DEVELOPMENT

 Development involves thinking about the ways in which we can work towards achieving our
goals.

Q. why do different people have different goals? explain.

ANS- (Give two examples from the above Table)

 Each one of them seeks different things. They seek things that are most important for them, i.e.,
that which can fulfil their aspirations or desires. We can say that Developmental goals derive out
from individuals surrounding.

Q. Goals can be conflicting. Explain.

ANS- At times, two persons or groups of persons may seek things which are conflicting. Example:

1) 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.
2) 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.

 Conclusion- 1) different persons can have different developmental goals.

2) what may be development for one may not be development for the other. It
may even be destructive for the other.
 Common Desire of every Individual: 1) regular work,
2) better wages,
more income
3) and decent price for their crops or
other products that they produce.

 Besides seeking more income, people also seek things like:

 equal treatment,
 freedom,
 security,
 friendship,
 and respect of others.
 They resent discrimination
All these are important goals. In fact, in some cases, these may be more important than
more income or more consumption because material goods are not all that you need to live.

 Quality of Life depends on- 1) material things (Money)

2) Non- material things

 the developmental goals that people have are not only about better income but also
about other important things in life.

Q. How are non-Material things Important than Material things?

ANS- 1) Consider an example,

i. If we get a job in a far-off place, before accepting it we would try to consider many factors,
apart from income,
a. such as facilities for our family,
 b. working atmosphere,
c. or opportunity to learn
i. In another case, a job may give us less pay but may offer regular employment that enhances
our sense of security.
ii. Another job, however, may offer high pay but no job security and also leave no time for our
family. This will reduce our sense of security and freedom.

2) Similarly, for development, people look at a mix of goals .i.e. Not just income but also non
material things.
i. It is true that if women are engaged in paid work, their dignity in the household and society
increases.
ii. 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.
iii. A safe and secure environment may allow more women to take up a variety of jobs or run a
business.

 individuals seek different goals, then their notion (idea) of national development is
also likely to be different ----------> Similar to Developmental goals

So, different persons could have different as well

as conflicting notions of a country’s development.

 if there are conflicts about national development, one decides by taking up the
development idea which benefits the maximum number of people.
 Usually, we take one or more important characteristics of persons and compare
them based on these characteristics.
 For comparing countries, their income is considered to be one of the most important
attributes. Why greater income is important?

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.

 what is the income of a country?

The income of the country is the income of all the residents of the country. This gives us the total
income of the country.

 For comparison between countries, total income is not such a useful measure. Since,
countries have different populations, comparing total income will not tell us what an average
person is likely to earn. Importance:
  Indicates the distribution of income among the total population of the country
 It is easy to calculate (total income ÷ total population)

 average income which is the total income of the country divided by its total population. The
average income is also called per capita income.

 In World Development Reports, brought out by the World Bank,

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

(Though they have well and good average income, they lack factors like equality
among people, etc)

Q. Explain the limitations of average income.

ANS-
1) averages are used for comparison but they hide disparities i.e., it does not tell
how the income is distributed among the people.
2) Does not indicate the distribution of income amongst the rich and the poor.
3) Does not show the health status and level of education available.

For Example:
let us consider two countries, A and B with only five citizens each.

(Take the numbers different in exam)

i. Even though both the countries have identical average income, country
A is preferred because it has more equitable distribution. In this country
people are neither very rich nor extremely poor.
ii. On the other hand, most citizens in country B are poor and one person is
extremely rich.
iii. Hence, while average income is useful for comparison it does not tell us
how this income is distributed among people.

 Explanation of some of the terms:

  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.

 Countries also differentiates with other equally important attributes besides average income.

E.g.:

 We find that of the three, Haryana has the highest per capita income and Bihar is at the
bottom.
 This means that, on an average, a person in Haryana earned Rs 2,36,147 in one year
whereas, on an average, a person in Bihar earned only around Rs 40,982.
 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.

 The first column of the table shows that in Kerala, out of 1000 children born,
7 died before completing one year of age but in Haryana the proportion of
children dying within one year of birth was 30, which is nearly three times
more than that of Kerala.

[Kerala has a low Infant Mortality Rate because it has adequate provision of
basic health and educational facilities. Similarly, in some states, the Public
Distribution System (PDS) functions well. Health and nutritional status of
people of such states is certainly likely to be better.]—E.g. of Public Facilities
  On the other hand, the per capita income of Haryana is more than that of
Kerala as shown in Table.
 The last column of table shows that about half of the children aged 14-15 in
Bihar are not attending school beyond Class 8.

 Public Facilities are all those facilities enjoyed by public in general.

 Significances of Public Facilities:
 For many of the important things in life the best way, also the
cheapest way, is to provide these goods and services collectively.
 With the increase in Public Facilities, other criteria also
enhances.

Q. How is it that the average person in Haryana has more income than the
average person in Kerala but lags behind in these crucial areas?
ANS- 1) Money in our pocket cannot buy all the goods and services that we
may need to live well.
2) So, income by itself is not a completely adequate indicator of material
goods and services that citizens are able to use.
3) Actually, for many of the important things in life the best way, also the
cheapest way, is to provide these goods and services collectively.

For example, (a) normally, our money cannot buy us a pollution-free environment

(b) ensure that we get unadulterated medicines, unless you can afford to shift to a community that
already has all these things.

(c) Money may also not be able to protect us from infectious diseases, unless the whole of our
community takes preventive steps.

(d) cheaper to have collective security for the whole locality or for each house to have its own
security staff

(e) Go to school because the other kids near us want to go

Body mass Index

o way to find out if we are properly nourished is to calculate what nutrition scientists call Body
Mass Index (BMI) [or a criteria to find whether a person is nourished, undernourished or
overweight.]
o How to calculate?
I. Let each student in the class find out his or her weight and height.
II. Take the weight of each student in kilograms (kg).
III. Then, take the height by drawing up a scale on the wall and measuring accurately
with the head straight.
IV. Convert the height recorded in cm into m.
V. Divide the weight in kg by the square of the height.
VI. The number you get is called BMI.
VII. Then, look at the BMI-for-Age tables.
 o A student’s BMI could be within the normal range or less than that (underweight) or
more (obesity).
o Less than 18--- Undernourished
More than 25--- Overweight
Between 18-25--- Nourished
o Growing children are not evaluated on BMI.

 level of income is important, yet it is an inadequate measure of the level of

development.
 Over the past decade or so, 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 (United Nations Development
Programme) compares countries based on the educational levels of the people,
their health status and per capita income.
 Few Important Points:

 HDI stands for Human Development Index. HDI ranks of countries are out
of 189 countries in all.
 Life Expectancy at birth denotes, as the name suggests, average expected
length of life of a person at the time of birth.
 Per Capita Income 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.

 Sri Lanka is much ahead of India in every respect

 Though Nepal and Bangladesh have low per capita income than that of India, yet they are
better than India in life expectancy.
 Many improvements have been suggested in calculating HDI and many new components
have been added to the Human Development Report but, by pre-fixing Human to
Development, it has made it very clear that what is important in development is what is
happening to citizens of a country. It is people, their health, their well-being, that is most
important.
 Requires
Development Depletion
consumption
of Resources

Therefore, Sustainable use of resources is

required and development should be sustainable.

 “We have not inherited the world from our forefathers — we have borrowed it from our
children.”

Examples:

Example 1: Groundwater in India [Doesn’t ensure Sustainability]

“Recent evidence suggests that the groundwater is under serious threat of overuse in many
parts of the country. About 300 districts have reported a water level decline of over 4 metres
during the past 20 years. Nearly one-third of the country is overusing their groundwater
reserves. In another 25 years, 60 per cent of the country would be doing the same if the
present way of using this resource continues. Groundwater overuse is particularly found in
the agriculturally prosperous regions of Punjab and Western U.P., hard rock plateau areas of
central and south India, some coastal areas and the rapidly growing urban settlements.”

 Groundwater is an example of renewable resources. These resources are replenished by

nature as in the case of crops and plants.
 However, even these resources may 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.
 Non-renewable resources are those which will get exhausted after a few years of use.
 We have a fixed stock on earth which cannot be replenished. We do discover new resources
that we did not know of earlier. New sources in this way add to the stock. However, over
time, even this will get exhausted.

Example 2: Exhaustion of Natural Resources

“ The table gives an estimate of reserves of crude oil (column1). More important, it also tells us
for how many years the stock of crude oil will last if people continue to extract it at the present rate.
The reserves would last only 50 years more. This is for the world as a whole. However, different
countries face different situations. Countries like India depend on importing oil from abroad because
they do not have enough stocks of their own. If prices of oil increase this becomes a burden for
everyone. There are countries like USA which have low reserves and hence want to secure oil
through military or economic power.”

 For example, crude oil that we extract from the earth is a non-renewable resource. however
we may find a source of oil that we did not know of earlier. explorations are being
undertaken all the time.

 Consequences of environmental degradation do not respect national or state boundaries;

this issue is no longer region or nation specific. Our future is linked together.
 Sustainability of development is comparatively a new area of knowledge in which scientists,
economists, philosophers and other social scientists are working together.
 In general, the question of development or progress is perennial.