Intext Questions

Q.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.
Sol.     The second explanation is more important about different notions of development for different people. A person’s development needs depend on the situation around him. This can be illustrated with a simple example which is as follows. If a person is living in a remote village which is not accessible by road, then construction of an all weather road would be the developmental need for that person. On the other hand, if a person is living in a metro city and finds it difficult to commute to his workplace, construction of rapid transit system would be the developmental need for that person.

Q.2     Do the following two statements mean the same? Justify your answer.
           (a) People have different developmental goals.
           (b) People have conflicting developmental goals.
Sol.     Both the statements are true but their meanings are different. Two people may have different developmental goals buy they need not always be conflicting. For example; construction of a flyover to reduce waiting time at a railway crossing can be the developmental goal for an office worker. But if the construction of the flyover necessitates demolition of slums, it can be contradictory for the slum dwellers. But on the other hand, 24 hour electricity supply would be developmental goal for almost each and every person.

Q.3     Give some examples where factors other than income are important aspects of our lives.
Sol.     Good income is important for a comfortable life, but it is not the only important factor. A good income would be useless if a person does not have access to quality health services. If good schools are not available in the neighborhood, it can be difficult to provide proper education to the children. These are some examples which show factors; other than income; which affect our life.

Q.4     Explain some of the important ideas of the above section in your own words.
Sol.     Different persons can have different developmental goals. What may be development for one may not be development for the other. It may even be destructive for the other. For example; a dam may be developmental goal for an industrialist, but the same dam can create havoc with the life of people who need to be evacuated in the catchment area. Different people have different developmental needs. These needs are based on their particular life situations. For example; for a person in a remote village, access to an all weather road can be the developmental goal. On the other hand, for a person living in Delhi or Mumbai; construction of a rapid mass transit system may be the developmental goal.

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Q.1     Give three examples where an average is used for comparing situations.
Sol.     Height of students in a class with a large number of students, income of people of a state, forest cover in a country, etc. are some examples where averages are used for comparing situations.

Q.2     Why do you think average income is an important criterion for development? Explain.
Sol.     Income can enable people to at least make provision for basic necessities of life. If the average income of a country is on a higher side, its chances of faring better on development index are better. Hence, average income can be an important criterion for development.

Q.3     Besides size of per capita income, what other property of income is important in comparing two or more societies?
Sol.     Purchasing power parity is another important property of income; while comparing two or more societies. Purchasing power parity shows the ability of people to purchase some items which are taken for comparison.

Q.4     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.
Sol.     Increase in average income cannot be a guarantee of overall progress of the economy. As the data of Punjab and Kerala; in this chapter; show, there are other factors which also need to be analysed before arriving at a conclusion. Some of those factors are; infant mortality rate, literacy rate, etc.

Q.5     From the text, find out the per capita income level of middle-income countries as per WDR 2006.
Sol.     Sri Lanka: $ 4390, India: $ 3139, Pakistan: $ 2225

Q.6     Write a paragraph on your notion of what should India do, or achieve, to become a developed country.
Sol.       When we look at the figures related to Human Development Index, India lags behind on several parameters. Although the life expectancy, infant mortality, and literacy rate have shown improvement in 2011 census, much more needs to be done. Given the vast population of India, the absolute number of infants how die before completing one year is very high. This can be attributed to lack of proper healthcare, drinking water, sanitation and nutrition; especially in rural areas. India needs to develop facilities to improve on these parameters to become a developed country.

Exercise

Q.1     Development of a country can generally be determined by
           (a) Its per capita income
           (b) Its average literacy level
(c) Health status of its people
           (d) All the above
Sol.     (d) All of the above

Q.2     Which of the following neighboring countries has better performance in terms of human development than India?
           (a) Bangladesh
           (b) Sri Lanka
           (c) Nepal
           (d) Pakistan
Sol.     (b) Sri Lanka

Q.3     Assume there are four families in a country. The average per capita income of these families is Rs 5000. If the income of three families is Rs 4000, Rs 7000 and Rs 3000 respectively, what is the income of the fourth family?
           (a) Rs 7500
           (b) Rs 3000
           (c) Rs 2000
           (d) Rs 6000
Sol.     (d) Rs 6000

Q.4     What is the main criterion used by the World Bank in classifying different countries? What are the limitations of this criterion, if any?
Sol.     Per Capita Income is the main criterion used by the World Bank in classifying different countries. Economists agree that income is not the only factor to improve the quality of life. There are many other factors which affect the development, e.g. infant mortality rate, literacy level, healthcare, etc. Hence, it can be said that the criterion used by the World Bank has its own limitations.

Q.5     In what respects is the criterion used by the UNDP for measuring development different from the one used by the World Bank?
Sol.     UNDP uses many other factors which affect the quality of life. This gives due to weight to other criteria; like infant mortality, healthcare, school enrolment, etc. So, the UNDP looks at those factors which help in improving the quality of life and helps in making the citizens more productive.

Q.6     Why do we use averages? Are there any limitations to their use? Illustrate with your own examples related to development.
Sol.     Whenever we need to analyse a big sample size, it is difficult to analyse individual data. Hence, it is important to use averages in such cases. Averages have some limitations. Average figure may not reveal the true picture. For example; the per capita income does not show the distribution of income. It does not show the percentage of poor in the population. The per capita income in India has risen significantly over the last two decades but so has the number of poor.

Q.7     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.
Sol.     In spite of being the richest state, Punjab shows a very high child mortality rate compared to Kerala. The net attendance ratio of children in classes 1 to 4 and literacy rate are higher in Kerala; as compared to Punjab. This explains the significantly higher child mortality rate in Punjab. Bihar is fairing badly against all parameters which speaks about its poor record on Human Development Index.

Q.8     Find out the present sources of energy that are used by the people in India. What could be the other possibilities fifty years from now?
Sol.     Firewood is used by a majority of people in rural India. LPG is the main kitchen fuel in urban India. Because of large scale deforestation, availability of firewood would become a big concern fifty years from now. So, we need to find some alternate fuel; like gobar gas for rural India. Solar power is another source which can reduce our dependency on fossil fuels and can give us security against shortage of fuel in the future.

Q.9     Why is the issue of sustainability important for development?
Sol.     Development does not only mean securing a better present, but it also means securing a better future for the generations to come. Sustainable development is the development which can be sustained for many years without making undue drain on our resources. Hence, sustainability is an important aspect of development.

Q.10     “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 disscusion of development? Discuss.
Sol.       This famous quote is from Mahatma Gandhi. We know that the earth has plenty of resources which would outlast our lifetime. But we also need to think about the future beyond our lifetime and we need to think about the future generations. If we go on exploiting our natural resources indiscriminately, then nothing would be left for the future generation. Hence, we should control our greed and take as little from the nature as is really necessary for our needs.

Q.11     List a few examples of environmental degradation that you may have observed around you.
Sol.        In my city, I can hardly see any greenery. The air quality is so bad, that many people in my neighbourhood suffer from some respiratory problem. The river which flows from the city, looks more like a filthy drain. All of this shows the level of environmental degradation.

Q.12     For each of the items given in Table 1.6, find out which country is at the top and which is at the bottom.
Sol.

Q.13     The following table shows the proportion of undernourished adults in India. It is based on a survey of various states for the year 2001. Look at the table and answer the following questions.

(a) Compare the nutritional level of people in Kerala and Madhya Pradesh.
            (b) Can you guess why around 40 per cent of people in the country are undernourished even though it is argued that there is enough food in the country? Describe in your own words.
Sol.      (a) People of Kerala get better nutrition than the people of Madhya Pradesh.
            (b) Some of the possible reasons can be as follows:
– Uneven distribution of food grain production
– Improper supply chain
– Malfunctioning of Public Distribution System.