DEVELOPMENT
1. ‘What may be development for one may not be development for the other.’
Explain by giving examples.
or
With the help of an example show two groups who may have different
notions of development. [CBSE Sept. 2010]
Answer: It is true that development for one may not be development for the
other.
(i) More wages means development for a worker, but it can go against the
entrepreneur.
(ii) A rich farmer or trader wants to sell foodgrains at a higher price but a poor
worker wants to purchase it for low prices.
(iii) Construction of a dam means more and cheap power, but people, who will
lose their habitat will demonstrate.
(iu) To get more electricity, the industrialists may want more dams. But this may
submerge the agricultural land, and disrupt the lives of the people.
2. ‘Money cannot buy all the goods and services that one needs to live well.’
Answer: (i) 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 upon non-
material things like equal treatment, freedom, security, respect of others, etc.
(ii) Money cannot buy us a pollution free environment, unadulterated
medicines, peace, etc.
(iii) There are many facilities like schools, colleges, parks, hospitals which an
individual cannot afford. All these are to be provided by the
government/society.
(iv) Money possessed by an individual even cannot provide us a type of
government which take decisions for the welfare of the common people.
3. What are the limitations of the per capita income criteria of development?
Answer: (i) Per capita income is the average income of a country.
(ii) Per capita income criteria takes into account only the economic aspect of life
and ignores the social, aspect of life.
(iii) Per capita income criteria ignores education, health, life expectancy,
sanitation etc.
(iv) Per capita income criteria also ignores non material things like peace,
pollution free environment, democracy, etc.
(v) Though Punjab has higher per capita income as compared to Kerala but it has
been ranked lower on Human Development Index because it is far behind than
Kerala in literacy rate and has higher infant mortality rate than Kerala.
4. Why are public facilities needed for the development of the country ?
Explain four public facilities.
Answer: Public facilities play very important role in the development of a
country as these include education, health, transportation, banking which are
the base for any kind of development.
(i) Education: Education is the most important public facility which is required
both by the rich as well as the poor.
(ii) Public Distribution System (PDS): Public distribution system is another
important facility which plays an important role in providing food security to the
people.
(iii) Transportation: Many transport facilities like railway, airways, waterways,
banking become affordable only if they are provided collectively.
5. What is the criterion to determine if adults are undernourished?
Answer: (i) The criterion to determine if adults are undernourished is Body Mass
Index, popularly known as BMI.
(ii) In order to calculate it, first the weight of the person in kg is taken. Then, we
take height in meters. The weight is divided by the square of the height.
(iii) If this figure is less than 18.5, then the person would be considered
undernourished. However, if this BMI is more than 25, then a person is
overweight.