NCERT DEVELOPMENT

DEVELOPMENT

ECONOMICS(X)

CHAPTER 01

NCERT TEXTBOOK QUESTIONS

1. Development of a country can generally be determined by
(i) its per capita income
(ii) its average literacy level
(iii) health status of its people
(iv) all the above
Ans  (iv) all the above

2. Which of the following neighbouring countries has better performance in terms of human development than India?
(i) Bangladesh
(ii) Sri Lanka
(iii) Nepal
(iv) Pakistan
Ans (ii) Sri Lanka

3. Assume there are four families in a country. The average per capita income of these families is Rs 5000. If the income of three families is Rs 4000, Rs 7000 and Rs 3000 respectively, what is the income of the fourth family?
(i) Rs 7500
(ii) Rs 3000
(iii) Rs 2000
(iv) Rs 6000
Ans (iv) Rs 6000

4. What is the main criterion used by the World Bank in classifying different countries? What are the limitations of this criterion, if any?
Ans : Per Capita Income is the main criterion used by the World Bank in classifying different countries.The limitation of this criterion are:
→ It doesn't show distribution of income.
→ It also ignores other factors such as infant mortality rate, literacy level, healthcare, etc.

5. In what respects is the criterion used by the UNDP for measuring development different from the one used by the World Bank?
Ans: World bank only uses per capita income for measuring development while UNDP uses many other factors like infant mortality, healthcare facility education level which help in improving the quality of life and helps in making the citizens more productive.

6. Why do we use averages? Are there any limitations to their use? Illustrate with your own examples related to development.
Ans :We use averages because they are useful for comparing differing quantities of the same category. For example, to compute the per capita income of a country, averages have to be used because there are differences in the incomes of diverse people. However, there are limitations to the use of averages. This does not show distribution of thing between people. For an example, if a country has very high per capita income then we can't say that citizen living in that country are very rich because we are not knowing about the distribution of wealth in that country. Some people might be richer while other people are very poorer in that country.

7. Kerala, with lower per capita income has a better human development ranking than Punjab. Hence, per capita income is not a useful criterion at all and should not be used to compare states. Do you agree? Discuss.
Ans: No, I do not agree with the statement that per capita income is not a useful criterion at all. Kerala, with lower per capita income has a better human development ranking than Punjab because, human development ranking is determined using a combination of factors such as health, education, and income. So, this does not imply that per capita income is not useful. Rather, per capita income is one of the development factors and cannot be neglected. The World Bank uses per capita income as the criterion for measuring development and comparing states. But this criterion has certain limitations because of which determination of Human Development Index (HDI) is done using this criterion along with some other development factors like health, education etc.

8. Find out the present sources of energy that are used by the people in India. What could be the other possibilities fifty years from now?
Ans: The present sources of energy that are used by the people of India are electricity, coal, crude oil, cow dung and solar energy. Other possibilities fifty years from now, could include ethanol, bio-diesel, nuclear energy and a better utilization of wind energy, especially with the imminent danger of oil resources running out.

9. Why is the issue of sustainability important for development?
Ans : The issue of sustainability is important for development because development must be in tandem with the future. If natural resources are not sustained, then development will stagnate after a point of time. Exploiting resources unethically will ultimately undo the development that a country may have achieved. This is because in the future, those resources will not be available for further progress.

10. "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 : "The Earth has enough resources to meet the needs of all but not enough to satisfy the greed of even one person". This statement is relevant to the discussion of development since both resources and development go hand in hand. For the sustainability of development, the maintenance of resources is also crucial. As the statement claims, the Earth has enough resources- renewable and non-renewable to satisfy everyone's needs; however, these need to be used with a view to keep the environment protected and clean so that a balance of production and use is maintained, and shortages are avoided.

11. List a few examples of environmental degradation that you may have observed around you.
Ans : Few examples of environmental degradation:
→ Deforestation
→ Soil erosion
→ Falling levels of ground water
→ Depletion of the ozone layer and combustion from automobiles causing extreme air pollution
→ Water Pollution

12. Why are public facilities needed for the development of the country? Explain any four

Public facilities.

Ans. Public facilities are essential for the social and economic development. Economic development

and social development are both dependent on public facilities such as education, health etc.

Without these people cannot achieve their full potential. Some important public facilities are :–

(i) Construction of roads, railways, generating electricity, developing ports etc. These are

     used by people so they have to be developed.

(ii) Providing essential goods at cheap rates or below their cost price so that even poor people

      can afford them. Such activities have to be undertaken by the government.

(iii) Providing adequate health and education facilities to each and every citizen is a primary

      duty of any government. Such services are essential because a healthy and educated citizen

      is an asset for the country.

(iv) Providing safe drinking water, housing and nutritious food to children etc., are other such

       public facilities which are essential.

13. What do you mean by Human Development Index? What are its three components?

Ans. Human Development Index means the criteria developed by the UNDP to compare the

country’s development out of 177 countries.

The main components of Human Development Index are :-

(i) Educational levels of the people.

(ii) Health status of the people.

(iii) Per Capita income.

14. For each of the items given in Table 1.6, find out which country is at the top and which is at the bottom.

TABLE 1.6 SOME DATA REGARDING INDIA AND ITS NEIGHBOURS FOR 2004
Country	Per Capita Income in US$	Life            Expectancy      at birth	Literacy Rate             for 15+ yrs   population	Gross Enrolment Ratio for three levels	HDI Rank in the world
Sri Lanka India Myanmar Pakistan Nepal Bangladesh	4390 3139 1027 2225 1490 1870	74 64 61 63 62 63	91 61 90 50 50 41	69 60 48 35 61 53	93 126 130 134 138 137

Answer

(i) Per Capita Income in US$: Top country - Sri Lanka; Bottom country - Myanmar
(ii) Life Expectancy at birth: Top country - Sri Lanka; Bottom country - Myanmar

(iii) Literacy Rate for 15+ yrs. population: Top country - Sri Lanka; Bottom country - Bangladesh

(iv) Gross Enrolment Ratio for three levels: Top country - Sri Lanka; Bottom country - Pakistan

(v) HDI Rank in the world: Top country - Sri Lanka; Bottom country - Nepal

15. The following table shows the proportion of undernourished adults in India. It is based on a survey of various states for the year 2001. Look at the table and answer the following questions.

State	Male (%)	Female (%)
Kerala Karnataka Madhya Pradesh	22 36 43	19 38 42
All Sates	37	46

(i) Compare the nutritional level of people in Kerala and Madhya Pradesh.

(ii) Can you guess why around 40 per cent of people in the country are undernourished even though it is argued that there is enough food in the country? Describe in your own words.

Ans:

(i) The nutritional level of people of Kerala is quite higher than the people – both males and females of Madhya Pradesh. Their ratio of the under-nourished is less than that of Madhya Pradesh.

(ii) There is enough food in the country, even then 40% of the people in the country are undernourished because:
→ A large number of people are so poor that they cannot afford nutritious food.
→ In most of the states, the Public Distribution System (PDS) does not function properly and the poor people cannot get cheap food items.
→ There is lack of educational and health facilities in many parts of the country. So many people remain backward and poor. As such, they are unable to get nutritious food.