Chapter-1 Development

Important Questions with Answers

1. “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.
Answer: Yes, I agree with the statement because money income and
material goods alone are not an adequate indicator of a good quality of life.
Money cannot buy all the goods and services one needs to live well.
 Money cannot buy pollution free and dean environment with fresh air.
 It cannot protect us from infectious diseases and guarantee good health for
us.
 Money cannot assure that medicines available in the market are not
adulterated.
To live well one needs non-material factors such as equal treatment,
freedom, security, equal opportunity to learn, a pollution free environment,
good and safe working conditions etc.
2. What is development? What are two aspects of development?
Ans. Development is such 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 are:
 Different people can have different development goals.
 What may be development for one may not be development for
others.
3. Why do different people have different notions of development?
Explain.
Ans. It 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.
4. Explain how the development goals and aspirations of landless rural
laborers, prosperous farmers, and poor farmers who depend only on
rain are different.
Ans.
 Landless rural laborers: They would like to have more days of work
and better wages, and local schools to provide quality education to
their children there should not be any social discrimination so that
they too can become leaders in the village.
 Prosperous farmers: They should have an assurance of high family
income through higher support prices for their crops through
hardworking and cheap labor.
 Farmers who depend only on rain: This kind of farmer’s main goal is
to have irrigational facilities, crop insurance at less premium, and
water facilities of life for them as well as their children.
5. Give examples to prove that there are other important development
goals than income.
Ans. Besides income, the development goals of various categories of people
are different from person to person. Some examples of developmental goals
other than income are:
 For rich farmers: High support price for crops, cheap labor, and
subsidized inputs.
 For landless rural laborers: More days of work, schools for their
children, and no social discrimination.
 For Adivasi: No social discrimination, year-round employment,
school education for children, and PDS shop in his village.
 For urban youth: Opportunity for higher education, availability of an
office job, and a self-owned house.
 For an urban girl from a rich family: Freedom to decide her profession
and be able to pursue her higher studies abroad.
6. “Average income is an important criterion for development.” Justify.
Ans. To check the criteria for the development of countries, their income is
considered to be one of the most important attributes.
 Countries with higher incomes are more developed than others with
less income.
 This is based on the understanding that more income means more of
all the things that human beings need.
7. “National development of a country depends on the availability of
public facilities.” How?
 Ans. Public facilities are those provided by the government instead of
individuals or private sources. 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.
8. In what respects is the criterion used by the UNDP for measuring
development different from the one used by World Bank?
UNDP’s method of measuring World Bank’s method of
development measuring development
i. UNDP compares on the basis of i. World Bank compares on the basis
literacy rate, gross enrolment ratio, of per capita income
and Life expectancy at birth.
ii. It gives ranks to the countries ii. It divides the countries according
according to their level of to
development.  Rich or high-income
countries
 Middle-income(Upper and
Lower Middle-Income) or
developing countries
 Poor or low-income countries

iii. It is a wider concept as it iii. It is a narrow concept.

9. What is the main norm used by the World Bank in classifying different
countries as rich and poor countries? What are the restrictions of such
norms?
Ans. The main norm used by the World Bank in classifying different
countries as rich and poor countries is per capita income.
 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.

[Link] a 25 years old woman lived in a village. Her height is 1.45 m and
her weight is 36 kg. While Nisha is of the same age and height, her
weight is 48 kg. What can be said about their nutritional condition?
Ans. Sunita’s BMI = Weight/Height2 = 36/(1.45)2 = 36/2.1025 =
17.12 kg/m2. As per the table, Sunita is underweight.
Nisha’s BMI = Weight/Height2 = 48/(1.45)2 = 48/2.1025 = 22.83
kg/m2. As per the table, Nisha is under the normal weight category.
[Link] are the criteria used by the UNDP for classifying countries?
Or,
Explain the meaning of HDI. Mention three components of measuring HDI.
Ans. 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.
12.“The issue of sustainability is important for development.” Examine the
statement.
Ans. Sustainable development aims at fulfilling the needs of today
without compromising the needs of the future generation.
 Sustainability is the capability to use resources judiciously and
maintain the ecological balance.

 It lays emphasis on environmental protection and checks

[Link] have not inherited the world from our forefathers – we have
borrowed it from our children.’ explain the above statement with an
example.
 Ans. 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 leads 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.
[Link] out the present sources of energy that are used by the people in
India.
Ans. The present sources of energy that are used by the people of India are:
 Electricity
 Coal
 Crude oil
 Cow dung
 Solar energy.
[Link] does Kerala have a better Human Development Index ranking in
comparison to Punjab? Explain with three reasons.
Ans. Kerala has a better Human Development Index ranking in
comparison to Punjab.
The three reasons are:

 Kerala has better provisions of health facilities and

THANK YOU.