DEVELOPMENT

SHORT ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS [3 MARKS]

1. What is meant by economic development? What are the two bases of measuring economic
development of a country?
Answer:
Economic development can be defined as efforts that seek to improve the economic well-being
and quality of life for a community by creating and/or retaining jobs and supporting or growing
incomes and the tax base. It is the increase in the growth and welfare of people, improvement of
quality. In layman’s language it is a process, which makes people in general, better off by
increasing their
command over goods and services and by increasing the options open to them. The two bases of
measuring economic development of a country are as follows.
 HDI (Human Development Index)
 Per capita income

2. What may be the development for one may be the destruction for the other.” Explain the
statement with appropriate examples.
Answer:
Yes, it is true that what may be called development for some may turn out to be destruction for
the others.
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. This
development of Sardar sarovar dam turned out to be a destruction for the tribes.
Another example, On the border of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, in the Singrauli region,
over 200,000 people have been displaced on different occasions. First by the Rihand dam, then by
a series of thermal power plants of the National Thermal Power Corporation. Singrauli has
illuminated the lives of many in the urban centres, but has seen its natives groping in endless
darkness, grappling to overcome the trauma of displacement. So the development in Singrauli led
to destruction of its people.
Multinational companies take away the land of the farmers for the construction of industries. It
may be beneficial for boosting production but at the same time it causes loss of cultivable land
and livelihood of the farmers. Various movements have been launched against the acquisition of
land from the farmers.

3. State the three factors other than human income, that are important in life.
Answer: 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
provides its citizens a sense of security.

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4. Explain the importance of sustainable development with reference to groundwater by giving
example.
Answer: 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.
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.
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. 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.
In the case of groundwater, we have utilized it to the maximum. It is a natural resource which is
replenished by nature. People living in the areas with surplus water reserves should take care for
its conservation. 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.

5. “People have conflicting development goals”. Support the statement with suitable example.
Answer: It is true to say that people have conflicting developmental goals. What may be the
development for one may not be for the other. Different people have different interests, life
situations and state of mind. They visualize things, actions, etc. according to their level of
understanding.
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.

6. Describe any three possible development goals of landless rural labourers.

Answer: The following can be the developmental goals of landless rural labourers.
 More days of work with better wages.
 Social and economic equality.
 Low price food grains.
 Better education facilities for their children.

7. Differentiate between Human Development Report and World Development

Answer: The following are the differences between Human Development Report and World
Development Report:
Human Development Report World Development Report
(a) This notion of development implies good and (a) It stresses on rise in per capita income
quality life. and growth in the economy.
(b) Its parameters are good education, health (b) It takes into account quantitative aspect
facilities etc. of development.
(c) It includes literacy rate, life expectancy, infant (c) It includes GDP, national income and per
mortality rate etc. to determine the status of capita income.
development of a particular area, region or country.

8. “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.
Answer: 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.

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  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.
 We cannot buy pollution free environment, unadulterated medicines and peace with money.
 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.

9. Why does Kerala have a better Human Development Index ranking in comparison to
Punjab? Explain with three reasons.
Answer: Kerala has a better Human Development Index ranking in comparison to Punjab even
though Punjab has a higher per capita income in comparison to Kerala because of the following
reasons.
 Education: Kerala has a higher level of literacy rate than Punjab. In fact, the literacy rate of
Kerala is the highest in India. In Kerala, the literacy rate is ninety-one per cent which is
almost as high as that of China. This is mainly because education has been made available to
everyone in Kerala whether they are upper caste or the lower caste. There is no bias in the
field of education, which is one of the major reasons why Kerala has a better HDI than
Punjab.
 Health care: The health care facilities in Kerala are far better than those in Punjab. Kerala
has over 2700 government medical hospitals, with 330 beds per 1,00,000 population which is
the highest in India, making it achieve a higher ranking in the HDI.
 Politics: The political parties in Kerala have taken steps for genuine welfare of the people and
have invested intelligently and methodologically in the field of health and education. The
government of Kerala has even worked for the land reforms in the State to support the people.

10. 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?
Answer: Average income or per capita income is the main domain used by the World Bank in
classifying different countries as rich and poor countries. According to the World Bank, income is
one of the most important attributes. Countries with average income of USD 12616 per annum
and above are called rich countries. 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.
This is based on the conception that the higher the total income of the country, the developed it is.
However, there are certain restrictions to this norm because income, although an important
measure for calculating growth and development, is not the only attribute. 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.

11. Besides income, what are the six other things people may look for growth and development?
Answer: The following are the six things that people may look for growth and development,
besides income.
 freedom
 security
 respect
 quality of life
 health
 education

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 LONG ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS [5 MARKS]

12. “Though the level of income is important, it is an inadequate measure of the level of
development.” Justify the statement.
Answer:
Although the level of income is an important indicator of development, it is an inadequate
measure of the level of development because:
(a) it takes into consideration only the monetary view of development.
(b) a high level of income may not satisfy an individual if other aspects like security, freedom,
opportunities, welfare, health facilities, education and cleanliness, are absent.
(c) it is perhaps universally accepted that development is not just about income, although income
(economic wealth, more generally) has a great deal to do with it.
(d) development is also about the removal of poverty and undernutrition. It is an increase in life
expectancy and access to sanitation, clean drinking water and health services. It is the reduction of
infant mortality and increased access to knowledge and schooling and literacy, in particular.
(e) it fails as an adequate overall measure and must be supplemented by other indicators directly.

13. What is Human Development Index? Which organization measures the HDI? Explain the
three major indicators of the HDI.
Answer:
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
provides its citizens a sense of security.

14. What is sustainable development? Suggest any two ways in which resources can be used
judiciously.
Answer:
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.
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.
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.
 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.
 Urbanization without deforestation can help us to sustain the natural environment.
 By using CNG in place of petrol, we can help in reducing air pollution.
 Judiciously using water resources and not polluting them will help us to preserve our water
resources.
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15. In what respects is the criterian used by the UNDP for measuring development different
from the one used by the World Bank?
Answer: The criterion used by the UNDP for measuring development is different from the
criterion used by the World Bank in the following ways.
 The UNDP compares the development of the countries on the basis of literacy rate, gross
enrolment ratio and health status of their people. On the their hand, the World Bank compares
the development of the countries on the basis of per capita income or average income.
 On the basis of the comparison done by the UNDP, the countries are ranked as first, second,
third… whereas on the basis of the comparison done by the World Bank the countries are
divided into three categories:
1. Rich or developed or high-income countries
2. Middle-income or developing countries
3. Poor or underdeveloped or low-income countries
 The UNDP has a broader concept of development and the World Bank has a narrow concept
of development.

16. Describe briefly five steps taken by the Indian government for raising the status of women
at par with that of men.
Answer: The following steps have been taken by the Indian government for raising the status of
women at par with that of men.
(a) Women are given the equal right to vote like those of men.
(b) The government of India has declared dowry as illegal and now no one can force the other
party to give dowry.
(c) To impart education to girls various schools and colleges have been opened.
(d) Seats have been reserved for women in the legislatures to enable them to participate in
decision making.
(e) Women have been recognised as a separate target group in our development planning, for
raising their status at par with that of men. To achieve the above objective the National
Commission for women was set up in January 1992.

17. What is the main criterion used by the World Bank is classifying different countries? What
are the limitations of this criterion, if any? 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 the UNDP for measuring development is different from the
criterion used by the World Bank in the following ways.
 The UNDP compares the development of the countries on the basis of literacy rate, gross
enrolment ratio and health status of their people. On the their hand, the World Bank compares
the development of the countries on the basis of per capita income or average income.
 On the basis of the comparison done by the UNDP, the countries are ranked as first, second,
third… whereas on the basis of the comparison done by the World Bank the countries are
divided into three categories:
1. Rich or developed or high-income countries
2. Middle-income or developing countries
3. Poor or underdeveloped or low-income countries
 The UNDP has a broader concept of development and the World Bank has a narrow concept
of development.
Limitation: Limitation of this criterion is that average or per capita income is not the only factor
important for development. This factor hides the other important factor—distribution of income,
which also affects development. Higher average income, along with equitable distribution of
income is considered favourable for development.

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