CBSE Class 10 Social Science Development Goals, Per Capita Income, HDI and BMI Notes Set 06

Different people, different goals

Development means progress and improvement in the quality of life. Because people live in different situations, their ideas of development differ. A girl from a rich urban family may want a good college and a professional career, while a landless rural worker may want steady wages and a decent price for the crop. A person's goal depends on present life conditions, and when those conditions change the goal also changes. People may even have conflicting goals; a developmental goal for one may harm another, as when a dam benefits towns but displaces villagers. So we look for goals that are fair and sustainable for everyone.

How can we compare development?

We need common measures. The main ones are the following.

1. Per capita income: the average income of a country, found by dividing total national income by total population. It lets us compare countries or regions.

2. Infant mortality rate: the number of children who die before the age of one year, per 1000 live births in that year.

3. Literacy rate: the proportion of literate people in the population aged seven years and above.

4. Life expectancy at birth: the average expected length of life of a person.

5. Gross enrolment ratio: the number of students enrolled at primary, secondary and higher levels as a share of the corresponding age-group population.

6. Net attendance ratio: the percentage of children of school-going age who actually attend school.

Limits of per capita income

Per capita income is an average, so it hides inequality. In a country where a few people earn a great deal and many earn very little, the average can look healthy even when most people are poor. It also says nothing about health, education, safe water or the quality of the environment. Two states with the same average income may differ greatly in what people can actually get. Kerala, for example, has a lower per capita income than Haryana but a much better infant mortality rate and literacy rate, because it provides more public facilities such as schools, health centres and the public distribution system.

World Bank and UNDP

The World Bank classifies countries mainly by average income. Countries with a high per capita income are called rich countries and those with a low one are called low-income countries, and the income limits are revised from time to time. The UNDP, in its Human Development Report, ranks countries by the Human Development Index, which combines the health of citizens (life expectancy), their educational attainment and their per capita income. So the World Bank uses a single criterion, income, while the UNDP uses a wider one covering health and education as well.

Body Mass Index

BMI is a measure of nutritional status. It is calculated as the weight of a person in kilograms divided by the square of the height in metres. For adults, a BMI below 18.5 is considered underweight, 18.5 to 24.9 is normal, and 25 or more is overweight. It is useful because it indicates whether a person is undernourished or at risk from excess weight, and is therefore a simple indicator of the health aspect of development.

Worked examples

Example 1. A country has a total income of ₹9,00,000 crore and a population of 120 crore. Per capita income = 9,00,000 ÷ 120 = ₹7,500.

Example 2. A person weighs 60 kg and is 1.5 m tall. BMI = 60 ÷ (1.5 × 1.5) = 60 ÷ 2.25 = 26.7, which is in the overweight range.

Sustainability

Development must not harm the future. Resources such as groundwater and fossil fuels are limited, so using them recklessly leaves less for coming generations. Sustainable development meets present needs without reducing the ability of future generations to meet theirs.

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