Development, Chapter 1, Economics, Class 10, CBSE Exam Notes, (25 Plus Q&A)
Overview
Here at Development, Chapter1, Economics, Class10, CBSE Exam, we will study how people actually perceive development and how it can be measured. This topic Development, Chapter1, Economics, Class10, CBSE Exam, also discusses very minutely the concept of development process. It views that the development, probably, started quite early in human history, when man had just entered into a relatively settled life. This chapter seeks to find newer ways of looking at development using indicators of quality of life and environmental sustainability.
Also, here in this page titled Development, Chapter1, Economics, Class10, CBSE Exam, you will find interesting terms and their definitions like : Per Capita Income, Literacy Rate, Infant Mortality Rate, Attendance Ratio, Life Expectancy, Gross Enrolment Ratio, and Human Development Index.
What Development Promises.
Q.1. What is called development ?
Ans. Development is a change for betterment in the lives of an individual and society.
Q.2.How development goals of a country can be ascertained ?
Ans. It is only through a democratic political process, in association with knowledge of our past, that we can ascertain our development goals. Following points can be born in mind while setting development goals for a country –
- What are the essential things that we require as a country ?
- Can life be better for all ?
- How should people live together ?
- Can there be more equality ?
- How can we preserve and sustain our environment ?
Note: The way we live today is influenced by the past. We can not desire for change without being aware of this.
Different People, Different Goals.
Note : Different persons can have different developmental goals.
Note: What may be development for one, may not be development for other. It may even be destructive for the other.
Q,3, By citing example, show that what may be development for one, may not be development for other.
Ans. What may be development for one, may not be development for other. For example, to get more electricity, industrialists may want more dams. But this may submerge the land and make the persons or tribes displaced. They might resent this. They might prefer small check dams or tanks instead, to irrigate lands.
Income And Other Goals
Note : Common desire for people are : regular work, better wages and better prices for their products and services. In other words, people desire for more income.
Q.4 Besides income, what are other things that are non material, but essential for living a good life ?
Ans. Non material things that are essential for living a good life may be :
- equal treatment
- freedom
- security
- respect and dignity.
Note : Material things and non material things together, assure quality life for a person.
Note : Non material things like equality, freedom, security, respect, dignity – can not be measured, but they mean a lot to our lives.
Note : Opportunity of regular employment enhances sense of financial security.
Q.5. Suppose you are trying to get a job. What would be your preferences ?
Ans.
- Optimum income
- facilities for family
- working atmosphere
- opportunity to learn and grow
- job security.
Q.6. What happens if a women is engaged in paid work ?
Ans. If women are engaged in paid work, then –
- their dignity in household and society increases.
- sharing of works starts in house to support her work schedule.
- greater acceptance of women outside.
Note: A safe and secured environment may facilitate more women to take up variety of jobs or run a business.
Q.7. For development, people look at a mix of goals . Explain.
Ans. The development goals that people set for them include not only better income, but many other non material things such as – equal treatment, non discrimination, freedom, security, respect and dignity.
Q.8. Why do different persons have different notions of development ?
Ans. Since life situations and requirements of persons differ. Hence different persons have different notions of development.
National Development
Note : Different persons could have different as well as conflicting notions of a country’s development.
Q.9. How can we decide the roadmap for national development ?
Ans. Different persons could have different as well as conflicting notions of a country’s development. So for deciding the roadmap for country’s development we have to take care of following points –
- Are all ideas of development equally important? How can we prioritise them?
- What could be the fair and just path to address conflicting ideas of development?
- Would the idea benefit a large number of people?
How to Compare Different Countries or States
Note : The purpose of comparison of different things decides the selection of criterion. For example, we use different criterion to choose a sports team, a debate team, or a music team.
Q.10. How can we compare the development in two countries ?
Ans. For comparing the development of two countries, their income is considered to be one of the most important attributes to be selected as criterion for comparison.
Countries with higher income are more developed than others with less income. This is based on the understanding that more income means more reach to the things that human beings need.
Q.11. What is total income of a country ?
Ans. Intuitively, the income of a country is the income of all the residents of the country.
Q.12. Why total income is not an useful measure for drawing comparison between the countries ?
Ans. Comparison of total income of two countries may not tell us what a common citizen of the country is likely to earn.
Hence criterion of total income is not an useful measure to compare the development of two countries.
Q.13. What do you mean by average income of a country? Is it a suitable measure to compare the development of two countries ?
Ans. The total income of a country divided by its total population gives the average income of a country. The average income is also called Per Capita Income.
Average income or per capita income of a country is the suitable criteria for comparing the development of the two countries. In World Development Reports (published by World Bank), this criterion is used in classifying the countries.
Countries with per capita income of US$49,300 per annum and above in 2019, are called HIG countries ( High Income Group Countries ). On the other hand, countries with per capita income of US $ 2500 per annum or less, are called LIG countries or Low Income Group countries.
India, with per capita annual income of US $ 6700, comes in the category of Low Middle Income Group countries.
Q.14. Which countries of the world are considered ‘developed countries ‘ ?
Ans. The rich countries excluding the countries of Middle East and certain other countries, are generally called developed countries.
Note : While averages are useful for comparisons, they also hide disparities.
Q. Countries A and B have 5 citizens each, and their monthly income are shown in the following table. Observe the table, and analyse the richness level of the citizens of these countries.
| Monthly income of each of five citizens in Country ‘A’ ( In Rupees). | Monthly income of each of five citizens in Country ‘B’ ( In Rupees). |
| Rs. 9,500 | Rs. 500 |
| Rs. 10,500 | Rs. 500 |
| Rs. 9,800 | Rs. 500 |
| Rs. 10,000 | Rs. 500 |
| Rs. 10,200 | Rs. 48,000 |
| Average = Total/5 = 50,000/5= 10,000 | Average = Total/5 = 50,000/5= 10,000 |
Ans. Even though both countries have identical average income, country ‘A’ has more equitable distribution of income. Again in country ‘A’ , people are neither very rich nor very poor. In country ‘B’, most citizens are poor and one citizen is extremely rich.
Q.16 Write your views regarding what India should do or try to achieve, to become a developed country.
Ans. In World Development Reports (published by World Bank), countries with per capita income of US$49,300 per annum and above in 2019, are called HIG countries ( High Income Group Countries ). However it excludes many countries of Middle East and certain other countries, because their social indicators ( Literacy Rate, Sex Ratio, Gender Equity etc ) are not well developed. Their incomes are very high because of their abundant petroleum resource.
India comes in the category of low middle income group countries, because its per capita income in year 2019 was just US $ 6,700 per annum. Thus India should achieve high economic growth so as to increase its per capita income to the level of US $ 49,300 per annum in 2019.
Also, India should improve its social indicators and should also try to achieve more equitable distribution of income among its citizens through democratic practices.
Income & Other Criteria
Q. Define the following terms : Per Capita Income, Literacy Rate, Net Attendance Ratio, Infant Mortality Rate, Life Expectancy and Body Mass Index (BMI).
Ans. Per Capita Income : The total income of a country divided by its total population gives the average income of a country. The average income is also called Per Capita Income.
Literacy Rate : It measures the proportion of literate population in the seven above age group.
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.
Infant Mortality Rate : It 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.
Life Expectancy : It is the average expected length of a person’s age at the time of birth.
Body Mass Index (BMI) : It is a measurement which tells about how properly nourished a person is. It is calculated by dividing the weight (Kg) of the person by the square of the person’s height (In metres).
Q. Study the following data for Indian states of Haryana, Kerala and Bihar, presented in tabular form below, and draw your conclusions.
| Indicators | Haryana | Kerala | Bihar |
| Per Capita Income for 2017-18 (in Rupees) | `2,03,340 | 1,84,000 | 38,631 |
| Infant Mortality Rate per thousand live births in 2017 | 30 | 10 | 35 |
| Literacy Rate % (2017-18) | 82 | 94 | 62 |
| Net Attendance Ratio (2017-18) | 61 | 83 | 43 |
Ans. From above given table we can conclude that though, Haryana had highest per capita income of Rs. 2,03,340 per year in 2017-18, it is Kerala who in the same period, led in terms of other social indicators such as IMR (10), Literacy Rate (94%), and NAR (83%).
Again, we observe that in case of Bihar, about half of children aged 14-15 years are not attending school beyond class 8 in year 2017-18.
Public Facilities
Note : Income by itself is not a completely adequate indicator of access to material goods and services that citizens can use.
Q.17. ‘Many of the important goods and services in life can best be provided at community level rather than at individual level.’ Explain.
Ans. Many important goods and services in life can be made available collectively and not individually. For example, option of collective security is more cheaper than the option of personal security. Similarly, education, health services, transportation infrastructure are always more viable at collective level rather than at individual level.
Those states in India, which have successfully adopted a collective approach towards providing education, food security (through PDS), and health services have better social indicators such as IMR, Literacy Rate, NAR, and employment rate.
This is the reason why Haryana has more per capita income than Kerala, but it lags behind the Kerala in IMR, Literacy Rate And NAR ( Net Attendance Ratio). Kerala has adopted collective approach in more better way than Haryana in developing and upgrading its community level services.
Q.18. In Tamil Nadu, 90% of people living in rural areas use a ration shop, where as in West Bengal only 35% of rural people do so. Where would people be better off and why ?
Ans. Tamil Nadu has more developed Public Distribution System (PDS) as compared to state of West Bengal. Ration shops are run under PDS, and they ensure a better and equitable living in society. Rationing of essential commodities through these ration shops for economically weaker sections of society at subsidised nominal rates ensures equitable distribution.
Thus, in Tamil Nadu, where 90% of rural people have been covered under PDS, are more better off than rural people of West Bengal where only 35% rural population have access to ration shop under PDS.
Q.19. Can you guess why around one fifth of the people in the country are undernourished even though it is argued that there is enough food in the country ?
Ans. Our country has enough food for feeding its population. Despite this, around one fifth of the people in the country are undernourished. This is mostly because of inadequate collective approach in organising and strengthening our procurement and delivery system.
Studies show that states like Tamil Nadu have 90% of their rural population covered under PDS. On the other hand, states like West Bengal have only 35% of their rural population under PDS coverage. As a result, people of Tamil Nadu are better off and well nourished as compared to those of West Bengal.
For better distribution of our surplus agriculture produce among our rural weaker sections we need to adopt better collective approach towards following :
- procurement of food grains.
- proper storage of food grains.
- identification of vulnerable groups.
Q.20 What are the most important criterion that have been selected to measure the level of development in recent decades by United Nations Development programme (UNDP) ?
Human Development Report published by UNDP compares the level of development of countries on (1)educational levels of the people, (2)their health status and (3)per capita income.
Q.21.Compare the level of development in India with respect to its neighbours.
Ans. Following data given by UNDP’s Human Development Report’2020, regarding level of development in India and its neighbouring countries provides a good comparison of level of development in India and its neighbouring countries.
| Country | Gross National Income Per Capita (2011, PPP$) | Life Expectancy at Birth | Mean years of schooling of people aged 25 and above. | HDI Rank (Human Development Index) in the world (2018) |
| SriLanka | 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 |
| Bangla Desh | 4,976 | 72.6 | 6.2 | 134 |
Prefixing ‘human’ to the ‘development’ by UNDP, has made it clear that for development, overall conditions of citizens in a country is more important.
Sri Lanka is much ahead of India in HDI rank because it performs better in every respect of education, health, and income.
It is also noticeable that though Nepal and Bangladesh w have low per capita income than that of India, yet they are better than India in Life Expectancy.
Sustainable Development
Q.22. Citing two examples from your text book , explain how the present type and level of development are not sustainable.
Or, Q. “We have not inherited the world from our forefathers, we have borrowed it from our children.” In the light of above statement, write a note about the need for sustainable development.
Ans. Since the second half of the 20th century, it has been widely acknowledged that the present type and level of development are not sustainable.
We harness ground water for personal consumption and many other personal, agricultural and commercial activities. As a result, in past 20 years, about 300 districts in India have been reported to have decline of over 4 meters in their ground water level. Thus, ground water is under serious threat of overuse in many parts of the country. Nearly one third of the country is overusing ground water reserves. In another 25 years, 60% of the country would be doing the same if the present ways of using this resource continues.
Non renewable resources, for example crude oil, will get exhausted after a few years of use. Following table shows that these resources have a fixed stock on earth which can not be replenished. Even the additional stock of new discovery of resources will also get exhausted in this type of development overtime.
| Region/ country | Crude Oil Reserves (2017) (Thousand Million Barrels) | Number of years, reserves will last. |
| Middle East | 808 | 70 |
| USA | 50 | 10.5 |
| World | 1697 | 50.2 |
thus, we can see here clearly that the present type and levels of development are not sustainable. We need to pursue the approach of sustainability of resources while executing various development projects, so that availability of resource may remain maintained for future generations.
Q.24 What is the petroleum fuel scenario for India in near future ?
Ans. The crude oil reserves of Middle East may last for next 70 years, and for the world as a whole for 50 years. (see the above table in Q.23)
India meets two third of its petroleum needs by imports. In near future petroleum prices are sure to increase due to fixed stock of crude oil reserves in the world. In this case India’s import bill for crude oil will increase too much and it will become a burden for every one in this country.
India, thus needs to decrease its dependency on fossil fuel and explore alternative energy resources. Introduction of Electric Vehicles is one such approach.
Q.25. What is the future of development processes ?
Ans. We should adopt such kind of development practice which may facilitate to take at least the present level of development to the next generation. The future generations should not face the situation of shortage or exhaustion of resources. In this context, some one has rightly said, “we have not inherited the world from our forefathers, we have borrowed it from children.”
In general, the question of development or progress is perennial. At all times as a member of society and as individual we need to ask where we want to go, what we wish to become and what our goals are. We should adopt sustainable development approach for our various development projects , and make sure for the replenishment and wise utilisation of natural resources.
Q.26. “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 ?
Ans. Mahatma Gandhi had said, “The earth has enough resources to meet the needs of all but not enough to satisfy the greed of even one person.“
This statement is very much relevant in case of utilisation of natural resources for development processes. Natural resources availability is a finite thing. We should make judicious use of our natural resources because they have a fixed stock. For example, availability of crude oil reserves are only for 50 years. Thus we should take from nature as per our needs only. We should adopt sustainable approach in exploiting natural resources.
We should stay away from greed of overuse of resources, because it is suicidal for human progress. Greed for overuse of resources is non ecofriendly approach which leads to environmental degradation. Consequences of environmental degradation do not respect national or state boundaries and brings destruction across regions or nations.
Hence the statement given above holds very true. Famous naturalist John Muir has also suggested, ” Not opposition to progress, but opposition to blind progress.”
