Chapter-1 DEVELOPMENT

What is development?
It is progress in terms of following and about the ways in which we can work towards achieving these goals.
 The essential things that we require
 Improved quality of life
 Standard of living of people live together
 There is more equality among people.

For development ‘This is because the way we live today is influenced by the past’. Explain.
 Development involves thinking and about the ways in which we can work towards achieving the
goals for development.
 This is a complex task which can be achieved gradually because changes do not occur suddenly.
 We can’t desire for change without being aware of this.
 In the same way, it is only through a democratic political process that these hopes and possibilities
can be achieved in real life.
 That is why the way we live today is influenced by the past.

WHAT DEVELOPMENT PROMISES — DIFFERENT PEOPLE, DIFFERENT GOALS

What are the developmental goals or aspiration of Landless rural laborers?
 More days of work and better wages;
 Local school is able to provide quality education for their children;
 There is no social discrimination and
 They too can become leaders in the village.

What are the developmental goals or aspiration of Prosperous farmers from Punjab?
 Assured a high family income through higher support prices for their crops and through hardworking
and cheap laborers.
 They should be able to settle their children abroad.

What are the developmental goals or aspiration of a girl from a rich urban family?
 She gets as much freedom as her brother.
 His brother also shares in the household work.
 She is able to decide what she wants to do in life.
 She is able to pursue her studies abroad.

Do all of the persons have the same notion of development or progress?

 Most likely not.
 Each one of them seeks different things.
 They seek things that are most important for them, i.e., that which can fulfill their aspirations or
desires.
 In fact, at times, two persons or groups of persons may seek things which are conflicting.
Page 1 of 14
In fact, at times, two persons or groups of persons may seek things which are conflicting. Explain.
 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.

What can we conclude about developmental goals for people?

So, two things are quite clear:
1. Different persons can have different developmental goals and
2. What may be development for one may not be development for the other. It may even be
destructive for the other.

INCOME AND OTHER GOALS

What is the common in developmental goal or aspirations by all the people?

Give any two common developmental goals of the people.
The common things are that -
1. People desire regular work, better wages, and decent price for their crops or other products that
they produce. In other words, they want more income.
2. People also seek things like equal treatment, freedom, security, and respect of others. They resent
discrimination.
o For few people In fact, equal treatment, freedom, security and respect are more important
than income because material goods are not all that you need to live.
o Money, or material things that one can buy with it, is one factor on which our life depends.
But the quality of our life also depends on non-material things mentioned above.

Apart from income what other things are important for us?
Why for some people non-materialistic things are more important than more income as there
developmental goal? Give two examples.
For few people in fact, non-material things i.e. security, equal treatment, freedom and respect (Si f e r) are
more important than income because -
 Material goods are not all that you need to live.
 Money, or material things that one can buy with it, is one factor on which our life depends for example
food. But the quality of our life also depends on non-material things mentioned above.
1. Family and Friendship: The role of friends in our life. One may desire their friendship. Similarly,
there are many things that are not easily measured but they mean a lot to our lives. These are often
ignored. Good food, shelter, locality, education, medical and other facilities for family
2. Working atmosphere & Opportunity to learn: If you get a job in a far off place, before accepting it
you would try to consider many factors, apart from income, working atmosphere, or opportunity to
learn.
3. Job Security: In another case, a job may give you less pay but may offer regular employment that
enhances your sense of security.

Page 2 of 14
 4. Time to family: 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.
 Hence, the developmental goals that people have are not only about better income but also about other
important things in life.

For development, people look at a mix of goals. Give examples.

 For development, people look at a mix of goals i.e. their aspirations are not one but more.
 Ex: 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.

1. Why do different persons have different notions of development? Which of the following explanations
is more important and why?
(a) Because people are different.
(b) Because life situations of persons are different.

2. Do the following two statements mean the same? Justify your answer.
(a) People have different developmental goals.
(b) People have conflicting developmental goals.

3. Give some examples where factors other than income are important aspects of our lives.

NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

What is the notion of development of a country for people?

 Different persons could have different as well as conflicting notions of a country’s development.

“People have conflicting development goals”. Support the statement with suitable example.
 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.
 Ex-1: 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.
 Ex-2: 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 destruction for the tribes.
 Ex-3: 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

Page 3 of 14
 of many in the urban centre’s, 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.
 Ex-4: 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.

HOW TO COMPARE DIFFERENT COUNTRIES OR STATES?

How to compare different countries or states?

Usually we take one or more important characteristics of persons and compare them based on these
characteristics.
1. For comparing countries, their income is considered to be one of the most important attributes.
o Countries with higher income are more developed than others with less income.
o This is based on the understanding that more income means more of all things that human
beings need.
o Whatever people like, and should have, they will be able to get with greater income.
o So, greater income itself is considered to be one important goal.
2. Like non-material things i.e. security, equal treatment, freedom and respect (Si f e r) are more
important than income for some of the people, similarly, when we think of a nation or a region, we
may, besides average income, think of other equally important attributes also some of them are-
a) Infant mortality rate.
b) Literacy rate
c) Net Attendance Ratio
Over the past decade or so, health and education indicators have come to be widely used along with
income as a measure of development.

Why do you think average income is an important criterion for development? Explain.
OR For comparison between countries, total income is not such a useful measure. Why?
 Since, countries have different populations, comparing total income will not tell us what an average
person is likely to earn.
 Secondly if people in one country are better off than others in a different country again comparison
is not possible.
 Hence, we compare the average income which is the total income of the country divided by its total
population. The average income is also called per capita income.

What is the income of a country?

 Intuitively, the income of the country is the income of all the residents of the country. This gives us
the total income of the country.
Do we use the total income of a country for comparison?
 No, we use average income or per capita income for comparison of growth and development with
another country or within the country.
Page 4 of 14
What is ‘per capita income’?
 The average income which is the total income of the country in a specified year divided by its total
population. The average income is also called per capita income.

𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑦 𝑖𝑛 𝑎 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟

Per-capita income =
𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑝𝑜𝑝𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑦 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟

 It is average income earned by a person in that financial annum.

 The year can be divided into three months for assessing the Quarterly growth.

What was the norms / criterion used for classifying the country into rich and poor? Who developed this
criterion and when?
 The criterion of Per-capita income or Average income was used to classify the country into rich and
low-income.
 World Bank developed this criterion.
 In his World Development Report 2006.

What is WDR?
 It is abbreviated form of World Development Report.

What is the main criterion used by the World Bank in classifying different countries? What are the
limitations of this criterion, if any?
OR What are the norms on which can we classify country into rich and low-income? Explain. Where India
does comes and why? What are the restrictions of such norms?
 In World Development Report 2006, brought out by the World Bank, per-capita income or average
income criterion was used in classifying countries.
a. Rich Countries - per capita income of ≥ Rs 4,53,000 per annum in 2004,
b. Low-income Countries - per capita income of ≤ Rs 37,000 per annum in 2004.
c. Countries which come in between the above range are known as Low-middle-income
countries.
 India comes in the category of low-income countries
o Because its per capita income in 2004 was just Rs 28,000 per annum.
 Restriction of the norm: 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 but does not have high literacy rate,
good medical facilities etc, it cannot be considered developed.

What is the other name given to Rich and Middle and Low-income countries?
 High income countries or Rich or Developed (excluding countries of Middle East and certain other
small countries) – USA, Britain, USSR ……
 Low-Middle-income or Developing countries - India
Page 5 of 14
  Low-income or Poor or Under-developed countries - Somalia, …..
Why do we use averages? Are there any limitations to their use? Illustrate with your own examples
related to development.
OR While ‘averages’ are useful for comparison, they also hide disparities. Explain
OR What is the problem associated with average income? Explain with the example.
OR How average income calculation does not tell us how this income is distributed among people. Explain
While ‘averages’ are useful for comparison, they also hide disparities.

Comparison of income of two countries

Country Comparison of monthly income of citizens in 2004 (in Rs)
Citizen 1 Citizen 2 Citizen 3 Citizen 4 Citizen 5 Average
Country A 9500 10,500 9800 10,000 10,200 10000
Country B 500 500 500 500 48,000 10,000

For example,
 Let us consider two countries, A and B.
 For the sake of simplicity, we have assumed that they have only five citizens each and their monthly
income as depicted in the table is averaged.
 Perhaps some of us may like to live in country B if we are assured of being its fifth citizen but if it is a
lottery that decides our citizenship number then perhaps most of us will prefer to live in country A.
 Even though Both the countries have identical average income, country A is preferred because
o It has more equitable distribution.
o In this country people are neither very rich nor extremely poor.
o On the other hand most citizens in country B are poor and one person is extremely rich.
 Hence, while average income is useful for comparison it does not tell us how this income is
distributed among people.

Mention any one limitation of per capita income as an indicator of development.

Limitation of per capita income is that
 It does not tell us how this income is distributed among people i.e. 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

Besides size of per capita income, what other property of income is important in comparing two or more
societies?
 Besides the size of per-capita income, how this income is distributed among people of the society is
also very important in comparing two or more societies.
Suppose records show that the average income in a country has been increasing over a period of time.
From this, can we conclude that all sections of the economy have become better? Illustrate your answer
with an example.
 See above example.

Page 6 of 14
What is the per capita income level of middle-income countries as per WDR 2006?
 The countries who has income less than Rs 4,53,000 per annum but more than Rs 37,000 per annum
are called as middle-income countries.
(seat in LS are 543; Here 4 is coming out so it become 453 and three zeros, if 4 united with 3 deleting 5
out and comes after 3 it become 37 and three zeros)

Money in your pocket cannot buy all the goods and services that you may need to live well. Explain
OR How money cannot be considered as sole factor for the development?
OR Income by itself is not a completely adequate indicator of material goods and services that citizens are
able to use. Explain.
 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.
 Like non-material things i.e. security, equal treatment, freedom and respect (Si f e r) are more
important than income for some of the people, similarly, when we think of a nation or a region, we
may, besides average income, think of other equally important attributes also some of them are-
a) Infant mortality rate.
b) Literacy rate
c) Net Attendance Ratio
o Eg: If we compare the per-capita or average income of Punjab, Kerala and Bihar – Punjab
comes first with Rs 26000 (2002-03)
o Eg: On comparing with Infant Mortality Rate, Literacy Rate and Net Attendance Ration
Kerala come at the top.
 Therefore, money in your pocket cannot buy all the goods and services that you may need to live
well.

“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.
Income by itself is not a completely adequate indicator of material goods and services that citizens are
able to use. Give examples.
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.
 For example, normally, your money cannot buy you a pollution-free environment or
 It also cannot 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.
 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 and society in providing these to the
general public.
What is the cheapest and the best way to get public facilities, services and goods?
How collective provision of goods and services is cheaper than individual provision.
 For many of the important things in life the best way, also the cheapest way, is to provide these
goods and services collectively.
Page 7 of 14
  It will be cheaper to have collective security for the whole locality than for each house to have its
own security man.
 If no one, other than a single person in a village or locality is interested in studying. There are fewer
chances that he would be able to study, unless his parents could afford to send him to some private
school elsewhere. So we are actually able to study because many other children also want to study
and because many people believe that the government should open schools and provide other
facilities so that all children have an equal chance to study.

Why still girl’s education is still low in many parts of India?

 Even now, in many areas, children, particularly girls, are not able to achieve secondary level schooling
because
o Government has not provided adequate facilities.
o Society has not taken interest for girls education due to several reasons

How education and literacy rate improvement reflects improved public facilities, services and goods?
Explain with the examples.
OR Health and nutritional status of people of such states with higher education and literacy rate is
certainly likely to be better. Explain.
 Infant Mortality Rate: Kerala has a low Infant Mortality Rate because it has adequate provision of
basic health and educational facilities people are so much educated to understand the common
myths related to infant health and getting timely health facility.
 Public Distribution System (PDS): Similarly, in some states, the Public Distribution System (PDS)
functions well. If some PDS shop, i.e. ration shop, does not function properly in such places, the
people there are able to get the problem rectified because they are educated. Health and nutritional
status of people of such states is certainly likely to be better.

Does availability of good health and educational facilities depend only on amount of money spent by the
government on these facilities? What other factors could be relevant?
 Education and Literary rate and willingness of the people to take the facility

In Tamil Nadu, 75 per cent of the people living in rural areas use a ration shop, whereas in Jharkhand only
8 per cent of rural people do so. Where would people be better off and why?
 In some states, the Public Distribution System (PDS) functions well. If some PDS shop, i.e. ration
shop, does not function properly in such places, the people there are able to get the problem
rectified because they are educated.
 Health and nutritional status of people of such states is certainly likely to be better.

Page 8 of 14
What is Human Development Report?
Human Development Report:
 It is published by UNDP (United Nations Development Programme)
 It compares countries based on the
o Educational levels of the people,
o Their health status and
o Per capita income.
 HDI is one of the indexes developed from data of Human Development Report for ranking of the
country out of 177 countries in all.

What is HDI? Which organization measures the HDI? Explain the three major indicators of the HDI. What is
the stand of India in HDI?
 HDI stands for Human Development Index.
 Human Development Index is a tool developed by the United Nations Development program (UNDP)
 It 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 to cover overall development with the object of improving the
conditions of people from all angles. More than income, people want to have a secured life. A country
should be able to provide its citizens a sense of security. Though for comparison UNDP also included
per-capita income besides other important factors.
 Three major indicators of the HDI are as follows.
1. Education: Over the past few decades, education has become an important factor in leading
equality life. So, if the country has high income but the literacy rate is low, it cannot be
considered developed.
 Literary Rate for 15+ years population
Literary Rate
 Gross enrolment ratio for three levels
2. Health: Without proper health facilities, no matter how much a country earns, it will not be able
to provide basic facilities to its people.
 Infant Mortality Rate
 Life Expectancy at Birth
3. Gross National income per-capita (Purchasing Power Parity): Previously known as Gross National
Product (GNP). It is total domestic and foreign output claimed by residents of a country,
consisting of gross domestic product (GDP) + income earn by foreign residents – income earned
in the domestic economy by nonresidents.
 HDI rank of India in the year 2013 was 126 out of 177 countries in all (now in 2017, 289 countries
included).
State the three factors other than human income that are important in life.
 Health, Education and Security are the three factors that are important in life.
 These are the three major indicators of the HDI.

Page 9 of 14
What is most important for the development of a country?
 The most important in development is that what is happening to citizens of a country.
 It is people, their health, their well being, that is most important.

Compare India and Sri Lanka on the basis of any three indicators of Human Development Index for 2004.
 Comparison between India and Sri Lanka on the basis of three indicators of HDI.

2004 Sri Lanka India

GNI per capita $5170 $3285
Literacy rate 90.6% 90.6%
Life expectancy at birth 75.15% 65.8%

SUSTAINABILITY OF DEVELOPMENT

Sustainability of development is comparatively a new area of knowledge in which scientists, economists,

philosophers and other social scientists are working together. Justify.
What is sustainability of development? Give examples.
 Development which takes without harming our environment i.e. satisfies the demands of today and
development in present should not compromised with the need of future generation.
 The concept of sustainable development encourages forms of growth that meet current basic
human needs, while preserving the resources for the needs of future generations.
 We would certainly like this level of development to go up further or at least be maintained for
future generations. This is obviously desirable.
 While talking about sustainability of development one should think that “We have not inherited the
world from our forefathers — we have borrowed it from our children.”

Why is the issue of sustainability important for development?

OR Explain the importance of sustainable development with reference to groundwater by giving example.
 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.

Page 10 of 14
Why do you think that resources we are using will not last longer? Suggest any two ways in which
resources can be used judiciously.
 Groundwater is an example of renewable resources. When groundwater is used than what is being
replenished by rain then we would be overusing this resource.
 Non-renewable resources are those which will get exhausted after 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.
 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.
 Resources can be used judiciously in the following manner.
o 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.
o Urbanization without deforestation can help us to sustain the natural environment.
o 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.
o Three ‘R’
Why is Per Capita Income calculated in the US dollars?
 The Per Capita Income is calculated in the US dollars because US dollar is considered as the medium
of internationally exchange. It is accepted as method of payment across the world.

What is the difference between HDR and WDR?

Page 11 of 14
Why does Kerala have a better Human Development Index ranking in comparison to Punjab? Explain with
three reasons.
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.
1. Education:
a. Kerala has a higher level of literacy rate than Punjab.
b. In fact, the literacy rate of Kerala is the highest in India.
c. In Kerala, the literacy rate is 94% (2011) which is almost as high as that of China.
d. This is mainly because education has been made available to everyone in Kerala whether
they are upper caste or the lower caste.
e. There is no bias in the field of education, which is one of the major reasons why Kerala has a
better HDI than Punjab.
2. Health care:
a. The health care facilities in Kerala are far better than those in Punjab.
b. Kerala has over 2700 government medical hospitals, with 330 beds per 1,00,000 population
which is the highest in India, making it achieves a higher ranking in the HDI.
3. Politics:
o 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.
o The government of Kerala has even worked for the land reforms in the State to support the
people.

Besides income, what are the seven other things people may look for growth and development?
 The following are the seven other things that people may look for growth and development, besides
income.
1. Security
2. Equal treatment
3. Freedom
4. Respect
5. Quality of life
6. Health
7. Education

Kerala, with lower per capita income has a better human development ranking than Punjab. Hence, per
capita income is not a useful criterion at all and should not be used to compare states. Do you agree?
Discuss.
Study the data given below and answer the questions that follow. Some Comparative Data on Punjab,
Kerala and Bihar
 Which state has the highest infant mortality rate?
 Why does this state have the highest infant mortality rate? Give two reasons.
 Which state appears the most developed?
Answer:
 Bihar has the highest infant mortality rate.
 Bihar has the highest infant mortality rate because of the following reasons.
Lack of health facilities
Lack of food security
Page 12 of 14
 Kerala appears the most developed.
Suppose there are four families in a country with per capita income of $15000. The income of three
families is $10000, $20000 and $12000. What is the income of the fourth family?
 The income of the fourth family is $18,000.

What is meant by economic development? What are the two bases of measuring economic development
of a country?
 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.
o HDI (Human Development Index)
o Per capita income

In what respects is the criterion used by the UNDP for measuring development different from the one
used by the World Bank?
The criterion used by the UNDP for measuring development is different from the criterion used by the World
Bank in the following ways.
1. 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 other hand, the World Bank compares the
development of the countries on the basis of per capita income or average income.
2. 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:
i. High-income countries or rich or developed
ii. Middle-income or developing countries
iii. Low-income or poor or underdeveloped or countries
3. The UNDP has a broader concept of development and the World Bank has a narrow concept of
development.
4. Limitation of World Bank Critarion: 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 favorable for development.

Explanation of some of the terms:

1. 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.
2. Literacy Rate measures the proportion of literate population in the 7 and above age group.
3. Net Attendance Ratio is the total number of children of age group 6-10 attending school as a
percentage of total number of children in the same age group.
4. Life expectancy at birth denotes, as the name suggests, average expected length of life of a person at
the time of birth.

Page 13 of 14
5. Gross Enrolment Ratio for three levels means enrolment ratio for primary school, secondary school and
higher education beyond secondary school.
6. 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 (Purchasing
Power Parity).

“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 discussion of development? Discuss.
This statement was given by Mahatma Gandhi ji:
 It means that the earth has abundant resources to satisfy everyone’s needs but in our greed and
hurry to develop, we have been recklessly exploiting these resources.
 In the name of development, we have indulge in activities such as deforestation, overgrazing,
encroachment into forest lands, overuse of ground water, use of plastic etc
 The exploitation of natural resources not only harms the environment but may cripple the future
generations of the development process itself.
 If fossil fuel is exhausted the development of all countries would be at risk.
 Thus there is need for conservation and judicious use of resources for development.

GDP GNI
 Measure of a country’s overall economic output  Total value that is produced by a citizen
 It is the market value of all services and goods  It is comprises of the GDP + income obtained form
within the border of the nation other countries (dividend, interests)
 It is based on location  It is based on ownership
 Value produced within a country’s borders  Value produced by all the citizens
 It show the strength of a country’s local income  It helps to show the economic strength of the
citizens of a country.
Ex: suppose a firm in the USA has an establishment in Canada, the profit from the products will not be part
of the USA GDP, as production has taken place in another area. However, this would count towards the
USA GNI, as the firm is owned by US Citizen even though it is located in another country.

“Consequences of environmental degradation do not respect national or state boundaries.” Explain

 Environmental degradation is a global issue, which has been discussed and debated over the past
decades. It is the deterioration of the environment through depletion of resources such as air, water
and soil. It affects and depletes the ecosystem, hampers the ozone layer and is responsible for
extinction of wildlife. Environmental degradation is not restricted to national or state boundaries. It
hampers the surroundings irrespective of any national or state boundaries and its harmful effects
are well felt in the surrounding states and neighboring countries and even globally. For example, if
India has a lot of air pollution through massive thermal power plants and other sources, it affects its
neighboring countries like Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Acid rain and climate change are
some transcontinental issues. Land degradation in India affects Bangladesh as it brings massive silt
and floods. Therefore, environmental degradation is a serious issue which has grabbed the attention
of all countries irrespective of boundaries because protecting the environment is the need of the
hour at the global level.

Page 14 of 14