Development Class 10 Notes – Summary, NCERT Solutions, and Previous Year Questions (CBSE 2025)

 

 

Chapter 1 Development Class 10 Notes

Subject	Social Science (Economics)
Class	10
Board	CBSE and State Boards
Chapter No.	1
Chapter Name	Development
Type	Notes
Session	2025-26
Weightage	4 marks

Development: It is a situation that can fulfill the aspirations or desires of people. It is the progress or improvement in the lifestyle of the people.

Two aspects of development are:

• Different people can have different development goals.
• What may be development for one may not be development for others.

Different people can have different development goals

It is because the life situations of people are different. People see things that are most important for them or that can fulfill their aspirations or desires. For example, the development goal of a boy from a rich urban family would be to get admission to a reputed college whereas the development goal of a girl from a rich urban family would be to get as much freedom as her brother.

What may be development for one may not be development for others (i.e., Development Goals can be conflicting):

• At times two people or groups of people may seek things that are conflicting. A girl expects as much freedom and opportunity as her brother and 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 disturb the lives of people who are displaced, such as tribals.

Development Goals of Different Categories of Persons:

Categories of Person	Development Goals
Assured a high family income through higher support prices for their crops and through hardworking and cheap laborers; they should be able to settle their children abroad.	i. More days of work and better wages ii. local school is able to provide quality education iii. for their children iv. there is no social discrimination v. they too can become leaders in the village
Prosperous farmers from Punjab	i. Assured a high family income through higher support prices for their crops and through hardworking and cheap laborers ii. they should be able to settle their children abroad.
Farmers who depend only on rain for growing crops	i. To have irrigational facilities ii. crop insurance at less premium, iii. water facilities of life for them as well as their children
Landless rural labourers	i. They would like to have more days of work and better wages. ii. local schools to provide quality education to their children iii. there should not be any social discrimination so that they too can become leaders in the village.
Urban unemployed youth	i. Opportunity for higher education ii. availability of an office job iii. a self-owned house
A boy from a rich urban family	i. Education and Skill Development to enhance future employability and economic prospects. ii. Entrepreneurship and Innovation to create new business ventures and contribute to economic growth. iii. Financial Literacy to ensure long-term financial stability and growth.
A rural woman from a land-owning family	i. She gets as much freedom as her brother and is able to decide what she wants to do in life. ii. She is able to pursue her studies abroad
An adivasi from Narmada valley	i. No social discrimination ii. year-round employment iii. school education for children iv. PDS shop in his village.

Goals of Development:

• Income
• Equal treatment
• Freedom,
• Security
• Respect for others.
• Discrimination free society

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 the 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.

How to Compare Different Countries or States?

For comparing countries, their income is considered to be one of the most important attributes. This is based on 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, the greater income itself is considered to be one important goal.

However, for comparison between countries, total income is not such a useful measure. Since, countries have different populations, comparing total income will not tell us what an average person is likely to earn.

Average Income/Per Capita Income: The average income 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, Per Capita Income is used in classifying countries.
• Countries with a per capita income of US$ 49,300 per annum and above in 2019, are called high-income or rich countries.
• Countries with a per capita income of US$ 2500 per annum or less are called low-income countries.
• India comes in the category of low-middle-income countries because its per capita income in 2019 was just US$ 6700 per annum.

Disadvantages of using Average Income as a criterion to compare countries:

• Average income hides the disparity.
• Average income does not tell us the distribution of income among people.
• It is just a material criterion for the comparison.

Comparison of Haryana, Kerala, and Bihar (on the basis of average income/per capita income):

State	Per Capita Income for 2018–19 (in ₹)
Haryana	2,36,147
Kerala	2,04,105
Bihar	40,982

• We find that of the three, Haryana has the highest per capita income and Bihar is at the bottom.
• So, if per capita income were to be used as the measure of development, Haryana will be considered the most developed and Bihar the least developed state of the three.

Comparison of Haryana, Kerala, and Bihar (on the basis of other criteria):

State	Infant Mortality Rate per 1,000 live births (2018)	Literacy Rate % 2017–18	Net Attendance Ratio (per 2017–18 100 persons) secondary stage (age 14 and 15 years) 2017–18
Haryana	30	82	61
Kerala	7	94	83
Bihar	32	62	43

1.    Infant Mortality Rate (or IMR) indicates the number of children that die before the age of one year
as a proportion of 1000 live children born in that particular year.

2.    Literacy Rate measures the proportion of the literate population in the 7-and-above age group.

3.    Net Attendance Ratio is the total number of children of age group 14 and 15 years attending school as a percentage of total number of children in the same age group.

• The first column of the table shows that in Kerala, out of 1000 children born, 7 died before completing one year of age but in Haryana, the proportion of children dying within one year of birth was 30, which is nearly three times more than that of Kerala. On the other hand, the per capita income of Haryana is more than that of Kerala.
• The last column of the table shows that about half of the children aged 14-15 in Bihar are not attending school beyond Class 8. This means that if you went to school in Bihar nearly half of your elementary class friends would be missing.

Public Facilities:

Public facilities are those provided by the government instead of individuals or private sources. For this reason, they may be either highly subsidized or totally free of cost. They are important because many persons do not have enough income to be able to avail of facilities provided by the private sector resulting in difficulties faced like inadequate healthcare, poor nutrition, lack of education, etc. The utility of two public facilities available in India are:

• The public distribution system (PDS) provides fair average quality food grains and other essential items to the weaker section of the population at subsidized prices.
• Health care in government hospitals and dispensaries is provided to all at a subsidized rate. This includes outpatient as well as hospitalization facilities.

Money in our pockets cannot buy all the goods and services that we may need to live well.

• Money cannot buy us a pollution-free environment.
• Money cannot buy us a disease-free life and might not be able to get protection from infectious diseases.
• Besides money, people also like to have equal treatment in society, freedom, dignity, and honour in their lives, which money cannot buy them.

Body Mass Index (BMI): Body mass index (BMI) is a person's weight in kilograms divided by the square of height in meters.

Human Development Index (HDI):

United Nations Development Programme has used the criterion of the Human Development Index to measure the development of countries. The human development index is a composite index of the achievements of a nation in terms of three important variables (longevity, knowledge, and standard of living, quality of life).

HDI is calculated on the basis of:

• Per capita income: It is calculated by dividing the total national income of a country by the total population.
• Life expectancy: It is the average expected length of life of a person at the time of birth in a country.
• Gross enrolment ratio for three levels: It means the enrolment ratio for primary schools, secondary schools, and higher education beyond the secondary level.

Human Development Report Vs World Development Report:

UNDP's method of measuring development	World Bank's method of measuring development
i. UNDP compares on the basis of literacy rate, gross enrolment ratio, and health status of people.	i. World Bank compares on the basis of per capita income.
ii. It gives ranks to the countries according to their level of development.	ii. It divides the countries according to - rich or high-income countries - middle-income or developing countries - poor or low-income countries
iii. It is a wider concept as it includes other things besides income.	iii. It is a narrow concept.

Comparison of India with its Neighbors:

Country	Gross National Income (GNI) per capita (2011 PPP $)	Life Expectancy at Birth	Mean Years of Schooling of People aged 25 and above	HDI Rank in the world (2018)
Sri Lanka	12,707	77	10.6	73
India	6,681	69.7	6.5	130
Myanmar	4,961	67.1	5.0	148
Pakistan	5,005	67.3	5.2	154
Nepal	3,457	70.8	5.0	143
Bangladesh	4,976	72.6	6.2	134

Note:

1.    HDI stands for Human Development Index. HDI ranks in the above table are out of 189 countries in all.

2.    Life Expectancy at birth denotes the average expected length of life of a person at the time of birth.

3.    Per Capita Income is calculated in dollars for all countries so that it can be compared. It is also done in a way so that every dollar would buy the same amount of goods and services in any country.

4.    Sri Lanka is much ahead of India in every respect.

5.    Nepal and Bangladesh have low per capita income than that of India, yet they are better than India in life expectancy.

Sustainable Development:

Development, at present, without harming the environment and also keeping it safe for future generations is termed sustainable development.

• Groundwater, which is a renewable resource, is getting depleted because of its overuse. People are facing the problem of a water crisis due to its indiscriminate use.
• The development that emerged from the fast industrialization leads to the cutting of forests and its result is a polluted- environment for the present as well as for future generations.
• Crude oil which is a non-renewable resource with limited stock is depleting gradually. So we need to use it wisely.

The present sources of energy that are used by the people of India are:

• Electricity
• Coal
• Crude oil
• Cow dung
• Solar energy

 

Chapter 1: Development – NCERT Solutions (Class 10 Economics)

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🔹 Q1. 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

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🔹 Q2. 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

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🔹 Q3. Assume there are four families in a country. The average per capita income of these families is ₹5,000. If the income of three families is ₹4,000, ₹7,000 and ₹5,000 respectively, what is the income of the fourth family?

Answer:
Let the fourth family’s income be ₹x.
According to the question:
(4000 + 7000 + 5000 + x)/4 = 5000
→ (16000 + x) = 20000
→ x = 4000

✅ The income of the fourth family is ₹4,000.

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🔹 Q4. What is the main criterion used by the World Bank in classifying different countries? What are the limitations of this criterion, if any?

Answer:

• The World Bank classifies countries on the basis of per capita income.

• Limitations:

  • It does not consider inequality in income distribution.

  • Ignores education, health, and quality of life indicators.

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🔹 Q5. In what respects is the criterion used by the UNDP for measuring development different from the one used by the World Bank?

Answer:

• World Bank uses only per capita income.

• UNDP considers Human Development Index (HDI) which includes:

  1. Per capita income

  2. Life expectancy

  3. Literacy rate and educational attainment

✅ Thus, UNDP gives a more comprehensive view of development.

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🔹 Q6. Why do we use averages? Are there any limitations to their use? Illustrate with your own examples.

Answer:

• Averages are used to compare quantities and get a general idea.

• Limitation: Averages don’t show distribution or inequality.

Example:
If two people earn ₹10,000 and ₹50,000, the average income is ₹30,000. But this hides the huge income gap.

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🔹 Q7. 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:

• Disagree partially – per capita income is useful but not sufficient.

• Kerala performs better in literacy rate, health services, and infant mortality, which are vital for human development.

• Thus, HDI is more reliable than just income.

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🔹 Q8. Find out the present sources of energy that are used by the people in India. What could be the possibilities fifty years from now?

Answer:
Present sources:

• Non-renewable: Coal, petroleum, natural gas

• Renewable: Solar energy, hydro power, wind energy, biomass

Future possibilities:

• Increase in renewable energy usage

• Wider use of solar panels, hydrogen fuel, and wind farms

• Decrease in dependence on fossil fuels due to environmental concerns

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🔹 Q9. Why is the issue of sustainability important for development?

Answer:

• Because development should meet present needs without compromising the future generation’s needs.

• Overuse of resources like water, oil, forests leads to depletion and environmental degradation.

• Sustainable development ensures long-term prosperity and ecological balance.

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🔹 **Q10. “The Earth has enough resources to meet the needs of all but not enough to satisfy the greed of even one person.” — Mahatma Gandhi

Do you agree? Justify your answer.**

Answer:

• Yes, because if resources are used judiciously and equitably, they are sufficient.

• But greedy and wasteful consumption leads to scarcity and environmental damage.

• We must ensure sustainable and inclusive development for all.

PAST CBSE BOARD EXAM QUESTIONS

✅ 1-Mark Questions (Very Short Answer)

1. Define per capita income.
   📅 Year: 2012, 2016
   👉 It is the average income of a person in a country. It is calculated by dividing the national income by the total population.

2. Which organization publishes the Human Development Index (HDI)?
   📅 Year: 2013
   👉 United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

3. What is meant by ‘sustainable development’?
   📅 Year: 2018
   👉 Development that meets present needs without compromising future generations’ ability to meet their needs.

4. Which country has the highest HDI among India’s neighbours?
   📅 Year: 2014
   👉 Sri Lanka

5. What is the main criterion used by the World Bank to classify countries?
   📅 Year: 2011, 2019
   👉 Per capita income

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✅ 2-Mark Questions (Short Answer)

6. Why is average income not a sufficient criterion for development?
   📅 Year: 2016, 2022
   👉 It doesn’t reflect inequality or distribution of income.

7. State any two development goals of landless rural labourers.
   📅 Year: 2015
   👉 Better wages, employment security, access to land and education.

8. Mention any two limitations of per capita income as an indicator of development.
   📅 Year: 2017
   👉 Doesn’t consider inequality; ignores education and health indicators.

9. What is the significance of literacy rate and life expectancy in measuring development?
   📅 Year: 2020
   👉 They reflect human well-being and quality of life beyond income.

10. What are non-renewable resources? Give one example.
    📅 Year: 2018
    👉 Resources that will exhaust over time, e.g., coal, petroleum.

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✅ 3-Mark Questions (Short Answer in Detail)

11. Compare India and Sri Lanka based on any three indicators of HDI.
    📅 Year: 2016
    👉 Life expectancy, literacy rate, per capita income.

12. How is sustainable development helpful for the environment? Give three points.
    📅 Year: 2015, 2021
    👉 Prevents depletion of resources, reduces pollution, preserves biodiversity.

13. Why is per capita income not an adequate measure of development? Explain with three reasons.
    📅 Year: 2023
    👉 Ignores inequality, doesn’t reflect education/health, can be skewed by a few rich people.

14. What is Human Development Index (HDI)? What are its three components?
    📅 Year: 2014, 2020
    👉 *Index measuring well-being based on:

1. Life expectancy

2. Education level

3. Per capita income*

15. Why is sustainability essential for development? Explain with examples.
    📅 Year: 2022
    👉 It ensures long-term use of resources. Example: groundwater depletion, deforestation impact.

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✅ 5-Mark Questions (Long Answer)

16. Describe the comparison between countries on the basis of per capita income and HDI. Which one is better and why?
    📅 Year: 2017
    👉 HDI is better as it includes education and health. Per capita income ignores human aspects.

17. Explain how different people can have different development goals. Give suitable examples.
    📅 Year: 2013, 2021
    👉 Landless labourers want land & jobs, industrialists want more profit, women want equality, etc.

18. Explain any five characteristics of sustainable development.
    📅 Year: 2019
    👉 Eco-friendly, conserves resources, equitable growth, uses alternatives, protects future.

19. What are the limitations of the criterion used by the World Bank to classify countries? Suggest an alternative.
    📅 Year: 2020
    👉 Per capita income ignores health & education; HDI is a better measure.

20. Suggest any five steps to achieve sustainable development in India.
    📅 Year: 2018, 2024 Sample Paper Style
    👉 Use of renewable energy, afforestation, water conservation, eco-friendly farming, reduce industrial waste.