NCERT Class 12 Geography Human Development

Human Development

The words ‘growth’ and ‘development’ are not new to you. Look around you, almost everything that you can see (and many that you cannot) grows and develops. These may be plants, cities, ideas, nations, relationships or even you yourself! What does this mean? Do growth and development mean the same thing? Do they accompany each other?  This chapter discusses the concept of human development as it pertains to nations and communities.

GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT

Both growth and development refer to changes over a period of time. The difference is that growth is quantitative and value neutral. It may have a positive or a negative sign. This means that the change may be either positive (showing an increase) or negative (indicating a decrease). Development means a qualitative change which is always value positive. This means that development cannot take place unless there is an increment or addition to the existing conditions. Development occurs when positive growth takes place. Yet, positive growth does not always lead to development. Development occurs when there is a positive change in quality.

For example, if the population of a city grows from one lakh to two lakhs over a period of time, we say the city has grown. However, if a facilities like housing, provision of basic services and other characteristics remain the same, then this growth has not been accompanied by development. Can you think of a few more examples to differentiate between growth and development?

For many decades, a country’s level of development was measured only in terms of its economic growth. This meant that the bigger the economy of the country, the more developed it was considered, even though this growth did not really mean much change in the lives of most people.

The idea that the quality of life people enjoy in a country, the opportunities they have and freedoms they enjoy, are important aspects of development, is not new. These ideas were clearly spelt out for the first time in the late eighties and early nineties. The works of two South Asian economists, Mahbub-ul-Haq and Amartya Sen are important in this regard.

Leading a long and healthy life, being able to gain knowledge and having enough means to be able to live a decent life are the most important aspects of human development. Therefore, access to resources, health and education are the key areas in human development. Suitable indicators have been developed to measure each of these aspects. Can you think of some?

Very often, people do not have the capability and freedom to make even basic choices. This may be due to their inability to acquire knowledge, their material poverty, social discrimination, inefficiency of institutions  and other reasons. This prevents them fromleading healthy lives, being able to get educated or to have the means to live a decent life. Building people’s capabilities in the areas of health, education and access to resources is therefore, important in enlarging their choices. If people do not have capabilities in these areas, their choices also get limited.

For example, an uneducated child cannot make the choice to be a doctor because her choice has got limited by her lack of education. Similarly, very often poor people cannot choose to take medical treatment for disease because their choice is limited by their lack of resources.

THE FOUR PILLARS OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

Just as any building is supported by pillars, the idea of human development is supported by the concepts of equity, sustainability, productivity and empowerment. Equity refers to making equal access to opportunities available to everybody. The opportunities available to people must be equal irrespective of their gender, race, income and in the Indian case, caste. Yet this is very often not the case and happens in almost every society.

EXERCISES

1. Choose the right answer from the four alternatives given below.

    (i) Which one of the following best describes development?

         (a) an increase in size         (c) a positive change in quality

         (b) a constant in size           (d) a simple change in the quality

    (ii) Which one of the following scholars introduced the concept of Human Development?

         (a) Prof. Amartya Sen          (c) Dr Mahabub-ul-Haq

         (b) Ellen C. Semple             (d) Ratzel

    (iii) Which one of the following is not a country with high human development?

         (a) Norway                          (c) Argentina

         (b) Japan                            (d) Egypt

2. Answer the following questions in about 30 words.

    (i) What are the three basic areas of human development?

    (ii) Name the four main components of human development?

    (iii) How are countries classified on the basis of human development index?

3. Answer the following questions in not more than 150 words.

    (i) What do you understand by the term human development?

    (ii) What do equity and sustainability refer to within the concept of human development?

Please refer to attached file for NCERT Class 12 Geography Human Development