Chapter 4 Human Development
Growth and Development
• Both growth and development refer to changes over a period of time.
• The difference is that growth is quantitative and value neutral while Development
means a qualitative change which is always value positive.
• Growth means that the change may be either positive or negative while
Development occurs when positive growth takes place.
• The concept of human development was introduced by Dr Mahbub-ul-Haq. Dr Haq
has described human development as development that enlarges people’s choices
and improves their lives.
• Access to resources, health and education are the key areas in human
development.
• Building people’s capabilities in the areas of health, education and access to
resources is therefore, important in enlarging their choices.
The Fourth Pillars of Human Development
• The four main components of human development are:
→ Equity
→ Sustainability
→ Productivity
→ Empowerment
• Equity refers to making equal access to opportunities available to everybody. The
opportunities available to people must be equal irrespective of their gender, race,
income and in the Indian case, caste.
• Sustainability means continuity in the availability of opportunities. To have
sustainable human development, each generation must have the same
opportunities. All environmental, financial and human resources must be used
keeping in mind the future. Misuse of any of these resources will lead to fewer
opportunities for future generations.
• Productivity means human labour productivity or productivity in terms of human
work. Such productivity must be constantly enriched by building capabilities in
people.
• Empowerment means to have the power to make choices. Such power comes from
increasing freedom and capability. The empowerment of socially and economically
disadvantaged groups is of special importance.
Approaches to Human Development
• The important approaches to Human Development are:
→ The income approach: This approach states, the level of income reflects the level
of freedom an individual enjoys. Higher the level of income, the higher is the level of
human development.
→ The welfare approach: This approach states the government is responsible for
providing basic facilities like health, education and amenities to people.
→ Minimum needs approach: In this approach, emphasis is on providing six basic
needs i.e. health, education, food, water supply, ” sanitation and housing.
→ Capabilities approach: This approach is associated with Prof. Amartya Sen.
Building human capabilities in the areas of health, education and access to
resources is the key to increasing human development.
Measuring Human Development
• The human development index (HDI) ranks the countries based on their
performance in the key
areas of health, education and access to resources.
• These rankings are based on a score between 0 to 1 that a country earns from its
record in the key areas of human development.
• The indicator chosen to assess health is the life expectancy at birth.
• The adult literacy rate and the gross enrolment ratio represent access to
knowledge.
• Access to resources is measured in terms of purchasing power (in U.S. dollars).
• The human development index is a sum total of the weights assigned to all these
dimensions. The closer a score is to one, the greater is the level of human
development.
• The human poverty index is related to the human development index. This index
measures the shortfall in human development.
• The probability of not surviving till the age of 40, the adult illiteracy rate, the number
of people who do not have access to clean water, and the number of small children
who are underweight are all taken into account to show the shortfall in human
development in any region.
• Since 1990, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has been
publishing the Human Development Report every year. The Human Development
index and the Human Poverty index are two important indices to measure human
development used by the UNDP.
• Bhutan is the only country in the world to officially proclaim the Gross National
Happiness (GNH) as the measure of the country’s progress. GNH encourages us to
think of the spiritual, non-material and qualitative aspects of development.
International Comparisons
• Size of the territory and per capita income are not directly related to human
development.
• Countries can be classified into four groups on the basis of the human development
scores earned by them.
Level of Human Score in Development Number of
Development Index Countries
Very High above 0.800 59
High between 0.701 up to 0.799 53
Medium between 0.550 up to 0.700 39
Low below 0.549 38
According to the Human Development Report of 2018, very high human
development index group includes 59 countries.
• High level of human development group has 53 countries. Countries with higher
human development are those where a lot of investment in the social sector has
taken place.
• There are 39 countries in the medium level of human development. Most of these
are countries which have emerged in the period after the Second World War. Many
of these countries have been rapidly improving their human development score by
adopting more people-oriented policies and reducing social discrimination.
• 38 countries record low levels of human development. A large proportion of these
are small countries which have been going through political turmoil and social
instability in the form of civil war, famine or a high incidence of diseases.
QUESTION BANK
[Link] between growth and development.
Q2. “Development is a qualitative change, which is always value positive.” Support
this statement with any three suitable arguments.
Ans: This means that development cannot take place unless there
is an increment or addition to the existing conditions.
Development occurs when positive growth takes place.
Arguments: -
1) The term ‘development’ refers to a qualitative change that is always value
[Link] occurs when there is a positive change in quality over a time period.
2) Development is influenced by growth but only in the case of positive and
qualitative growth, e.g. if a child grows by height but is not mentally able, then growth
is not accompanied with development.
3) Countries with better economic conditions are more developed while poor nations
are less developed. But in many cases, the benefit of economic growth does not
reach the common man. Quality of life of the
people, the opportunities they have, freedom of living, etc. are important aspects of
development.
3) Dr Mahbub-ul-Haq described human development as development that enlarges
people’s choice and improves their lives. He believed that people are central to all
development and the main aim of development is to create a situation and
environment where people get meaningful lives.
Q3. Name the four pillars of development. Describe impact of each giving examples.
Or
What is human development? Analyse the four pillars of human development. Or
Explain any three human values which are required to empower socially and
economically disadvantaged people. Or
Explain the concept of ‘Equity’ and ‘Sustainability’ as the pillars of human
development. Or
“Equity is one of the most important pillars of human development.” Give any three
human values that
are required to give equal success to the opportunity to everybody.
ANS:
Human development is defined as the type of development that enlarges people’s
choices and improves their lives. Human development has four concepts that are
called pillars of human development. These are: -
1) Equity:
- Equity means the availability of equal opportunities to [Link]
opportunities available to people must be equal irrespective of their gender,
race, income and caste etc
. A quality life is possible if access to resources is provided on the basis of
being a human. E.g. in India, a large number of women and persons belonging to
socially and economically backward groups drop out of
school, they do not have access to knowledge.
2) Sustainability:- It means continuity in the availability of opportunities. To have
sustainable human development, each generation must have the
same opportunities. All environmental, financial and human resources must be used
keeping in mind the needs of future generations. Misuse of any of these resources
will lead to lack of opportunities for future generations.
3) Productivity- Productivity here means human labor productivity or productivity in
terms of human work. Such productivity can be
gained by building capabilities in [Link] is people who are the real
wealth of nations. Therefore,efforts to increase their knowledge, or provide better
health facilities ultimately lead to better work efficiency.
4) Empowerment: -Empowerment means to have the power to make choices. Such
power comes from increasing freedom and capability. Good governance and people-
oriented policies are required to empower
people.
Q4. Explain the Approaches to Human Development. Or
Explain any three features of welfare approach of human development. Or
Explain any three characteristics of ‘welfare approach’ of human development in the
world. Or Explain the ‘basic needs approach’ to human development in the world.
ANS:
1) Income Approach: - This is one of the oldest approaches
to human development. Human development is seen as being linked to income.
The idea is that the level of income reflects the level of freedom an individual enjoys.
Higher the level of income, the higher is the level of human development.
2)Welfare Approach: - This approach gives the idea that all the developmental
activities are for the human beings so the government
should spent resources on education, health and social services. The government is
responsible for increasing levels of human development by increasing expenditure
on welfare.
3) Basic Needs Approach: - This approach was initially proposed by the International
Labour Organisation (ILO). Six basic needs i.e. health, education, food, water
supply, sanitation, and housing were identified. The idea of human choices is
ignored and the emphasis is on the provision of basic needs.
4) Capability Approach: - This approach is associated with Prof. Amartya Sen.
According to him building human capabilities in the areas of health, education and
access to resources is the key to increasing human
development.
Q5. Classify countries into four groups on the basis of the human development
scores earned by them. Explain one feature of each group. Or
Describe the distribution of HDI countries with High index value, Medium Index value
and Low index value.
1) Countries with Very High Index Value: - Countries with very high human
development index are those which have a score of over 0.800. According to the
Human Development Report of 2018, this group includes 59 countries.
2) Countries with High Index Value: - High level of human development group has
53 countries. Reasons behind High HDI are: -
⇔ Education and healthcare is an important government priority.
⇔ Countries with higher human development are those where a lot of investment in
the social sector has taken place.
⇔ Good governance.
⇔ The degree of social diversity in these countries is not very high.
⇔ Many of the countries with a high human development score are located in
Europe and represent the industrialized western world.
3) Countries with Medium Index Value: - Countries with medium levels of human
development form the largest group. There are 39 countries in this group. Reasons
behind Medium HDI are: -
⇔ Most of these are countries which have emerged as developing countries.
⇔ Some countries from this group were former colonies. Many others have emerged
after the breakup of the erstwhile Soviet Union in 1990.
⇔ Many of these countries have been rapidly improving their human development
score by adopting more people-oriented policies and reducing social discrimination.
⇔ Most of these countries have a much higher social diversity than the countries
with higher human development scores.
⇔ Many in this group have faced political instability and social uprisings at some
points of time in their recent history.
4) Countries with Low Index Value: - As many as 38 countries record low levels of
human development. Reasons behind Low HDI are: -
⇔ A large proportion of these are small countries.
⇔ These have been going through political disturbance and social instability in the
form of civil war, famine or a high incidence of diseases. There is an urgent need to
address the human development requirements of this group through well thought out
policies.
⇔ Some Statements are misleading that low level is due to culture or religion or
community.
⇔ Places with low levels of human development tend to spend more on defense
rather than social sectors. This shows that these countries tend to be located in
areas of political instability and have not been able to initiate accelerated economic
development.
Q6.“The Gross National Happiness is the measure of the country’s progress.”
Evaluate the statement. Or What is Gross National Happiness? What are its
important aspects?
Bhutan is the only country in the world to proclaim GNH as the measure of human
development. It means material progress cannot come at the cost of
happiness. GNH encourages us to think of the spiritual, non-material and qualitative
aspects of the development.
Q7. Explain the key areas of human development. Or
What do you mean by ‘Human Development’? Explain its concept. Or
Explain the three main areas of measuring human development.
1) Health: - It is measured through life expectancy at birth, which shows whether
people have a long and healthy life.
2) Education/ Literacy: - Level of education is seen through gross enrollment ratio
and
an adult literacy rate that represents access to knowledge.
3) Per Capita Income: - GDP and GNP showing the per capita income of a country
is
an important indicator of human resource development. The higher the per capita
income, the more developed the country is. Workers in developed countries earn
more than that in developing countries.
4) Housing: - The United Nations identifies adequate housing as a fundamental
human right, defining it as “the right to live somewhere in security, peace and dignity.
5) Access to Resources: - The access to resources is purchasing power in terms of
US dollars. This also shows having enough means to be able to live a decent life.
6) Demographic Characteristics: - The demographic characteristics of a country are
influenced by the economy of a country. The infant mortality rate is high in
developing countries as people are not able to provide food and medicines. Natural
increase rate (The difference between crude birth rate and death rate) is also high. It
places a pressure on economy. Developing countries have a high percentage of
dependent population (i.e. children). But the overall percentage of dependent
population is lower in developed countries.