UNIT 1

DEVELOPMENT Eco
Grade X

1. Do the following two statements mean the same?
a) People have different developmental goals.
b) People have conflicting developmental goals.
Ans: Yes, the following statement implies almost the same as different persons could have different as well
as conflicting development al goals, e.g., In Gujarat; government is in favour of Narmada project, while the
people who are adversely affected by the project/ dam are opposing this.
2. Besides size of per capita income, what other property of income is important in comparing two or
more societies?
Ans: Average income, i.e., per capita income is an important but not the only criterion for development.
Along with average income, equitable distribution of income [i.e., people are neither very rich nor extremely
poor] in a country should also be considered.
3. Find out present sources of energy used by people in India. What could be possibilities fifty years
from now?
Ans: Present sources of energy used by people in India are coal, lignite, petroleum, natural gas, LPG,
electricity, etc Fifty years from now there is a possibility that people will be making more use of non-
conventional sources of energy.
4. What do you think average income is an important criterion for development? Explain.
Ans: It is an important criterion because it gives some idea about the rising standard of living. Prosperity of a
country depends not only on the size of its national income but also on the number of people who would
share it.
5. Why is sustainable development essential for economic growth? Give two reasons.
Ans. Sustainable development is important for development because it results in
i. Protection the people against pollution ensuring their quality of life and health.
ii. Conserving environment which is necessary for sustainable development.
iii. Raising the standard of living of the existing population.
6. Explain the concept of human development with an example.
Ans. Human development is based on the idea that education and health are integral to human well-being
because only when people have the ability to read and write and the ability to lead a long and healthy life,
they will be able to make other choices which they value. Therefore human welfare should be increased
through investment in education and health, eg. Every individual has a right to get basic education and basic
health care. Every individual has a right to be literate and lead a healthy life.
7. What is meant by economic development? Write the two bases of measuring economic development
of a country.
Ans. Economic development means that the rate of production must be faster than the rate of increase in
population. In other words, it is a process which makes people in general, better off by increasing their
command over goods and services and by increasing the choices open to them.
8. Explain two main reasons for the need of environmental friendly economic growth and two
suggestions to achieve them.
Ans. Reasons for need of environment friendly economic growth:
i) Present production technology has polluted atmosphere and water bodies with garbage, smoke
and poisonous gases.
ii) Rapid economic growth and industrialization have led to reckless exploitation of natural
resources [like fossil fuels]
Suggestions to achieve it:
i) Increased use of renewable and clean sources of energy, less use of fossil fuels, organic farming.
ii) Measures to reduce global warming and global limits on carbon emission, etc..

9. 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? Discuss.
Ans. This statement implies that human beings are overusing the natural resources of the earth in the name
of development and industrial revolution. Earth provides enough resources to meet the needs of all but
todays man has become so greedy that he, for his progress and development, resorts to activities like
deforestation, unsustainable fuel wood and fodder extraction, shifting cultivation, encroachment into forest
lands, forest fires, indiscriminate use of agro-chemicals, extraction of groundwater in excess of recharge
capacity, etc.
10. Explain the meaning of Human Development Index. Mention three main components of measuring
Human Development Index according to UNDP Report of 1990.
Ans. According to United Nations Development Programme [UNDP], Human Development is the
cumulative measurement of
i) Life expectancy at birth- indicating the number of years a newborn s expected to live.
ii) Literacy Rate- it is measured by educational attainment percentage, which is combined gross
enrolment ratio in primary, secondary and tertiary levels.
iii) Per capita income
The rank of a country is determined by the overall achievements in these three basic dimensions
of human development. HDI is indicative of the levels of human development and not the
compete measurement of development.

11. How is BMI calculated?
Ans. Step 1. : Weight of person in kg and height in meters is taken
Step 2. : Divide the weight by the square of the height
BMI = eight /Height
2
Step 3. : If BMI 18.5, then person is undernourished.
If BMI 25, then person is overweight.


12. Do the two terms- Economic Growth and Economic Development mean the same things. Discuss.
Ans. No, economic growth and Economic development are distinct and different in terms of their contents
and coverage.
Economic growth: - can be defined as a process whereby a countrys real national income increases over a
long period of time. In other words it is concerned with increase in national income.
Economic development: however not only concerns itself with increase in income, but with its composition
and distribution as well. It covers the process of long term increase in income, as well as with achieving a
more equitable income distribution and poverty alleviation.
Thus, economic development is a wider concept than economic growth. Economic development + change
13. List the economic and non-economic factors determining development.
Ans: Economic factors:
i) Availability of national resources in abundance.
ii) Adequate availability of capital
iii) Progress in science and technology
iv) Human resource development
v) Growth of population

Non Economic factors:
i) Spread of education
ii) Desire for material betterment
iii) Social institutions like caste system, joint family system.
iv) Political conditions of a country.


14. Assume that there are only four families each in two countries. Study the given table below carefully
and answer the questions that follow.
Monthly income of families Average
Income
A B C D
Country X 12,000 11,000 13,000
Country Y 5,000 4,000 6,000 35,000
i) Fill in the blanks in a way that both country X and Y have the same average income.
ii) Now say, which country is better off and why?
ANS.










15. What are the limitations of per capita income as an adequate index of economic development?
Ans. Limitations of per capita income are:
i) A rise in per capita income is due to rise in prices and not due to increase in physical output; it is
not a reliable index of economic development.
ii) National income rises but its distribution makes the rich richer and the poor poorer.
iii) It excludes all non marketed goods and services, even though they may be important for human
happiness and better quality of life.
iv) Rise in per capita income may be due to use of modern capita intensive technology in production
which h may be labour displacing in nature thus adversely affecting the poor masses.
v) If rate of population growth, is higher than the rate of growth of national income, this will lead to
fall in per capita availability of goods and services and economic welfare.
vi) Contribution of commodity to economic welfare may be higher than its money value e.g., money
value of salt, needle, thread, etc. included in national income is very low than their contribution to
economic welfare.