Answer Writing

Human Development
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Q.1) Define Human Development. How has this concept evolved? Discuss all the aspects
and dimensions of human development. (10 Marks, 400 Words)

Ans.)

The Human Development Report (HDR) 1997 has defined “human development as the process of
enlarging people’s choices as well as raising the level of well- being achieved.” The basic objective
of development is to create an enabling environment for people to enjoy long, healthy and creative
lives. From the above definition, it is clear that human development can be measured on the basis
of three parameters viz; healthy life, education and standard of living.

Evolution of Human Development

• Human development has its roots in the early economic and philosophical theories.
• In words of Aristotle, “Wealth is evidently not the good we are seeking, for it is merely useful
for something else”
• Similarly, Adam Smith and Karl Marx were concerned with human capabilities.
• A breakthrough in this area of human capabilities was brought by Amartya Sen’s Capability
approach which talked about freedom to achieve well-being.
• Human development as a concept has been evolved as a reaction of economic growth-
oriented progress in the past.
• International organizations like World Bank, IMF, United Nations etc. all were concerned
about human development in real sense but due to lack of any tool to measure, not much
progress could be made.
• In the real sense in 1990 with the UNDP Human Development Report, human development
was established as the focal point of development.
• The report had a Human Development Index which was the first attempt to measure human
development.
• The index was based on three parameters – Standard of living, Knowledge and Life
Expectancy

Aspects of Human Development

Traditionally, economic development has focused exclusively on the expansion of only one choice-
income. But the concept of human development has gone far beyond the income and well-being to
cover all human choices. Thus, the concept of human development covers all aspects of human
development- economic, social, cultural or political. Some of the aspects of human development
are –

1) Education and Literacy

2) Health
3) Safe and clean environment
4) Equality of opportunity
5) Gender equality
6) Political and economic participation in decision- making and political power

Dimension of Human Development

• Equity or equitable access to opportunities: Human development is concerned with

widening the choices of all people. Without equity, development restricts the choices of

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many individuals.

• Sustainability: Human development emphasises on sustaining all form of capital-physical,

human, financial and environmental so that future generations can have the same
opportunities for well- being that the present generation enjoys.

• Productivity: Human development believes in investing in people so that they can achieve
their maximum potential. People are not seen merely as human resources, that is, as
means for better economic efficiency. People are seen as the ultimate ends of the
development process.

• Empowerment: Human development focuses on development by the people. People must

participate in the activities, events and processes that shape their lives.

Human Development Index is one of the possible ways to measure the human development.
However, it overlooks other important factors like gender equality, sustainability etc. which affect
the development of a human being. The need of the hour is to include all such important factors
while measuring human development.

Q.2) “Economic Growth is a necessary condition for Human Development, but only
economic growth is not sufficient to achieve human development” Discuss. (15 marks, 600
Words)

Ans.)

Economic growth is an increase in the level of output of goods and services that is sustained over
a long period of time, measured in terms of value added. In economics, economic growth theory
typically refers to the growth of potential output i.e. production at full employment. It can also be
defined as a rate of expansion that can move an underdeveloped economy from a near
subsistence mode of living to substantially higher levels in a few decades.

On the contrary, Human development is not only associated with an increase in levels of
output but also with increasing the levels of standard of living, literacy rate and overall well-being
of humans. As per Human Development Report (HDR) 1997 “Human Development is defined as
the process of enlarging people’s choices as well as raising the level of well- being achieved.

For Human development, economic growth is a necessary pre-condition. This can be understood
from the following points –

• Poverty – To reduce the poverty levels in an economy, it is necessary that the economy
grows. With existing poverty, one cannot think of a decent standard of living.
• Health facilities – With a shrinking economy, governments might not be able to
concentrate on their health facilities. A faulty health infrastructure will lead to unhealthy
human resources and hence human development will not be achieved.
• Environmental condition – It is evident from various reports like State of India’s
environment and Emission Gap report, that the global environment is degrading. This
deteriorating environment leaves a major impact on human health. It leads to various
diseases like asthma, bronchitis etc. To tackle this situation, economic growth is important.
For ex – poor countries like Somalia, Burundi etc. have to focus on improving basic
conditions like food for their citizens. With the available resources, these countries cannot
fight against degrading environmental conditions.
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• Gender Discrimination – A society where the struggle for basic necessities like food,
clothing etc. exists can never focus on subjects like gender equality. Once an economy
achieves stable growth, it will start focusing on social evils like gender discrimination.
• Education and literacy – Only a growing economy can focus on the education of its
citizens. It is evident from the fact that the literacy rate at the time of independence of India
was only 7% but as the Indian economy grew, the literacy levels also rose and it reached to
74% as per the census 2011.

Economic growth is indeed a condition for human development; however, it does not mean that all
economically sound economies are able to concentrate on human development. It is evident from
the following points –

• Persistent poverty – A growing economy does not always mean that it has eradicated
poverty. For ex – According to Multidimensional poverty index released by NITI Aayog, one-
fourth population of India is multidimensionally poor. With such a huge number of poor
people, one cannot consider human development.
• Growth with discrimination – There are various examples across the globe where
economy is growing with existing discrimination in the society. For ex – In Saudi Arabia,
women face discrimination in various spheres of her life. Human development with such
discrimination cannot be imagined.
• Growth leads to environmental degradation - A growing economy leads to deteriorating
environment, if not handled properly. Polluted water and air pose major threats on human
health. Moreover, realizing the SDGs is highly dependent on the environmental conditions.
Major economies like China, India etc. are one of the largest polluters. For ex - Every year,
various cities from these countries have been in the top 10s in the most polluted cities list.
• Existence of inequality – Inequality is one of the major obstacles in front of human
development. Growing economies often lead to such inequality. For ex – As per OECD,
income inequality has widened in most OECD members despite persistent economic
growth.

Hence, it can be concluded that only economic growth is not sufficient for human development. If
economic growth would have been the only factor for human development, the concept of human
development might not come to light. However, there is need of a balanced approach because
economic growth and human development go hand in hand.

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