What Development Promises-Different People, Different Goals

  • When there is any positive change taking place in the life of a person or the country then it is called development.
  • Different people have different developmental goals in their life as the life situation of different people are different and they seek things whcih are most important for them.
  • For example, the developmental goal for the Adivasi in the Narmada valley may be no construction of dam, no displacement and if displaced then proper rehabilitation facilities.
  • Sometimes the developmental goals of people may be conflicting in nature and prove destructive for others.
  • For example, construciton of dam could be a development goal for the industrialist but it is a conflicting goal as it would effect the lives of the people living in that areas as the local people may get displaced and their livelihood may get disrupted.

Income and other Goals

  • Difference between material goals and the non-material goals;

a) Money or income is included in the material goals whereas the non-material goals includes freedom, respect, equal treatment, security etc.

b) We can buy with the material goals whereas we cannot buy with the non-material goals.

c) Material goals can be measured whereas the non-material goals cannot be measured.

  • Besides seeking more income, our quality of life also depends on the non-material things like freedom, security, respect, equal treatment etc.
  • The non-material things cannot be ignored from our life because what cannot be measured is also important in our life.
  • For development, people look at mixture of goals which means we need both material goals and non-material goals. Mix of goals gives us the real picture of development, that’s why we look for it in our life. For example, before accepting a job we look at both the salary and the other facilities (non-material things) provided by the employer.

National Development

  • Different people have different notions of development for a country. It may be conflicting also.
  • Before finalizing the developmental goals for a country, we have to see that which goal would provide benefit to the maximum number of people in the country and what should be the just and fair path for implementing such goals.

How to Compare Different Countries or States?

  • There are different criteria or attributes for comparison. For different purpose of comparison, we need to use different parameters.
  • There are three important criteria used for the comparison of the countries in the world. These are:

a) Total Income:

It can be defined as the income of all the people (working population) of the country.

i) Different countries have different population. The demerit of using total income for the comparison of states or countries is that , it does not tell us the average income of the people in the country and also it is just a material criteria for the comparison.

b) Per capita Income:

i) It is also called average income.

ii) This is a material criteria used by the World Bank for comparing the countries.

iii) It can be defined as the total income of the country divided by the total population, so it can be calculated as:
Total Income/Total Population

iv) The World Bank published the World Development Report which divides the countries of the world into three different categories:

a) High Income Countries : Countries with PCI more than US$ 12,236 per annum are of grouped under this category.

b) Middle Income Countries : Countries with PCI between US$ 12, 236 and US $ 1005 per annum are grouped under this category.

c) Low Income Countries : Countries with PCI less than US$ 1005 per annum are grouped under this category.

The per capita income of India in the year 2016 was US$ 1840. So it lies in the group of middle income countries.

Demerits of using average income for comparison:

a) Average income hides the disparity.

b) Average income does not tell us the distribution of income among the people.

c) It is just a material criteria for the comparison.

d) UNDP criteria:

i) UNDP stands for United Nations Development Programme.

ii) The UNDP use the criteria like the per capita income, health status and educational levels of the people in the country.

iii) Under the health status , the parameters like life expectancy, infant mortality rate etc. , are used for the comparison.

iv) Under the educational levels, the parameters like literacy rates, gross enrollment ration, net attendance ratio etc., are used.

  • UNDP criteria is the best crieria for comparing the countries with respect to the other criteria because the other criteria like total income and per capita income are the material criteria whereas the UNDP uses both the material and non-material crieria for the comparison. It gives the real picture of development of a country.
  • Income is also an important criterion for comparing the countries because it helps in fulfilling the greater demands of the people. Higher income countries are more developed than the lower income countries.

Income and other Criteria

  • When we compare the three states – Haryana, Kerela and Bihar on the basid of per capita then we can conclude that Haryana is on the top with PCI Rs.1,62,034 whereas Kerala and Bihar on the second and third rank with PCI Rs.1,55,516 and Rs.34,168 respectively.
  • When the same states are compared on the basis of infant mortality rate , then Kerala is on the top followed by Haryana and Bihar with IMR 12, 36 and 42 respectively.
  • Again, on the basis of literacy rate, Kerala is on the top followed by Haryana and Bihar with the literacy percentage of 94, 28 and 62 respectively.
  • Kerala is on the top followed by Haryana and Bihar in terms of net attendance ration with 83, 61 and 43 respectively.
  • It can be concluded from the above discussion that on the basis of material criteria, Haryana is on the top and in terms of non-material criteria Kerala is on the top. But if we combine all these criteria then overall Kerala is on the top because Kerala ranks first among the three states in three parameters out of four used for the comaprison.

Public Facilities

  • The basic facilities provided to the people of the country is termed as public facilities.
  • It includes the various services like health, education, safe drinking water, sanitation etc.
  • It is true to say that money in our pocket cannot buy all the goods and services that we need to live well because

a) Money cannto give us a pollution-free environment.

b) It cannot ensure unadulterated medicines to the people.

c) It cannot protect us from infectious diseases.

  • The collective provision of the basic facilities would be the best and the cheapest. For example, keeping the security person for the whole locality, opening schools for the children in an area etc.
  • Due to the better health and educational facilities, there is low infant mortality rate in Kerala.
  • Public distribution system also plays vital role in maintaining the health and nutritional status of the people. Due to this, even the poor people are able to get the safe and nutritious food grains.

Body Mass Index

  • It is a way to find the nourishment level of the adults.
  • To calculate BMI, we take the weight of a person in Kg and divide it with the square of the height in meters.
  • If the result is less than 18.5 then the person is undernourished whereas if the result is more than 25 then the person is overweight.
  • This criterion of BMI for knowing the nourishment level of a person is not applicable for the growing children.

Human Development Report

  • It is published by UNDP.
  • It gives us the ranking of different countries which we call HDI ranking on the basis of PCI, health status and educatioanal levels.
  • India ranks 131 in the HDI ranking.
  • There are some countries smaller in size than India but have better HDI ranking than us.

Sustainability of Development

  • Development , at present, without harming the environment and also keep it safe for the future generation is termed as sustainable development.
  • On the basis of exhaustibility, resources are of two types – renewable and non-renewable.
  • Non-renewable resources are not regenerated , have a limited stock which will get finished in the near future. So there is need to use these resources in a judicious way, i.e., in a sustinable manner.
  • For example, the crude oil which is a non-renewable resource with limited stock is going to get finished in the near future. So we need to use it wisely.
  • Though the renewable resources are enough in stock and also get replenished by the natural processes but if the rate of consumption of these resources is more than the rate of replenishment then we would also face problems in future.
  • For example, groundwater, which is a renewable resource but we are facing the problem of water crisis due to its indiscriminate use.