Important Questions: Development | Political Science for Grade 11 PDF Download

Very Short Answer Type Questions

Q1: Mention some main objectives of the development.
Ans: Although the concept of development is a wide term with broader objectives. Its main objectives can be specified under:

• Identification of unexploited resources.
• Maximum utilization of available resources.
• To build a modern society by transforming the traditional and backward society.
• To ensure that fruits of development reach the last man in the queue.
• To make the change and growth human-oriented.

Q2: What are the main challenges of Development?
Ans: The following are the challenges of development in developing countries of Asia and Africa

• The low standard of living
• Illiteracy
• Poor health
• Malnutrition
• Lack of basic amenities
• Feudal agrarian system
• Legacy of colonial economies of under-developed countries.

Q3: What are the social costs of development?
Ans: The process of development has its social cost which can be mentioned as under

• Displacement of the people from their homes
• Change in culture
• Illiteracy
• Adoption of a new culture
• Loss of livelihood
• A search for a new identity
• a Large number of rural and urban poor.

Q4: How growth and development are related?
Ans: Growth related to the advancement in agricultural and industrial areas and progress in infrastructure and production in agriculture and industrial areas thereby affecting all other aspects of human life but it does not necessarily ensure the just and equal distribution of the fruits of such growth. Development seeks to ensure this distribution of progress and change of material development and development in infrastructure when economic growth and redistribution of the benefits do not go together, the benefits are cornered by few development seekers to break this chain for improving the standard of living of the underprivileged.

Q5: What do you understand by the basic need approach?
Ans: The human development report of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) ranks countries on the basis of their performance in social indicators like literacy, life expectancy, and maternal mortality rates which are called as Human Development Index. According to these parameters, the development should be a process that allows more and more people to make meaningful choices. For this fulfillment of basic needs like education, health, and shelter. This approach is called as basic needs approach.

Q6: What are the targets of Development?
Ans: Followings are the areas of targets of Development:

• Poverty
• Unemployment
• Unexploited Resources
• Industrialization
• Modernisation of agriculture
• Illiteracy
• Low per capita income and low per capita consumption.

Q7: What do you understand by the term environmentalism?
Ans: Environmentalism stands for environmental movement which works to protect natural resources and the eco-system. It emphasizes that human beings should learn to live in harmony with the requirements of the eco-system and should not manipulate the natural environment to serve the personal petty interests that harm nature and the cause of future generations.

Short Answer Type Questions

Q8: Explain various issues that are involved in the process of development.
Ans: Since the concept of development is very wide, a number of issues are involved in it which are as under:

• The rights of the people should be taken into account during the course of development.
• To make development more pervasive, there should be the democratization of the social, economic, and political environment.
• The benefits of development should reach all sections of society.
• There should be qualitative improvement in the lives of the people.

Q9: What are the main targets of development?
Ans: The process of development seeks to achieve positive changes and improvement in the following areas:

• Poverty
• Unemployment
• Illiteracy
• Unexploited resources
• Regional imbalances
• Social backwardness.
• Fatalism
• Impact of colonialism.

Q10: Explain the mode of development in India.
Ans: After independence, India got the colonial legacy at the social, economic, and political levels. India adopted a mixed economy for its development. Planning Commission was set to start planned economic development. The first five-year plan was started in 1951-56. So far we have successfully completed the ten five years plan which has helped in transforming the Indian society and economy to an appreciable extent. Today India is on its way to being a modernized society. The process of liberalization, globalization, and privatization has fastened the pace of development. In India, the process of development is going in Libera secular democratic framework. All efforts are being made to take the benefits of development to all sections of the society through their participation at all levels.

Q11: What are the main hindrances in achieving the goals of development in developing countries like India?
Ans: Almost every society is in the process of development and is trying to get the goals of development. But there are certain structural hindrances in the path of development, particularly in developing countries. Some of the hindrances are as under:-

• Lack of definite and relevant model of development.
• Lack of political will.
• Lack of people’s awareness.
• Traditional social structure.
• Traditional occupations.
• Lack of people-oriented approach of bureaucracy.

Q12: Explain the environmental costs of development.
Ans: The environmental cost of development can be measured in the following ways.

• Pollution
• Ecological crisis
• Environmental degradation by the phenomenon like depletion of ozone, ozone hole, global warming, and Green House effects
• Natural disasters like earthquakes and Tsunami.
• Loss of human life
• Loss of forest due to deforestation cause havoc
• Loss of subsistence needs of the poor
• Wastage of medicinal plants
• Loss of traditional sources of energy, therefore, leading to the energy crisis
• Dirty drinking water

Q13: Explain the relationship between growth and development.
Ans: Although the two concepts i.e. growth and development are very frequently used for each other and simultaneously but there is a perceptible difference between the two, although both are related to the welfare of man and society. Growth denotes a change in infrastructure and progress in different areas. The growth has not been able to achieve the goals of social justice. It is largely material development. On the other hand, the concept of development is broader than growth and can be understood as a process that seeks to improve the quality of life of the people at large. Growth is not an indicator of social justice. It is the development that is an instrument and measure of social justice and quality of life of the people.

Q14: What do you mean by the Top-down approach of development? What changes does it need?
Ans: There has been the social and environmental cost of development at different levels, due to which the development could not bring the desired results. The benefits of development have not been evenly distributed among the people. It has been due to the ‘Top-down’ approach, which has been the strategy of development. The very important feature of the Top-down approach has been the selection of priorities and preferences and methods of implementation of the decisions and project^ were all generally decided by the top bureaucrats, politicians, executives, and technocrats with the actual participation of those for whom these decisions are taken. This was the scenario of both the democratic and non-democratic countries. Thus the need for alternate model development is felt.

Long Answer Type Questions

Q15: Define development, its objective and suggest the best modes of development.
Ans: Lucian Pye, a great politician scientist explained the idea of development in his famous book ‘Aspects of Development’ “as a process of rational utilization of the available resources to establish modern society. In the contemporary world, however, the word of development has been used for progress, change, modernization, and growth. In fact” Lucian Pye explained the concept of development in terms of socialization, modernization, democratization, secularisation, and people’s participation.
As far as the objectives are concerned, they are not just material progress in different fields like production, goods, amenities, dams, projects, and the well-being of a few. In fact, its objectives are wide. The ultimate objective of the development is as under:

• To make the best use of the resources by identifying them properly.
• To ensure the fair distribution of fruits of development to all sections of society, particularly up to the underprivileged class.
• To raise the standard of living of the people.
• To achieve the common good of the people.

There have been different models of development in different parts of the world with democratic and dictatorial governmental structures In all these models of development, there has been the Top-down approach in decision making which prohibited the local initiative and participation in policymaking and decision-making process. To achieve the desired goals of development, there is a need to adopt such a system or model of development which ensure the people’s participation up to a desirable extent and recognizes their rights and claims.

Q16: What do you understand by the Concept of Right Claims?
Ans: In most of the models of development the benefits of change, progress and development have not been reached to the people for which they were meant and are cornered by the privileged sections of the society. It has been due to the Top-down approach in the developmental models. Now the time has come and which duly accepted and recognized that the aspirations and needs of the affected people should be taken into account. People should be allowed to put up their views, rights, and claims before the decision-makers.
In a democratic framework, people have the right to be consulted in the exercise of decision making and in the process of development. The people have their natural; rights on the available resources for developmental activities. Therefore on the fruits of development, local people have a natural claim which should be duly given to make development meaningful.

Q17: What is the meaning and objectives of Environmentalism?
Ans: The thinking and supporting, the thinking of protecting the environment and environmental life is known as environmentalism. It is therefore as an urge and passion to save the environment and human life from the hazards which are being played in the name of development.
Environmentalists maintain that human beings should learn to live in harmony with the rhythms of the eco-system and should not indulge in such selfish activities that are destroying the beauty and utility of the eco-system and environment. It is a fact that if this trend is not checked/stopped, we will get barren earth, poisoned rivers, and polluted air for future generations. Due to this fear, the environmental movement has become a worldwide movement with the support of government and non-governmental organization who have been successful in modifying the government’s industrial and developmental policies in the right of goals of protection of the environment.

Q18: What do you know about the social cost of development?
Ans: The process of development involves a lot of desirable and undesirable activities with negative and positive consequences which can be called social costs. These social costs can be understood as under:

• Displacement of persons due to developmental projects like bridges and dams and other such projects.
• Migration of people in search of better opportunities and better quality of life in which they lose their old identities and due course of time acquire new values and new identities.
• Pressure on urban civic amenities due to the process of urbanization in the wake of development.
• Loss of traditional skills acquired in a long time.
• Loss of culture.
• Regional and cultural confrontations.
• Social agitations.
• Unemployment and uncertainties.

Q19: What is the impact of development in India?
Ans: India, through its planned socio-economic development, has achieved tremendous growth in different areas i.e. agriculture, roads, housing, industry, medicine, health, raising employment opportunities, education, and developing infrastructure. Through the doses of modernization, India has been able to transform Indian society in the last sixty years. In fact through the development face of India is changed from an agrarian, traditional and backward, and undeveloped society to a modem, secular, democratic, and developing society.
But still, we have not been able to achieve the goals of development in the real sense and as per the true meaning of development. We are still in grip of inequalities, disparities, and imbalance. Still, we have 26% of people who are yet to reach the level of subsistence needs. Still, we have situations of excess and deprivation. The ultimate objective of development is rational utilization of the resource and to take the fruits of development to the last man. We feel that we are far away from these two goals of development.

Q20: Explain the socialist, communist, and capitalistic models of development.
Ans: Every state has its own model of development. Every state is concerned with the welfare of its people and raising the standard of living of its people. Although the number of models has been evolved there have been three main models of development in prevalence. These models are as under

• Socialistic model: Socialist pattern of development prevailed in developing countries of Asia and Africa to make distribution of resources as per the reeds of the people and to exploit the potentialities of the people to the fullest.
• Communist model: Communist model of development initially started in the countries of Eastern Europe and then spread to some other countries. It was based on the principles of Marxism.
• Capitalist model: This model of development become popular in the USA. and European countries which are based on the principle of economic pursuits on competition basis and profit basis with the minimum role of the state.