CBSE Class 10 Social Science Development Notes Set 03

These CBSE Class 10 Economics notes for Chapter 1 Development cover how different people have different developmental goals, how national development and income are measured (national income, per capita income), the World Bank's income classification of countries, comparing states on income and other criteria, public facilities, the Human Development Index, and sustainable development, with a glossary at the end.

Different People, Different Goals

Different people can have very different ideas of what development means for them — what looks like development to one person may even be an obstacle to another's development. For example, an Adivasi family from the Narmada Valley might prioritise freedom from social discrimination, schooling for children, work available all year round, and a functioning ration (PDS) shop in the village; a trader in the same area might prioritise good infrastructure, lower taxes, cheap labour and a good price for their goods; while an industrialist might want better infrastructure, lower taxes and cheap labour. From this, we can conclude that different people have different developmental goals, and what means development for one may not mean development for another — it can even work against another person's idea of development.

The Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA), launched in 1985 by the activist Medha Patkar, is a social movement made up of human rights activists, farmers, Adivasis and people living along the banks of the Narmada river, whose main goal is to stop the construction of large dams on the river.

The Traditional Notion of Economic Development

As many newly independent countries sought economic development after gaining independence, the term was, until the 1960s, generally used as a synonym for economic growth. It is no longer seen as equivalent to growth alone. There is no full consensus among economists on exactly what "economic development" means, but there is broad agreement that it is more than just economic growth — it is generally understood as growth, plus progressive change in certain measures of material welfare.

Income and Other Goals

Besides more income, people also seek things such as equal treatment, education, security, respect, freedom from discrimination, and a pollution-free environment. In some cases, these matter even more than income, since a good quality of life requires more than material things alone — friendships and relationships, for instance, cannot be bought with money or measured in monetary terms, yet matter just as much, sometimes more. So development, for most people, is really about a mix of goals considered important for a good quality of life, not income alone.

National Development

Since individuals pursue different, sometimes conflicting, goals, deciding what counts as "development" for a whole nation raises hard questions: can every individual's goal be given equal weight in a democracy? When goals conflict, how should priorities be decided, and what is a fair path for everyone? National development broadly refers to a country's ability to improve the social, economic and political welfare of its people — social welfare being advanced through basic facilities such as education, drinking water, transport infrastructure and healthcare.

Comparing Countries and States

Countries such as Japan, the UK and the USA are generally described as developed, while countries such as Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are often described as developing or less developed. The usual basis for such comparisons is economic development, measured through national income and per capita income.

National Income (GNP) = the total value of goods and services produced within a country (GDP) + Net Factor Income from Abroad (NFIA).
Per Capita (Average) Income = National Income ÷ Total Population.

Both measures express development in monetary terms. Every country tries to raise its national and per capita income, but doing so is a necessary, not a sufficient, condition for real development. For reference, India's real per capita income (at 2011-12 prices) was estimated at Rs 86,659 for 2020-21, compared to Rs 94,566 in 2019-20; the IMF's April 2021 World Economic Outlook projected India's nominal per capita GDP for 2021 at about 2,191 US dollars.

Using national income and average income to compare countries or states has real drawbacks: these measures say nothing about how income is distributed across society, focus only on economic aspects while ignoring non-economic ones, and can conceal real disparities between different groups of people.

The World Bank's Classification of Countries

The World Bank's World Development Report, 2019 classifies countries by per capita income: countries with a per capita income (PCI) above 49,300 US dollars a year are classed as high-income countries (e.g. the UK, Switzerland, Australia); those with a PCI below 2,500 US dollars a year are classed as low-income countries. India, with a per capita income of about 6,700 US dollars in 2019, falls into the lower-middle-income category.

Income and Other Criteria: Comparing Indian States

Infant Mortality Rate (IMR): the number of children who die before their first birthday, per 1,000 live births in a given year. In Kerala, 7 out of 1,000 children born alive die before turning one; in Haryana, it is 30, more than four times as many.

Literacy Rate: the proportion of literate people in the population aged 7 and above. Kerala has the highest literacy rate, followed by Haryana, while Bihar's is much lower.

Net Attendance Ratio: the number of children of a given age group actually attending school, as a percentage of all children in that age group. Among 14-15 year-olds, only 43% attend school in Bihar, the lowest of the three states, compared to 61% in Haryana and 83% in Kerala.

Per capita income is highest in Haryana and lowest in Bihar — so if per capita income alone were used as the measure, Haryana would appear the most developed and Bihar the least developed of the three, even though Kerala clearly outperforms Haryana on health and education. This illustrates why income alone is an incomplete measure of development.

Public Facilities

For many essentials of life, providing goods and services collectively, rather than relying on individual purchasing power, is the most effective or most affordable approach. In many states, children, especially girls, still cannot complete secondary schooling because government or society has not provided adequate opportunity. Kerala's low infant mortality rate reflects its strong public provision for health and education; where the Public Distribution System (PDS) functions well, people can get problems with their local ration shop fixed, and the health and nutritional status of the population tends to be correspondingly better.

Human Development

The concept of Human Development was introduced to address the limitations of average income as a measure. It refers to the process of expanding people's choices and raising their level of well-being, so that they can lead a purposeful and creative life. National income and per capita income remain indicators of human development, but the concept also takes in factors such as consumption, health, environment, freedom, security, and a non-violent atmosphere. It was introduced by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in 1990.

According to National Statistical Office (NSO) data, India's average literacy rate stood at 77.70%, with male literacy at 84.70% and female literacy at 70.30%. In the UNDP's Human Development Report 2020, India ranked 131st out of 189 countries on the Human Development Index, with an HDI value of 0.645, placing it in the medium human development category. India's average neonatal mortality rate (deaths within the first 28 days of life, per 1,000 births) fell from about 30 in 2015-16 to 25 in 2019-21. Body Mass Index (BMI), a simple measure calculated as BMI = weight in kilograms ÷ (height in metres)², is considered healthy in the range 18.5-24.9, with a BMI of 25.0 or above classed as overweight.

Components of Human Development:

Longevity: the life expectancy, in years, of a country's people — the higher the life expectancy, the more developed the country is generally considered; India's life expectancy is cited at about 65 years, compared with over 70 years in developed countries such as Japan.
Educational attainment: measured through adult literacy and the combined enrolment ratio across primary, secondary and tertiary education.
Real per capita income: the average income earned by a country's people at a given point in time; a rise in real per capita income is treated as a genuine indicator of human development.

(Source: Human Development Report, 2020, UNDP. Per capita income is expressed in dollars adjusted for purchasing power parity, PPP, so that a dollar buys a comparable amount of goods and services in every country.)

Sustainable Development

In recent decades, economists have put forward the concept of Sustainable Development: a process of economic development that aims to maintain the quality of life of both present and future generations, without damaging natural resources or the environment. Examples of the sustainability challenge in India include the depletion of groundwater and the exhaustion of other natural resources.

Features of sustainable development include: the efficient use of natural resources to achieve long-term goals such as higher income and employment, reduced poverty, and a better standard of living; ensuring that using natural resources to raise today's standard of living does not reduce the quality of life available to future generations; avoiding activities that increase pollution and thereby reduce future quality of life; and using natural resources in a way that sustains not just present development, but the capacity for future development as well.

Steps taken towards sustainable development include: greater use of renewable and clean energy sources; reduced reliance on fossil fuels; organic farming; and measures to curb global warming, including global limits on carbon emissions.

"We have not inherited this earth from our forefathers; we have borrowed it from our children." We should use our resources for our own benefit, but sustain and maintain them for the welfare of future generations too — as it is often said, "The earth has enough resources to meet the needs of all, but not to satisfy the greed of even one person."

Glossary

Developed Economies: economies characterised by high per capita income — e.g. Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands.
Developing Economies: economies with an underdeveloped industrial base and a comparatively low Human Development Index — e.g. China, India.
Underdeveloped Economies: economies marked by widespread poverty, low economic performance relative to developed economies, and underused production potential — e.g. South Sudan, Chad, Niger.
Economy: the sum total of all economic activities — production, consumption, distribution and exchange.
National Income: the total value of all final goods and services produced in a country, plus net factor income from abroad.
Per Capita Income: the average income of a country's people over a given period.
Life Expectancy at Birth: the average number of years a newborn is expected to live, based on the age-specific mortality rates prevailing at the time of birth.
Infant Mortality Rate: the number of children who die before age one, per 1,000 live births in a given year.
Literacy Rate: the proportion of literate people in the population aged 7 and above.
Production: the process of combining material and immaterial inputs to create something for consumption.
Net Attendance Ratio: the number of children of a given age group attending school, as a percentage of all children in that age group.
Economic Activities: activities involving the making, providing, buying or selling of goods or services.
Non-economic Activities: activities that do not involve money or generate income.
Fossil Fuels: fuels formed from decomposed plants and animals, found in the earth's crust, rich in carbon and hydrogen, and burned for energy — e.g. coal, oil, natural gas.
Global Warming: the gradual rise in the earth's average atmospheric temperature, driven by rising levels of carbon dioxide, chlorofluorocarbons and other gases.
Human Development Index (HDI): a statistical measure of a country's overall achievement in social and economic terms, based on the health, educational attainment and standard of living of its people.
Sustainable Development: a process of economic development that maintains the quality of life of both present and future generations, without harming natural resources or the environment.