people also seek things like equal treatment,
freedom, security, respect of others, etc.
This is because the quality of our life depends on material things like
money, facilities and non-material things like good working
atmosphere, opportunity to learn, job security, etc.
For development, people look at a mix of goals. Development goals
include both economic development and better quality of life .
Hence, the developmental goals that people have are not only about
better income but also about other important things in life.
For eg ; If you get a job in a far off place, before accepting it you would
try to consider many factors, apart from income, such as facilities for
your family, working atmosphere, or opportunity to learn. In another
case, a job may give you less pay but may offer regular employment
that enhances your sense of security. Another job, however, may offer
high pay but no job security and also leave no time for your family. This
will reduce your sense of security and freedom.
It is true that if women are engaged in paid work, their dignity in the
household and society increases. However, it is also the case that if
there is respect for women there would be more sharing of housework
and a greater acceptance of women working outside. A safe and secure
environment may allow more women to take up a variety of jobs or run
a business.

Qno. NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Individuals seek different goals, and their motive of national

development is also likely to be different.
The different persons could have different as well as conflicting notions
of a country's development.
Under national government priority is given to those goals which
benefit a large number of people. To choose a fair and just path that
benefits a large number of people is required for national
development .

HOW TO COMPARE DIFFERENT COUNTRIES OR STATES?

Qno. Why income for comparing ?

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 itself is
considered to be one important goal.

Qno. Why total income not sufficient ? Limitations of total income ?

National Income is the income of all the residents of the country over a
period of time and is also known as Total Income. Countries with higher
total incomes are considered to be developed e.g. USA, UK, Japan.
However, this is not a useful measure as countries have different
populations and comparing total income will not state the average
amount earned by a person.

Qno. Average income ?

Per capita income gives a better comparison of countries on basis of

income than total income. It is calculating by dividing total income of
the country by its total population .
It is also called Average income .

Limitations of average income ?

This method of average income does not provide us the distribution of

income at different levels.
For eg : In two countries A and B having identical average incomes but
country A have more equitable distribution than country B . In country
A people are neither very rich nor extremely poor and on the other side
in country B most citizens are poor and a handful of people are rich .
Hence , While averages are useful for comparison, they also hide
disparities among the people .

Qno. Acc to World Development Reports.

World Development Reports , brought out by the World Bank, compare

the nations on the basis of per capita income.
Countries with per capita income of US$ 49,300 per annum and above
in 2019, are called high income or rich countries and those with per
capita income of US$ 2500 or less are called low-income countries. The
rich countries, excluding countries of Middle East and certain other
small countries, are generally called developed countries.
India comes in the category of low middle income countries because its
per capita income in 2019 was Just US$ 6700 per annum. The rich
countries, excluding countries of Middle East and certain other small
countries, are generally called developed countries.

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 14
and 15 years attending school as a percentage of total number of
children in the same age group.

Qno. Acc to income ?

Haryana has the highest per capita Income and Bihar is at the bottom.
This means that, on an average, a person in Haryana earned in one year
is higher than , an average a person in Bihar earned.
So, if per capita income were to be used as the measure of
development, Haryana will be considered the most developed and
Bihar the least developed state of the three.

Qno. Acc of IMR ?

Infant mortality rate is lowest in Kerala and higher in Haryana and

highest in Bihar. This indicates that health facilities in Haryana and
Bihar are poor .
Hence high per capita income does not guarantee for better healthcare
facilities .

Qno. Acc to literacy rate and net attendance ratio ?

Literacy rate and Net attendance ratio is highest in Kerala and lowest in
bihar .
Hence high per capita income does not guarantee high literacy rate and
high net attendance ratio .

Qno. Why does Kerala have a better human development ranking than
Haryana in spite of lower per capita income?

Kerala has the highest literacy rate in the country. Better educational
facilities develop the minds of its individuals.
The Infant Mortality Rate of Kerala is much less than Punjab. This
indicates that it has better medical facilities.
Income is not the Only criterion which determines development.

PUBLIC FACILITIES

Qno. Suggest any three ways to improve public facilities in India?

Easily accessible and affordable education must be provided to all the
children of the country. The government should open schools and
provide other facilities so that all children have a chance to study.
Public Distribution System should be reformed to include people from
the remotest of areas.
Health facilities should be made free to children below 10 years of age
and senior citizens, disadvantaged classes etc. Kerala has low infant
mortality rate because it has basic health and educational facilities .
Transport facility must be available to everyone, easily, even in the
remotest of areas.

Qno. Money is not everything it can't buy everything ?

Money in your pocket cannot buy all the goods and services that you
may need to live well. So income by itself is not a completely adequate
indicator of material goods and services that citizens are able to use.
For example, normally, your money cannot buy you a pollution-free
environment or ensure that you get unadulterated medicines, unless
you can afford to shift to a community that already has all these things.
Money may also not be able to protect you from Infectious diseases,
unless the whole of your community takes preventive steps.
Actually for many of the important things in life the best way, also the
cheapest way, is to provide these goods and services collectively.

Body Mass Index (BMI)

Body Mass Index (BMI) is an international standard used to determine

whether an adult person is undernourished or not. If we divide the
weight of a person by the square of his/her height, we get a ratio which
is called BMI.
The BMI is an important way to understand the level of nutrition a
person takes.
BMI = Weight in kg/height in metres .
For example, if a girl student is 14 years and 8 month old and the BMI is
15.2, then she is undernourished. Similarly, if the BMI of a boy aged 15
years and 6 months is 28, then he is overweight.

HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT

Human Development Report published by UNDP compares countries

based on the educational levels of the people, their health status and
per captita income.
It compare countries based on the following criteria :

Per Capita Income : It is calculated in dollars for all countries so that it

can be compared. It is also done in a way so that every dollar would buy
the same amount of goods and services in any country.
Life Expectancy : Life expectancy at birth denotes, average expected
length of life of a person at the time of birth.
Literacy Rate : Educational levels of the people and years of schooling

India occupies 129th rank in HDI 2019. The Human Development

Index (HDI) considers public health, education, poverty level,
inequality and environmental aspects to measure human
development.

Sustainability of Development

Another aspect of development is that rapid development is using up

natural resources at a faster rate. This is not sustainable for future
generations.
Non renewable resources are getting exhausted fast. These resources
can not be replenished and there is a fixed stock only.

Renewable resources are replenished by nature as in case of crops and

plants. However these may also be overused . For example, in the case
of groundwater, if we use more than what is being replenished by rain
then we would be overusing this resource.

Some examples that show overuse of resources are

Groundwater in India : In India, nearly one-third of the country is

overusing its ground water reserves. It is particularly found in
agriculturally prosperous regions of Punjab, Western Uttar Pradesh
hard rock plateau areas of Central and South India.

Exhaustion of Natural Resources : According to World Energy Review,

June 2018, the total reserves of the crude oil stock in the world is going
to last just for 50 years as countries are fast using up the oil reserves.