Human Development Growth Class 12 Geography

Growth and Development

 Growth and development both involve changes over time, but while growth is a quantitative measure, development focuses on qualitative improvements. Unlike growth, development reflects positive progress, as it emphasizes the enhancement of quality in various aspects of life.

 Growth

• It refers to quantitative changes—measurable increases or decreases in factors like population, income, or production.
• It is value-neutral, meaning it can be either positive (an increase) or negative (a decrease).
• For example, if the population of a city increases from 100,000 to 200,000, we say the city has experienced growth.

 Development

• It refers to qualitative changes that are always positive in value.
• It signifies improvements in living conditions, health, education, and overall quality of life.
• Development only occurs when positive growth leads to improvements in people's lives.
• However, positive growth does not always guarantee development.
• For development to happen, growth must result in a better quality of life.
• For instance, if a city's population doubles but there is no improvement in housing, basic services, or infrastructure, the city has grown but not developed.
• Historically, countries were often seen as more developed if they had strong economic growth. A bigger economy was viewed as a sign of progress, even if it didn’t greatly improve the quality of life for most people. 
•  The understanding that development is more about the quality of life—including the opportunities people have, the freedoms they enjoy, and the overall living conditions—began to gain attention in the late 1980s and 1990s. 
•  Two important South Asian economists, Dr. Mahbub-ul-Haq and Amartya Sen, played a significant role in promoting this idea. 
•  Dr. Mahbub-ul-Haq introduced the concept of human development, which focuses on improving people's choices and enhancing their lives. This approach places people at the heart of development, aiming to create environments where they can live meaningful lives. 
•  A meaningful life is not just about living a long time; it’s about having a purpose. This means people should be: 
  1. Healthy
  2. Capable of developing their talents
  3. Involved in their community
  4.Free to pursue their personal goals
•  The choices and opportunities available are not permanent; they change as people’s lives and situations evolve. The main aim of development is to help people lead fulfilling and purposeful lives. 

The Four Pillars of Human Development

• Equity: This means providing everyone with the same chances, no matter their gender, race, income, or caste, especially in India. It is important to make sure all people have equal access to opportunities. For example in any country, it's important to see which groups have the most school dropouts to understand why. In India, many women and people from socially and economically disadvantaged groups drop out, showing how their choices are limited by a lack of access to education.
• Sustainability: This involves making sure that future generations will also have access to opportunities. It requires careful use of our environmental, financial, and human resources. Using these resources wisely is vital to prevent limiting the options available for those who come after us. For Example-Educating girls is important because it can create more career opportunities and improve future generations' lives. Good management ensures that each generation passes on better opportunities and choices to the next.
• Productivity: This focuses on enhancing the effectiveness of human work by developing people's skills. It involves ongoing improvement and innovation to boost productivity such as improving their knowledge and health which ultimately leads to better work performance.
• Empowerment: This refers to giving individuals the ability to make their own choices. Increasing people's freedom and skills can lead to greater empowerment. It is especially important to empower groups that are socially and economically disadvantaged.

Approaches to Human Development

• There are several important approaches to human development including the income approach, welfare approach, minimum needs approach, and capabilities approach.
• The income approach suggests that an individual's level of income reflects the degree of freedom they possess. Higher income levels correlate with higher levels of human development.
• The welfare approach argues that governments have a responsibility to provide essential facilities such as healthcare, education, and other amenities to their citizens.
• The minimum needs approach emphasizes providing six basic needs, including health, education, food, water supply, sanitation, and housing .This approach was initially proposed by International Labour Organisation (ILO).
• The  capabilitiy approach, developed by economist Amartya Sen, emphasizes the importance of building human capabilities in areas such as health, education, and access to resources as a key to  promote human development.

Measuring Human Development

• Human Development Index (HDI) is a system that ranks countries based on how well they do in health, education, and access to resources.
• The HDI gives each country a score between 0 and 1, which reflects its performance in these areas.
• Health is evaluated by looking at how long people live, specifically their life expectancy at birth.
•  The level of education is measured through the adult literacy rate and the gross enrolment ratio.
• Access to resources is assessed by examining how much purchasing power people have in U.S. dollars. 
•  The HDI is a weighted average of these three dimensions, with a score closer to one indicating better human development.
• While it shows what has been achieved in important areas, the HDI is not perfect because it does not provide information about how benefits are shared among the population.
• The Human Poverty Index is another measure that looks at the gaps in human development. It focuses on factors other than income.
• This index considers things such as:
  1. The chance of dying before age 40
  2. Illiteracy rates among adults
  3. Lack of access to clean water
  4. Children being underweight
• Since 1990, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has published the Human Development Report each year, which includes both the HDI and the Human Poverty Index.
• Bhutan is unique because it officially uses Gross National Happiness (GNH) as a way to measure progress.
• GNH focuses on non-material and qualitative aspects of development, which encourages looking at spiritual and other non-economic factors. 

India Ranks 134 out of 193 countries in Human Development Index (HDI) 2022.Between 1990 and 2022, India's HDI value changed from 0.434 to 0.644 a change of 48.4%.

International Comparisons

1. Size and Income do not always determine Human Development

•  The size of a country or its per capita income does not directly relate to its level of human development.
•  Smaller countries often perform better in human development compared to larger ones.
•  Example: Sri Lanka and Trinidad & Tobago rank higher than India on the Human Development Index (HDI), even though they have smaller economies.

2. Human Development varies within Country

•  In India, Kerala has a better human development score than wealthier states like Punjab and Gujarat, despite having a lower per capita income.
•  This also shows that development isn’t just about money but also about quality of life.

Classification of Countries by Human Development

Human Development Report , 2021-22

These Countries are grouped into four categories based on  their human development scores:

1.   Very High Human Development Countries

•  Countries with scores over 0.800 (66 countries according to the 2021-22 report). 
• These nations prioritize education and healthcare.

2.   High Human Development Countries

• Consists of 49 countries where governments heavily invest in the social sector (like education and health). 
• These countries often have  good governance and invest more in people.
•   Many are  former imperial powers  and have  low social diversity. 
•  Most are in  Europe  and belong to the  industrialized western world , though some non-European countries are also part of this group.

Human Development Report,2021-22

3. Medium Human Development Countries

•  This is the largest group  with  44 countries. Many emerged after World War II or the  breakup of the Soviet Union in 1990. 
• These countries are improving their human development by adopting  people-oriented policies and reducing  social discrimination . 
• They tend to have  higher social diversity  compared to countries with higher HDI scores and have faced  political instability  in the past.

4. Low Human Development Countries

•   32 countries fall into this category, many of which are small and have faced  political turmoil, social instability,  civil wars, famines, or high disease rates.
•   These countries urgently need policies focused on improving human development.

 Key differences between High and Low human Development Countries

•  Countries with high human development invest more in education, health, and social sectors, and have stable political environments with more equitable distribution of resources.
•  Countries with low human development tend to prioritize defense spending over social sectors and are often located in politically unstable regions, which hinders economic and social progress.

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