GRADE: 10 Chapter 1: DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS

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WHAT DEVELOPMENT PROMISES – DIFFERENT PEOPLE DIFFERENT GOALS

Development: It is a situation that can fulfill the aspiration or desires of people. It is the progress or
improvement in the lifestyle of the people.

Two aspects of development:

1. Different people can have different development goals

• This is because the life situations of people are different.
• People see things that are most important for them or that can fulfill their aspirations or desires.
• For example, the development goal of a boy from a rich urban family would be to get admission to
a reputed college whereas the development goal of a girl from a rich urban family would be to get
as much freedom as her brother.

2. What may be development for one may not be development for other. It may also be
destructive for the other. (i.e., Development Goals can be conflicting in nature):
• At times two people or groups of people may seek things that are conflicting.
• For eg. A girl expects as much freedom and opportunity as her brother and 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 disturb the lives of people who are displaced, such as tribals.

INCOME & OTHER GOALS

Besides seeking more income, people also seek things like
✓ equal treatment,
✓ freedom,
✓ security, and
✓ respect of others.
✓ No 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.
Take for example: If you get a job in a far-off place, before accepting it you would try to consider many
factors, apart from income, such as facilities for your family, working atmosphere, or opportunity to learn.
• In another case, a job may give you less pay but may offer regular employment that enhances your
sense of security.
• 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.
Thus, we see that 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. Similarly, there
are many things that are not easily measured but they mean a lot to our lives which can be seen from the
examples given, these are often ignored

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For development, people look at a mix of goals: 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.

NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Just as individuals seek different goals, their notion of national development is also likely to be different.
It is very important to keep in mind that different persons could have different as well as conflicting
notions of a country’s development.

HOW TO COMPARE DIFFERENT COUNTRIES OR STATES?

• For comparing countries, their income is considered to be one of the most important attributes.
• This is based on the understanding that more income means more of all things that human beings
need.
• However, 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.

Average Income/Per Capita Income: The average income 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, Per Capita Income is used in classifying
countries.
• Countries with a per capita income of US$ 49,300 per annum and above in 2019, are called high-
income or rich countries.
• Countries with a per capita income of US$ 2500 per annum or less are called low-income
countries.
• India comes in the category of low-middle-income countries because its per capita income in 2019
was just US$ 6700 per annum.

Disadvantages of using Average Income as a criterion to compare countries:

• Average income hides the disparity.
• Average income does not tell us the distribution of income among people.
• It is just a material criterion for the comparison.

INCOME & OTHER CRITERIA

(To be done with reference to the table of states given in the text book)

PUBLIC FACILITIES
Money in your pocket cannot buy all the goods and services that you may need to live well. So,
income by itself is not a completely adequate indicator of material goods and services that citizens are able
to use.
For example, normally, your money cannot buy you a pollution-free environment or ensure that you get
unadulterated medicines, Money may also not be able to protect you from infectious diseases, unless the
whole of your community takes preventive steps.

• Public facilities are those provided by the government instead of individuals or private sources.
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 • For this reason, they may be either highly subsidized or totally free of cost.
• They are important because many persons do not have enough income to be able to avail of
facilities provided by the private sector resulting in difficulties faced like inadequate healthcare,
poor nutrition, lack of education, etc. The utility of two public facilities available in India are:
-The public distribution system (PDS) provides fair average quality food grains and other essential
items to the weaker section of the population at subsidized prices.
-Health care in government hospitals and dispensaries is provided to all at a subsidized rate. This
includes outpatient as well as hospitalization facilities.

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Development, at present, without harming the environment and also keeping it safe for future generations
is termed sustainable development.
• Groundwater, which is a renewable resource, is getting depleted because of its overuse. People are
facing the problem of a water crisis due to its indiscriminate use.
• The development that emerged from the fast industrialization led to the cutting of forests and its
result is a polluted- environment for the present as well as for future generations.
• Crude oil which is a non-renewable resource with limited stock is depleting gradually. So, we need
to use it wisely.

The present sources of energy that are used by the people of India are:
• Electricity
• Coal
• Crude oil
• Cow dung
• Solar energy

Measures to ensure sustainable economic development

• Control on carbon emissions
• Less use of fossil fuels and more judicious use of renewable resources
• Encourage organic farming.
• Encourage use of non-conventional sources of energy which are eco-friendly.
• Switching off the lights and fans when not in use (taking care of the present stock)

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Below are answers to the Let’s Work These Out – exercises we find in the course of the chapter.

Money in our pockets cannot buy all the goods and services that we may need to live well.
• Money cannot buy us a pollution-free environment.
• Money cannot buy us a disease-free life and might not be able to get protection from infectious
diseases.
• Besides money, people also like to have equal treatment in society, freedom, dignity, and honor in
their lives, which money cannot buy them.
Body Mass Index (BMI): Body mass index (BMI) is a person's weight in kilograms divided by the
square of height in meters.

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Human Development Index (HDI): United Nations Development Programme has used the criterion of
the Human Development Index to measure the development of countries. The human development index
is a composite index of the achievements of a nation in terms of three important variables (longevity,
knowledge, and standard of living, quality of life).

HDI is calculated on the basis of:

• Per capita income: It is calculated by dividing the total national income of a country by the total
population.
• Life expectancy: It is the average expected length of life of a person at the time of birth in a
country.
• Gross enrolment ratio for three levels: It means the enrolment ratio for primary schools, secondary
schools, and higher education beyond the secondary level.

Human Development Report Vs World Development Report

UNDP’s World Bank

Compares on the basis of literacy rate, gross Compares on the basis of per capita or average income
enrolment ration and health status of the people of the people.

Gives rank to the countries according to their It divides the countries on the basis of the average
level of development income into
-Rich or high-income countries
-Developing or middle-income countries
-Poor or low-income countries

It is a wider concept as it includes other things It is a narrow concept as includes only income of the
besides the income of the country. country.

Development Goals of Different Categories of Persons:

Categories of People Developmental goal

Landless rural labourers -More day of work and better wages
-School in the village for education of children
-No social discrimination

Prosperous farmers from -High family income through higher support

Punjab prices for the crops
-Send children abroad for higher education

Farmers who depend on rain -Irrigational facilities

for growing crops -Crop insurance

A rural woman from a land- -Provide education to her children in good

owning family schools
-Earn more money by giving out the land for
rent
Urban unemployed youth -Opportunity for higher education

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 -Better job opportunities

-Good Education and Skill Development to

enhance future employability and economic
prospects.
A boy from a rich urban
-Entrepreneurship and Innovation to create new
family
business ventures and contribute to economic
growth.

-She gets as much freedom as her brother and is

A girl from a rich urban able to decide what she wants to do in life.
family -She is able to pursue her studies abroad

-No social discrimination

An adivasi from Narmada -Regular employment
valley -Education facilities for children
-PDS shop in his village.

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.

• Different persons have different notions of development because life situations of persons are
different.
• A goal which a person has entirely depends on his or her present life situation. Over a period of
time if the situation changes, automatically goals of a person will also change.
• Development goals of a girl from a rich urban family will be surely different from a farmer in
Rajasthan. This is so because their situations, lifestyle and status are very different from each
other.

Do the following two statements mean the same? Justify your answer.
(a) People have different developmental goals.
(b) People have conflicting developmental goals.
• Yes, these two statements mean almost the same, as different persons could have different as well
as conflicting developmental goals.
• For e.g., in Gujarat, government is in favour of the Narmada Project, while the people who are
adversely affected by the project/dam are opposing this.

Comparison of Haryana, Kerala, and Bihar (on the basis of average income/per capita income)

Per Capita Income for

State
2018–19 (in ₹)
Haryana 2,36,147
Kerala 2,04,105
Bihar 40,982

• We find that of the three, Haryana has the highest per capita income and Bihar is at the bottom.
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 • 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 of the 3 states.

Comparison of Harayana, Kerala and Bihar (on the basis of other criteria)

STATE Infant Mortality rate Literacy rate% Net attendance ratio (2018-2018)
per 1,000 live births (2017-2018) per 100 persons. Secondary stage
(2018) (age 14-15 years)
Haryana 30 82 61
Kerala 7 94 83
Bihar 32 62 43

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 the literate population in the 7-and-above age group.
3. 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.
• 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. On the other hand, the per
capita income of Haryana is more than that of Kerala.
• The last column of the table shows that about half of the children aged 14-15 in Bihar are not
attending school beyond Class 8. This means that if you went to school in Bihar nearly half of your
elementary class friends would be missing.

Comparison of India with its neighbours

Gross National Income Mean Years of HDI Rank in

Life Expectancy
Country (GNI) per capita (2011 Schooling of People the world
at Birth
PPP $) aged 25 and above (2018)
Sri Lanka 12,707 77 10.6 73
India 6,681 69.7 6.5 130
Myanmar 4,961 67.1 5.0 148
Pakistan 5,005 67.3 5.2 154
Nepal 3,457 70.8 5.0 143
Bangladesh 4,976 72.6 6.2 134

1. HDI stands for Human Development Index. HDI ranks in the above table are out of 189 countries
in all.
2. Life Expectancy at birth denotes the average expected length of life of a person at the time of birth.
3. 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.
4. Sri Lanka is much ahead of India in every respect.

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5. Nepal and Bangladesh have low per capita income than that of India, yet they are better than India
in life expectancy.