NCERT Solutions for Class 12 Geography - Human Development

Human Development

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

 (i) Which one of the following best describes development?
 1. An increase in size
 2. A constant in size
 3. a positive change in quality
 4. a simple change in quality
 Ans. (3) a positive change in quality

(ii) Which one of the following introduced the concept of human development?
 1. Prof Amartya Sen
 2. Ellen C. Semple
 3. Dr. Mahabub-ul-Haq
 4. Ratzel
 Ans. (3) Dr. Mahabub-ul-Haq

2. Answer the following questions in about 30 words.

(i) What are three basic areas of human development?
 Ans. The three basic areas of human development are
(a) Health- The indicator chosen to access health is life expectancy at birth. Higher the life
expectancy at birth, higher is the human development index. A higher life expectancy means
that people have a greater chance of living longer and healthier lives.

(b) Education- Education here involves adult literacy rate and gross enrollment ratio.The number of adults who are able to read and write and the number of children enrolled in schools show how easy or difficult it is to access knowledge in a particular country. (c) Access to resources- It is measured in terms of purchasing power (in US dollars).

(ii) Name the four components of human development?
 Ans. The four components of human development are- Equity, sustainability, productivity and empowerment.

(a) Equity- 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.

(b) Sustainability- Sustainability means continuity in the availability of opportunities. To have sustainable human development, each generation must have the same opportunities. All environmental, financial and human resources must be used keeping in mind the future. Misuse of any of these resources will lead to fewer opportunities for future generations.

(c) Productivity- Productivity here means human labour productivity or productivity in terms of human work. Such productivity must be constantly enriched by building capabilities in people. Ultimately, it is people who are the real wealth of nations. Therefore, efforts to increase their knowledge, or provide better health facilities ultimately leads to better work efficiency

(d) Empowerment- Empowerment means to have the power to make choices. Such power comes from increasing freedom and capability. Good governance and people-oriented policies are required to empower people. The empowerment of socially and economically disadvantaged groups is of special importance.

(iii) How are countries are classified on the basis of human development index?
 Ans. Countries can be classified into four groups on the basis of the human development

(a) Very high(above 0.808)- Countries with very high human development index are those which have a score of over 0.793. According to the Human Development Report of 2014, this group includes 49 countries.

(b) High(between 0.700 up to 0.807)-High level of human development group has 53 countries. Providing education and healthcare is an important government priority.Countries with higher human development are those where a lot of investment in the social sector has taken place

(c) Medium (between 0.556 up to 0.699)- Countries with medium levels of human development form the largest group. There are 42 countries in the medium level of human development. Most of these are countries which have emerged in the period after the Second World War. Some countries from this group were former colonies while many others have emerged after the break up of the erstwhile Soviet Union in 1990. Many of these countries have been rapidly improving their human development score by adopting more peopleoriented policies and reducing social discrimination.

(d) Low (below 0.555)- There are 43 countries which are recorded low level of human development index. A large proportion of these are small countries which have been going through political turmoil and social instability in the form of civil war, famine or a high incidence of diseases.

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

(i) What do you understand by the term human development?
  Ans. The term ‘human development’ may be defined as an expansion of human capabilities, a widening of choices, ‘an enhancement of freedom, and a fulfilment of human rights. It also defined human development as “a process of enlarging people’s choices”, “and strengthen human capabilities” in a way which enables them to lead longer, healthier and fuller lives. The United Nations Development Programme has defined Human Development as " the enlarging people's choice", said choices allowing them to lead a long and healthy life, to be educated, to enjoy a decent standard of living, as well as political freedom, other guaranteed human rights and various ingredients of self respect.

Development concerns expanding the choices people have, to lead lives that they value, and improving the human condition so that people have the chances to lead full lives.Thus, human development is about much more than economic growth, which is only a means of enlarging people's choices.Fundamental to enlarging these choices is building human capabilities-the range of things that people can do or be in life. Capabilities are "the substantive freedoms [a person] enjoys to lead the kind of life [they have] reason to value". The most basic capabilities for human development are: to lead long and healthy lives, to be knowledgeable (i.e., educated), to have access to resources and social services needed for a decent standard of living, and to be able to participate in the life of the community.

(ii) What do equity and sustainability refer to within the concept of human development?
 Ans. Equity: 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.For example, in any country, it is interesting to see which group the most of the school dropouts belong to. This should then lead to an understanding of the reasons for such behaviour. In India, a large number of women and persons belonging to socially and economically backward groups drop out of school. This shows how the choices of these groups get limited by not having access to knowledge.

Sustainability: Sustainability means continuity in the availability of opportunities. To have sustainable human development, each generation must have the same opportunities. All environmental, financial and human resources must be used keeping in mind the future. Misuse of any of these resources will lead to fewer opportunities for future generations. A good example is about the importance of sending girls to school. If a community does not stress the importance of sending its girl children to school, many opportunities will be lost to these young women when they grow up. Their career choices will be severely curtailed and this would affect other aspects of their lives. So each generation must ensure the availability of choices and opportunities to its future generations.