CHAPTER-1
DEVELOPMENT
1. Define national income.
Ans: The national income is defined as the total value all goods and services produced
within a country plus net income from transactions like (imports and exports) with other
countries.
2. Define GDP.
Ans: Gross Domestic Product is the total value of all final goods and services during a
particular year in a country.
3. What is the criterion used by World Bank in classifying different countries?
Ans: The World Bank uses average income or per capita income as a criterion for
classifying the countries.
4. Why is the total income of countries not used to make comparison between them?
Ans: the total income of countries is not used to make comparison between them,
because the population of different countries is different and does not give clear picture if
comparisons are made on this basis.
5. What is Human Development Index?
Ans: human development index is a composite index of achievements of a nation in
terms of the educational levels of the people, their health status and per capita income.
6. Why is sustainable development important? Give reasons.
Ans:
a. Sustained development aim at without damaging the environment and at the same
time conserving for future.
b. Resources are used such a way that they are exploited.
c. Non-renewable resources are those which will get exhausted after years of use.
7. What is the main criterion used by the World Bank in classifying different countries?
What are the limitations of this criterion, if any?
Ans:
a. For comparing countries, their income is considered to be one of the most important
attributes.
b. Countries with higher income are more developed than others with less income.
c. This is based on the understanding that more income means more of all things that
human beings need
d. In World Development Reports, brought out by the World Bank, this criterion is used
in classifying countries.
e. Countries with per capita income of US$ 12,056 per annum and above in 2017, are
called rich countries and those with per capita income of US$ 955 or less are called
low-income countries.
f. India comes in the category of low middle income countries because its per capita
income in 2017 was just US$1820 per annum.
g. The rich countries, excluding countries of Middle East and certain other small
countries are generally called developed countries.
The following are the limitations while using the average income.
It ignores equitable distribution of income.
It is impossible to come out to a well-defined conclusion about the real income of
the people or nation.
It does not reflect the standard of living of the people development.
8. In what respects is the criterion used by the UNDP for measuring development
different from the one used by the World Bank?
Ans:
In World Development Reports, brought out by the World Bank, For comparing
countries, their income is considered to be one of the most important attributes.
Even though the level of income is important, yet it is an inadequate measure of the level
of development, we begin to think of other criterion.
Health and education indicators, health and education indicators have come to be widely
used along with income as a measure of development.
For instance, Human Development Report published by UNDP compares countries
based on the educational levels of the people, their health status and per capita income.
9. What is per capita income? Why do we use averages? Are there any limitations to their
use? Illustrate with your own examples related to development.
Ans: average income which is the total income of the country divided by its total
population. The average income is also called per capita income.
a. For comparison between countries, total income is not such an useful measure.
b. Since, countries have different populations, comparing total income will not tell us what
an average person is likely to earn.
c. While ‘averages’ are useful for comparison, they also hide disparities.
The following are the limitations while using the average income.
It ignores equitable distribution of income.
It is impossible to come out to a well-defined conclusion about the real income of
the people or nation.
It does not reflect the standard of living of the people development.
10.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.
Ans: Yes I agree, the reason is —
a. Money in cannot buy all the goods and services that wemay need to live well.
b. So, income by itself is not a completely adequate indicator of material goods and
services that citizens are able to use.
c. For example, normally, money cannot buy a pollution-free environment or ensure that
we get unadulterated medicines, unless we can afford to shift to a community that
already has all these things.
d. Money may also not be able to protect us from infectious diseases, unless the whole
of your community takes preventive steps.
e. Kerala has a low Infant Mortality Rate because it has adequate provision of basic
health and educational facilities.
f. Similarly, in some states, the Public Distribution System (PDS) functions well.
g. Health and nutritional status of people of such states is certainly likely to be better.
11.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: present source of energy used by the people of India are: coal, lignite, petroleum,
natural gas, LPG, electricity etc. fifty year from now there is possibility that people will
be making more use of none conventional sources of energy, nuclear energy, energy
from motion etc.
12.Define the following:
a. infant Mortality Rate b. Literacy Rate c. Net Attendance Ratio. D. Body Mass Index
a. Infant Mortality Rate: 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.
b. Literacy Rate: It measures the proportion of literate population in the 7-and-
above age group.
c. Net Attendance Ratio: It 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.
d. BMI is a person's weight in kilograms (kg) divided by his or her height in meters
squared. The number you get is called BMI
13.“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 disscusion of
development? Discuss.
Ans: This statement implies that human beings are overusing the natural resources of the
Earth in the name of development.
Earth provides enough resources to meet the needs of all but today’s man has become so
greedy that he for his progress and development he resorts to activities like deforestation,
unsustainable fuel wood and fodder extraction, shifting cultivation encroachment into
forest lands, indiscriminate use of agro -chemicals, extraction of groundwater in excess
of recharge capacity, etc.
14.List a few examples of environmental degradation that you may have observed around
you.
Ans:
(a) Deforestation
(b)Use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides
(c)Burning of coal and mineral oil
15.For each of the items given in Table 1.6, Find out which country is at the top and which
is at the bottom.
SOME DATA REGARDING INDIA AND ITS NEIGHBOURS FOR 2017
country Gross Life Mean HDI
National expectancy years of Rank in
income at birth schooling the World
(percapita) (2017) people 2018
211 aged 25
and above
(2017)
Sri Lanka
11,326 75.5 72.8 76
India 6,353 68.8 6.4 130
Myanmar
5,567 66.7 4.9 148
Pakistan 5,331 66.6 5.2 150
Nepal 5,331 70.6 4.9 146
Bangladesh 3,677 72.8 5.8 136
Criteria Top (country) Bottom (country)
1. Gross National Income (per capita) Srilanka Bangladesh
2. Life Expectancy at Birth (2017) Srilanka Pakistan
3. Mean years of schooling age 25+ Srilanka Myanmar
4. HDI Rank in the World 2018 Srilanka Pakistan
16.The following table shows the proportion of adults (aged 15-49 years) whose BMI is
below normal (BMI <18.5 kg/m) 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
Karnataka 17 21
Karnataka 28 28
All States 20 23
(i) Compare the nutritional level of people in Kerala and Madhya Pradesh.
Ans: The nutritional level of the people of Kerala is significantly higher than that of
Madhya Pradesh for both males and females as, the proportion of undernourished
adults about half that of Madhya Pradesh.
(ii) 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.
Ans: There is enough food in the country but even then one-fifth of the people in the
country are undernourished because of the following reasons
(a)There is a lack of educational and health facilities in many parts of the country. So,
many people remain backward and poor, and so, they are unable to get nutritious
food.
(b)In most of the states, the Public Distribution System (PDS) does not function
properly and the poor people cannot get cheap food items, so they remain
undernourished.
17. “People have conflicting development goals”. Support the statement with suitable
example.
ANS:
a. It is true to say that people have conflicting developmental goals.
b. What may be the development for one may not be for the other.
c. Different people have different interests, life situations and state of mind.
d. They visualize things, actions, etc. according to their level of understanding.
e. For example, the construction of a flyover to reduce the congestion and traffic jams
may be a development goal especially for the daily commuters. But for the
construction of the flyover, surrounding houses, shops, etc. need to be demolished
which may not be like by the occupants of these shops and houses. This may not be a
development goal for them.
18.Describe any three possible development goals of landless rural labourers.
Ans: The following can be the developmental goals of landless rural labourers.
a. More days of work with better wages.
b. Social and economic equality.
c. Low price food grains.
d. Better education facilities for their children.
19.“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.
ans: Yes, we agree with the statement that money cannot buy all the goods and services
that one needs to live well because of the following reasons.
a. Money can buy things that can be one factor on which our life depends like food.
But the quality of non-material things like freedom, security and respect cannot be
bought with money.
b. We cannot buy pollution free environment, unadulterated medicines and peace
with money.
c. Schools, colleges, parks, hospitals, etc. are the facilities which cannot be run
individually. There has to be a collective effort of team work between the
government or society in providing these to the general public.
20.Differentiate between Human Development Report and World Development.
Ans: The following are the differences between Human Development Report and World
Development Report.
21.What is the main norm used by the World Bank in classifying different countries as rich
and poor countries? What are the restrictions of such norms?
ans:
a. Average income or per capita income is the main domain used by the World Bank
in classifying different courtiers as rich and poor countries.
b. According to the UNDP, income is one of the most important attributes. Countries
with average income of USD 12616 per annum and above are called rich countries.
c. Countries with average income of USD 1530 or less are called middle-income
countries and countries with average income of USD 1035 or less are called poor
countries.
d. This is based on the conception that the higher the total income of the country, the
developed it is.
e. However, there are certain restrictions to this norm because income, although an
important measure for calculating growth and development, is not the only
attribute.
f. Over the past few decades, health and education have made an important mark in
the development of a country. So, even if the country has high per capita income
and literacy rate but does not have good medical facilities, it cannot be considered
developed.
22.Besides income, what are the six other things people may look for growth and
development?
Ans: The following are the six things that people may look for growth and development,
besides income.
a. Freedom
b. Security
c. Respect
d. quality of life
e. Health
f. Education
23.“Though the level of income is important, it is an inadequate measure of the level of
development.” Justify the statement.
Ans:
It is true that income is an important way to measure the level of development but it is
also true that it is not the only way to measure the level of development.
It is an inadequate method of measuring development since it is only the materialistic
measure of development based on money.
Over the past few decades, health, education, sanitary and other non-materialistic
indicators have become an important criteria in measuring the level of development.
The Human Development Index, for example, is a better measure of development since it
takes into consideration health and education indicators as well.
For example, even though the income of Punjab is more than that of Kerala, Kerala has a
higher HDI because it has better health and educational facilities. The literacy rate of
Kerala is higher than that of Haryana.
24.What is Human Development Index? Which organization measures the HDI? Explain the
three major indicators of the HDI.
Ans:
Human Development Index is a tool developed by the United Nations to measure and
rank countries based on the level of social and economic development.
The HDI makes it possible to track changes in development levels from time to time and
to compare development levels in different countries.
The concept of HDI goes beyond income and growth to cover overall development with
the object of improving the conditions of people from all angles.
The organization that measures the HDI is the United Nations.
Three major indicators of the HDI are as follows.
Health: Without proper health facilities, no matter how much a country earns, it will not
be able to provide basic facilities to its people.
Education: Over the past few decades, education has become an important factor in
leading a quality life. So, if the country has high income but the literacy rate is low, it
cannot be considered developed.
Security: More than income, people want to have a secured life. A country should be
able to provide its citizens a sense of security.
25. What may be the development for one may be the destruction for the other.” Explain the
statement with appropriate examples.
Ans:
a. Yes, it is true that what may be called development for some may turn out to be
destruction for the others.
b. For example, the Sardar Sarovar dam built over the Narmada river led to a major
evacuation of the tribes near the Narmada river and as a result the tribes lost their land
and homes.
c. This development of Sardar sarovar dam turned out to be a destruction for the tribes.
26.Explain the importance of sustainable development with reference to groundwater by
giving example.
ans:
a. Sustainable development means a development in a manner that satisfies the
demands of today without hampering or compromising the ability of the future
generations to meet their needs by utilizing the resources.
b. In lay man’s language it means using the resources in a manner that you and the
future generations can use them tomorrow as well.
c. It is important because of the reason that we may enjoy the gifts of nature, but cannot
think of our generations to live without such benefits.
d. It becomes our duty to use nature for the fulfillment of our needs and not our greed.
Our development should not hamper the needs of the future generations.
e. In the case of groundwater, we have utilized it to the maximum. It is a natural
resource which is replenished by nature.
f. People living in the areas with surplus water reserves should take care for its
conservation.
g. Efforts should be made not to overuse or degrade the quality of water. Recent
evidences show that groundwater is under serious threat of disappearance. If suitable
steps are not taken, it can pose serious consequences.
27.What is sustainable development? Suggest any three ways in which resources can be
used judiciously.
ans:
a. Sustainable development is a pattern of development that promises the use of
resources in a way that meets human needs while preserving the environment so that
these needs can be met not only in the present, but also for generations to come.
b. In basic understanding, like today we are able to use the resources given to us, the
future generations should also be able to use them for which we need to keep a tab on
our usage and use the resources judiciously.
c. Today, we need to fuel the concept of sustainable development to make sure that
resources are also available for the future generations.
Resources can be used judiciously in the following manner.
i.Using bicycle or walking for short distances rather than using a two wheeler or four
wheeler can help in saving fuel and also will help in reducing air pollution.
ii. Urbanization without deforestation can help us to sustain the natural environment.
iii. By using CNG in place of petrol, we can help in reducing air pollution.
iv. Judiciously using water resources and not polluting them will help us to preserve
our water resources
