The
idea of development or progress has always been with us. We have aspirations or
desires about what we would like to do and how we would like to live.
Similarly, we have ideas about what a country should be like. What are the essential
things that we require? Can life be better for all? How should people live
together? Can there be more equality? Development involves thinking
about these questions and about the ways in which we can work towards achieving
these goals. This is a complex task. When we try to understand
development, we will find answers to100
many of our questions not just in economics but also in history and
political science. This is because the way120
/// we live today is influenced by the past. We cannot desire for change
without being aware of this. In the same way, it is only through
a democratic political process that these hopes and possibilities can be
achieved in real life. Let us try to imagine what development or progress is
likely to mean to different persons. What are their aspirations? Do all of
these persons have the same notion of development or progress? Most likely not.
Each one of200 them seeks
different things. They seek things that are most important for them; they seek
things that can fulfil their aspirations or desires. In fact, at times, two
persons or groups of persons may seek things which are conflicting. A240 /// girl expects as much freedom
and opportunity as her brother, and that he also shares in the household work.
Her brother may not like this. Similarly, to get more electricity,
industrialists may want more dams. But this may submerge the land and disrupt
the lives of people who are displaced. They might resent this and may prefer
small check dams300 or tanks
to irrigate their land. What people desire are regular work, better
wages, and decent price for their crops or other products that they produce. In
other words, they want more income. Besides seeking more income, one way or
the other, people also seek things like equal treatment, freedom, security, and
respect of others. They resent discrimination. All these360 /// are important goals. In fact,
in some cases, these may be more important than more income or
more consumption because material goods are not all that you need to live.
Money, or material things that one can buy with it,400 is one factor on which our life depends.
But the quality of our life also depends on non-material things. If it is
not obvious to you, then just think of the role of your friends in your
life. You may desire their friendship. Similarly, there are many things that
are not easily measured but they mean a lot to our lives. These are often
ignored. However, it will be wrong to conclude that what cannot be
measured is not important.480 ///
Consider another example. If you get a job in a distant place, before
accepting it you would try to consider500
many factors, apart from income, such as facilities for your family, working
atmosphere, or opportunity to learn. In another case, a job may give you
less pay but may offer regular employment that enhances your sense of security.
Another job, however, may offer high pay but no job security and also leave no
time for your family. This will reduce your sense of security and freedom.
Similarly, for development, people look at a mix of goals. It is true
that if women are engaged in paid work, their dignity in the household and
society increases. However, it is also the600 /// case that if there is
respect for women there would be more sharing of housework and a greater
acceptance of women working outside. A safe and secure environment may allow
more women to take up a variety of jobs or run a business. Hence, the
developmental goals that people have are not only about better income but also
about other important things in life. If individuals seek different goals, then
their notion of national development is also likely to be different. It is very
important to keep in mind that different persons could have different as
well as conflicting notions700
of a country’s development. However, can all the ideas be considered equally
important? If there are conflicts, how does one720 /// decide? What would be a fair
and just path for all? We also have to think whether there is a better way of
doing things. Would the idea benefit a large number of people or only a small
group? National development means thinking about these questions. You might ask
if development can mean different things, how come some countries are generally
called developed and others under-developed? Before we come to this, let us
consider another question. When we compare different800 things, they could have similarities
as well as differences. Which aspects do we use to compare them? How do we
compare different students in a class? They differ in their height, health,
talents and interests. The healthiest student may not840 /// be the most studious
one. The most intelligent student may not be the friendliest one. So,
how do we compare students? The criterion we may use depends on the purpose of
comparison. We use different criterion to choose a sports team, a debate team,
a music team or a team to organise a picnic. Still, if for some purpose, we900 have to choose the criterion for the
all-round progress of children in the class, how shall we do it? Usually, we
take one or more important characteristics of persons and compare them
based on these characteristics. Of course, there can be differences about
what are important characteristics that should form the basis of comparison:
friendliness and spirit of cooperation, creativity960 /// or marks secured? This is
true of development too. For comparing countries, their income is considered to
be one of the most important attributes. Countries with higher income are
more developed than others with less income. This is based on1000 the understanding that more income means
more of all things that human beings need. Whatever people like, and should
have, they will be able to get with greater income. So, greater income
itself is considered to be one important goal. Now, what is the income of a
country? Intuitively, the income of the country is the income of
all the residents of the country. This gives us the total income of the
country. However, for comparison between countries, total income1080 /// is not such a useful
measure. Since, countries have different populations, comparing total income
will not tell us what an1100
average person is likely to earn. Are people in one country better off than
others in a different country? Hence, we compare the average income which is
the total income of the country divided by its total population. The
average income is also called per capita income. In World Development
Reports, brought out by the World Bank, this criterion is used in classifying
countries.1164
