NCERT Solutions Class 10 Social Science (Economics) Chapter 1 (Development)

NCERT Solutions Class 10 Social Science Economic 
(Understanding Economic Development)

The NCERT Solutions in English Language for Class 10 Social Science – Economic (Understanding Economic Development) Chapter – 1 (Development) has been provided here to help the students in solving the questions from this exercise. 

Chapter – 1 (Development) 

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 – (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
Answer – (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
Answer – (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?
Answer – 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 the 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?
Answer – The criterion used by the UNDP for measuring development is different from the one used by the World Bank in the sense that it uses a combination of factors such as health, education and income as indicators of development. It does not rely solely on per capita income, as is the case with the World Bank.

6. Why do we use averages? Are there any limitations to their use? Illustrate with your own examples related to development.
Answer –  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. Even though they are useful for comparison, they may also hide disparities. For example, the infant mortality rate of a country does not differentiate between the male and female infants born in that country. Such an average tells us nothing about whether the number of children dying before the age of one are mostly boys or girls.

7. Kerala, with lower per capita income, has a better human development ranking than Maharashtra. Hence, per capita income is not a useful criterion at all and should not be used to compare states. Do you agree? Discuss.
Answer – Kerala, with lower per capita income has a better human development ranking than Punjab. However, it would be wrong to say that per capita income is not a useful criterion at all. Per capita income is certainly not the only criterion and it has its limitations. But this does not imply that it is not useful at all. To counter the inadequacy of this average, the human development index is used. The human development index uses a combination of development factors (such as health, education, income) for comparison. Thus, per capita income is one of the development factors, and cannot be done away with. Also, per capita income is useful for comparing the money index of states.

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?
Answer – The present sources of energy that are used by the people of India are electricity, coal, crude oil, cowdung and solar energy. Other possibilities fifty years from now, could include ethanol, bio-diesel, nuclear energy and a better utilisation of wind energy, especially with the imminent danger of oil resources running out.

9. Why is the issue of sustainability important for development?
Answer – 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.
Answer –  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 as both resources and development go hand in hand. For the sustainability of development, the maintenance of resources is very crucial. Needs can be fulfilled whereas greed can never be satisfied because greed increases with every want to be fulfilled. As the statement claims, the Earth has enough resources- renewable as well as non-renewable to satisfy everyone’s needs; however, these need to be used with a view to keep the environment protected 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.
Answer –  Environmental degradation manifests itself in different ways. Deforestation, falling levels of ground water, soil erosion, water pollution, burning of fossil fuels, the hole in the ozone layer and combustion from automobiles causing extreme air pollution especially in urban areas are some of the examples of environmental degradation.

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.
Answer –

• As per the Per Capita Income $ : Top country – Sri Lanka with 12,578 $, Bottom country – Myanmar with 3,851$.
• Considering the life Expectancy at birth : Top country – Sri Lanka has 76.4; Bottom country – Myanmar has 65.7.
• Mean Years of Schooling of People aged above 25 and above : Top country – Sri Lanka has  10.8; Bottom country – Pakistan has 4.5.
• According to the HDI Rank in the world : Top country – Sri Lanka ranks 73; Bottom country – Pakistan ranks 161.

13. The following table shows the proportion of adults (aged 15-49 years) whose BMI is below normal (BMI <18.5 kg/m²) 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.

• The disparity in the distribution of food grains by Public Distribution System (PDS).
• Nutritious food cannot be afforded by the poor population in the country.
• Educational backwardness of people results in unemployment because of which people cannot afford the basic necessity of food.
• There is no proper distribution of ration at the fixed price stores.

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