| Non-Rationalised Economics NCERT Notes, Solutions and Extra Q & A (Class 9th to 12th) | |||||||||||||||||||
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| 9th | 10th | 11th | 12th | ||||||||||||||||
| Class 10th Chapters | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1. Development | 2. Sectors Of The Indian Economy | 3. Money And Credit |
| 4. Globalisation And The Indian Economy | 5. Consumer Right | |
Chapter 1 Development
What Development Promises — Different People, Different Goals
Introduction: The Idea of Development
The idea of development or progress is universal. We all have aspirations and desires about what we would like to do and how we would like to live. Similarly, we have ideas about what a country should be like. Development involves thinking about these aspirations and the ways to achieve them. It is a complex task that touches upon economics, history, and political science, because our present is influenced by the past, and our hopes for the future can only be achieved through a democratic political process.
Different People, Different Goals
The notion of development or progress is not the same for everyone. Different people seek different things based on their life situations and what is most important to them.
| Category of Person | Developmental Goals / Aspirations |
|---|---|
| Landless rural labourers | More days of work and better wages; local school provides quality education for their children; no social discrimination; they too can become leaders in the village. |
| Prosperous farmers from Punjab | Assured high family income through higher support prices for crops and through hardworking and cheap labourers; ability to settle their children abroad. |
| A girl from a rich urban family | She gets as much freedom as her brother, is able to decide what she wants to do in life, and can pursue her studies abroad. |
| An adivasi from Narmada valley | Secure livelihood, no displacement from their land due to development projects like dams, preservation of their culture and traditions. |
Conflicting Developmental Goals
Not only do different people have different goals, but sometimes these goals can be conflicting. What may be development for one may not be development for another; it may even be destructive.
Example 1. To get more electricity, industrialists may want more dams. However, building a dam may submerge land and disrupt the lives of people who are displaced, such as tribals. For the tribals, this is not development; it is destruction. They might prefer small check dams or tanks to irrigate their land.
Example 2. A girl in a family expects as much freedom and opportunity as her brother, and for him to share in the household work. Her brother may not like this and may see it as an infringement on his freedom.
Two things are clear from this:
- Different persons can have different developmental goals.
- What may be development for one may be conflicting for another.
Income and Other Goals
The Importance of Income
A common thread among the diverse developmental goals is the desire for more income. People want regular work, better wages, and decent prices for their products. In other words, a higher income is a universal aspiration.
Beyond Income: Non-Material Goals
While income is important, it is not the only factor that determines our quality of life. People also seek non-material things that are equally, and sometimes more, important. These include:
- Equal treatment
- Freedom
- Security
- Respect from others
- Friendship
Material goods that money can buy are not all that we need to live well. The quality of our life depends heavily on these non-material aspects. It is wrong to conclude that what cannot be measured (like friendship or respect) is not important.
Example 1. When considering a job offer in a far-off place, a person would look at factors beyond income, such as facilities for their family, the working atmosphere, and opportunities to learn. A job with lower pay but regular employment might be preferred over a high-paying but insecure job with no work-life balance because it enhances the sense of security.
For development, people look at a mix of goals. The developmental goals that people have are not only about better income but also about other important things in life.
National Development
Just as individuals have different goals, their notions of national development are also likely to be different and even conflicting. National development means thinking about what would be a fair and just path for all. It involves answering questions like:
- Can all ideas for development be considered equally important?
- If there are conflicts, how does one decide?
- Would a particular idea benefit a large number of people or only a small group?
National development requires a broad consensus on what constitutes progress for the nation as a whole, often through a democratic process of debate and decision-making.
How to Compare Different Countries or States?
The Criterion for Comparison
When we compare things, we choose one or more important characteristics as the basis for comparison. For comparing countries, their income is considered one of the most important attributes. The understanding is that more income means more of all the things that human beings need and desire.
Total Income vs. Average Income
- Total Income: The income of all the residents of a country. This is not a useful measure for comparison because countries have different populations.
- Average Income (or Per Capita Income): The total income of the country divided by its total population. This is a better measure because it tells us what an average person is likely to earn.
Average Income = $\frac{\text{Total Income of the Country}}{\text{Total Population}}$
World Bank Classification
The World Bank uses per capita income to classify countries in its World Development Reports. For 2017, the classification was:
- Rich Countries (High-income): Countries with a per capita income of US$ 12,056 per annum and above.
- Low-income Countries: Countries with a per capita income of US$ 955 or less.
India, with a per capita income of just US$ 1820 per annum in 2017, falls in the category of low-middle-income countries.
Average Income and Its Limitations
While average income is useful for comparison, it has a major drawback: it hides disparities. It does not tell us how income is distributed among the people.
Example 1. Consider two countries, A and B, each with five citizens.
| Country | Monthly incomes of citizens (in Rupees) | Average | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I | II | III | IV | V | ||
| Country A | 9,500 | 10,500 | 9,800 | 10,000 | 10,200 | 10,000 |
| Country B | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 48,000 | 10,000 |
Both countries have the same average income. However, Country A has a more equitable distribution, with people who are neither very rich nor extremely poor. In Country B, most citizens are poor, while one person is extremely rich. Most people would prefer to live in Country A. This shows that while average income is useful, it is not a complete measure of development.
Income and Other Criteria
As we've seen, individual aspirations are not just about income but also include goals like security, respect, and freedom. Similarly, when we think of a nation, we must consider other equally important attributes besides average income.
Comparing Haryana, Kerala, and Bihar
Let's examine the case of three Indian states. Based on Per Capita Income for 2016-17, Haryana (₹1,80,174) is the most developed, and Bihar (₹34,409) is the least developed, with Kerala (₹1,63,475) in between. However, if we look at other crucial indicators, the picture changes.
| State | Infant Mortality Rate per 1,000 live births (2017) | Literacy Rate % (2011) | Net Attendance Ratio (secondary stage, age 14-15) (2013-14) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Haryana | 30 | 82 | 61 |
| Kerala | 10 | 94 | 83 |
| Bihar | 35 | 62 | 43 |
Key Observations
- Infant Mortality Rate (IMR): Kerala has a very low IMR of 10, while Haryana's is 30. This means that despite having a higher per capita income, Haryana lags behind Kerala in this crucial area of health.
- Literacy and Education: Kerala has a much higher literacy rate (94%) and Net Attendance Ratio (83%) compared to Haryana.
This comparison shows that per capita income is not a completely adequate indicator of development.
The Role of Public Facilities
Why does Kerala, with a lower per capita income, have better health and education outcomes? The reason is that money in your pocket cannot buy all the goods and services you need to live well.
- Income by itself cannot buy a pollution-free environment or protection from infectious diseases. These require collective action and public facilities.
- The best and cheapest way to provide many important things in life, like education and security, is to provide them collectively through public facilities.
You are able to study because many other children also want to study, and because the government or society has provided facilities like schools. Kerala has a low IMR because it has adequate provision of basic health and educational facilities. Similarly, states with a well-functioning Public Distribution System (PDS) are likely to have a better health and nutritional status.
Human Development and Sustainability
Human Development Report
Once it is recognized that income is an inadequate measure of development, we begin to think of other criteria. Health and education indicators are among the most important. The Human Development Report, published by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), compares countries based on a composite index that includes:
- Educational levels of the people
- Their health status
- Per capita income
This approach, known as the Human Development Index (HDI), makes it clear that what is important in development is what is happening to the citizens of a country—their health and well-being.
A comparison of India with its neighbours shows that Sri Lanka is much ahead of India in every respect. Nepal and Bangladesh, despite having lower per capita incomes, are better than India in life expectancy.
Sustainability of Development
Even if a country is developed, it is desirable that this level of development is maintained for future generations. Sustainability of development is a new area of knowledge that questions whether the present type and levels of development are sustainable. Scientists have been warning that our current path is not.
The Problem of Resource Depletion
Development often leads to the overuse of both renewable and non-renewable resources.
- Renewable Resources: These are resources that are replenished by nature, like groundwater, crops, and plants. However, they can be overused. For example, if we use more groundwater than is being replenished by rain, we are overusing this resource. Evidence suggests that groundwater is under a serious threat of overuse in many parts of India.
- Non-Renewable Resources: These are resources that will get exhausted after years of use, as we have a fixed stock on Earth that cannot be replenished (e.g., crude oil, coal). At the current rate of extraction, the world's crude oil reserves are estimated to last only about 50 more years.
The consequences of environmental degradation do not respect national boundaries. Issues like climate change and resource depletion are global concerns. Our future is linked together. The debate on what constitutes true, sustainable development is perennial and ongoing.
NCERT Questions Solution
Intext Questions (Pages No. 6)
Question 1. Why do different persons have different notions of development? Which of the following explanations is more important and why?
(a) Because people are different.
(b) Because life situations of persons are different.
Answer:
Question 2. Do the following two statements mean the same? Justify your answer.
(a) People have different developmental goals.
(b) People have conflicting developmental goals.
Answer:
Question 3. Give some examples where factors other than income are important aspects of our lives.
Answer:
Question 4. Explain some of the important ideas of the above section in your own words.
Answer:
Intext Questions (Pages No. 7)
Question 1. Look at the picture on the right. What should be the developmental goals for such an area?
Answer:
Question 2. Read this newspaper report and answer the questions that follow:
A vessel dumped 500 tonnes of liquid toxic wastes into open-air dumps in a city and in the surrounding sea. This happened in a city called Abidjan in Ivory Coast, a country in Africa. The fumes from the highly toxic waste caused nausea, skin rashes, fainting, diarrhoea etc. After a month seven persons were dead, twenty in hospital and twenty six thousand treated for symptoms of poisoning.
A multinational company dealing in petroleum and metals had contracted a local company of the Ivory Coast to dispose the toxic waste from its ship.
(i) Who are the people who benefited and who did not?
(ii) What should be the developmental goal for this country?
Answer:
Question 3. What can be some of the developmental goals for your village, town or locality?
Answer:
Intext Questions (Pages No. 9)
Question 1. Give three examples where an average is used for comparing situations.
Answer:
Question 2. Why do you think average income is an important criterion for development? Explain.
Answer:
Question 3. Besides size of per capita income, what other property of income is important in comparing two or more societies?
Answer:
Question 4. Suppose records show that the average income in a country has been increasing over a period of time. From this, can we conclude that all sections of the economy have become better? Illustrate your answer with an example.
Answer:
Question 5. From the text, find out the per capita income level of low-income countries as per World Development Reports.
Answer:
Question 6. Write a paragraph on your notion of what should India do, or achieve, to become a developed country.
Answer:
Intext Questions (Pages No. 12)
Question 1. Look at data in Tables 1.3 and 1.4. Is Haryana ahead of Kerala in literacy rate etc., as it is in terms of per capita income?
Answer:
Question 2. Think of other examples where collective provision of goods and services is cheaper than individual provision.
Answer:
Question 3. Does availability of good health and educational facilities depend only on amount of money spent by the government on these facilities? What other factors could be relevant?
Answer:
Question 4. In Tamil Nadu, 90 per cent of the people living in rural areas use a ration shop, whereas in West Bengal only 35 per cent of rural people do so. Where would people be better off and why?
Answer:
Exercises
Question 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
Answer:
Question 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
Answer:
Question 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
Answer:
Question 4. What is the main criterion used by the World Bank in classifying different countries? What are the limitations of this criterion, if any?
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Question 5. In what respects is the criterion used by the UNDP for measuring development different from the one used by the World Bank?
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Question 6. Why do we use averages? Are there any limitations to their use? Illustrate with your own examples related to development.
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Question 7. Kerala, with lower per capita income has a better human development ranking than Haryana. Hence, per capita income is not a useful criterion at all and should not be used to compare states. Do you agree? Discuss.
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Question 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?
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Question 9. Why is the issue of sustainability important for development?
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Question 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 disscusion of development? Discuss.
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Question 11. List a few examples of environmental degradation that you may have observed around you.
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Question 12. For each of the items given in Table 1.6, find out which country is at the top and which is at the bottom.
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Question 13. The following table shows the proportion of adults (aged 15-49 years) whose BMI is below normal (BMI $<18.5 \text{ kg/m}^2$) in India. It is based on a survey of various states for the year 2015-16. Look at the table and answer the following questions.
| State | Male (%) | Female (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Kerala | 8.5 | 10 |
| Karnataka | 17 | 21 |
| Madhya Pradesh | 28 | 28 |
| All States | 20 | 23 |
(i) Compare the nutritional level of people in Kerala and Madhya Pradesh.
(ii) Can you guess why around one-fifth 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.
Answer: