NCERT Solutions for Class 10 Economics Chapter 1 Development
NCERT Solutions for Class 10 Social Science Economics Chapter 1 Development are provided here. With these solutions, you will learn the right way to write answers to the questions perfectly in exams. We have updated the NCERT Solutions for Class 10 Economics Chapter 1 Development for the current session so that you can easily score high marks in the exams. You can also download PDF of the solutions and use them whenever you are offline.
Class 10 Social Science Economics Chapter 1 NCERT Solutions
Question 1. 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
Explanation: UNDP publishes its human development report comparing the countries on thebasis of educational level of the people, their health status and per capita income.
Question 2. 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
Explanation: HDI of Sri Lanka is 73 which is much higher than Bangladesh, Nepal andPakistan which have 139,145 and 147 respectively.
Question 3. Assume there are four families in a country. The average per capita income of these families is Rs 5000. If the income of three families is Rs 4000, Rs 7000 and Rs 3000 respectively, what is the income of the fourth family?
(i) Rs 7500
(ii) Rs 3000
(iii) Rs 2000
(iv) Rs 6000
Answer: (iv) Rs 6000
Let x be the income of the fourth family.
So, according to the question,
(4000 + 7000 + 3000 + x) ÷ 4 = 5000
⇒ 14000 + x = 5000 × 4
⇒ x = 20000 – 14000
⇒ x = 6000
Question 4. What is the main criterion used by the World Bank in classifying different countries? What are the limitations of this criterion, if any?
Answer: World Bank classifies different countries on the basis of the per capita income or the average income of a person in the country. It is calculated by dividing the total income of the country by the population of the country.
The limitations of the criterion are:
- It does not give any information about the distribution of the average income among the people in a country.
- It ignores important factors like literacy rate, infant mortality rate, healthcare, etc. which play a crucial role in the development of a country.
Question 5. 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 only uses per capita income for measuring development while UNDPuses many other factors like infant mortality, healthcare facility education level which help in improving the quality of life and helps in making the citizens more productive. As per HDI- 2014, India’s rank is 135. On the other hand, the World Bank uses per capita income as the only criterion for measuring development and classifying the countries as rich and poor. Per capita income is useful for comparison, it does not tell us how income is distributed.
Question 6. Why do we use averages? Are there any limitations to their use? Illustrate with your own examples related to development.
Answer: We use averages because they are useful for comparing differing quantities of thesame category.
For example, to compute the per capita income of a country, averages have to be used because there are differences in the incomes of diverse people. However, there are limitations to the use of averages. This does not show the distribution of thing between people. For an example, suppose in a country, the annual income of a rickshaw puller is Rs 8,000 while an MNC employee earns an annual package of Rs 12,00,000. The average income of this country, therefore, will be Rs 6,05,000. Here actual income or status remains unknown. One can clearly consider this as a rich country thereby ignoring the income disparity between two individuals. Averages are useful for comparison, they also hide disparities.
Question 7. 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: No, I do not agree with the statement that per capita income is not a useful criterion at all. Though per capita income is not the only criterion and it has limitations, we cannot say that it is not useful at all. because human development ranking is determined using a combination of factors such as health status, education level, and income. However, per capita income is one of the factors used to calculate development and cannot be neglected.
Question 8. Find out the present sources of energy that are used by the people in India. What could be the other possibilities fifty years from now?
Answer: The present sources of energy that are used by the people of India are electricity,coal, crude oil, cow dung and solar energy. At present, consumption of energy in India is too high in comparison to its production and reserves. India’s known reserves of oil are expected to last about 30-40 years only. So, therefore, other possibilities fifty years from now could include ethanol, bio-diesel, nuclear energy and better utilisation of wind energy, solar energy, geothermal energy, hydrogen energy, tidal energy, wave energy, hydroelectric energy and biomass energy especially with the imminent danger of oil resources running out.
Question 9. Why is the issue of sustainability important for development?
Answer: Sustainable development is a development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. The issue of sustainability is important for development because if the natural resources are not used carefully, they may not be available for future generations. The depleting resources of a country may ultimately result in a lack of development of the country.
Question 10. “The Earth has enough resources to meet the needs of all but not enough to satisfy the greed of even one person”. How is this statement relevant to the discussion of development? Discuss.
Answer: Development not just depends on the economic factors of a country, but is also dependent on resources that are available for the people of a country to use. The statement: “The Earth has enough resources to meet the needs of all but not enough to satisfy the greed of even one person” is completely relevant in terms of the development of a country because natural resources are non-renewable resources. It is the responsibility of the people to use them only to meet their needs and not to satisfy their greed. If natural resources are not used wisely now, the future generations may not be able to use them for their needs, which will result in the downfall of development of a country.
Question 11. List a few examples of environmental degradation that you may have observed around you.
Answer: Few examples of environmental degradation:
- Deforestation
- Soil erosion
- Falling levels of groundwater
- Depletion of the ozone layer and combustion from automobiles causing extreme air pollution
- Water Pollution
Question 12. For each of the items given in Table 1.6, find out which country is at the top and which is at the bottom.
Answer:
| Country | Per Capita income in US $ | Life Expectancy at birth | Literacy Rate for 15+ yrs populations | Gross Enrollment Ratio for three levels | HDI Bank in the world |
| Srilanka | 4390 | 74 | 91 | 69 | 93 |
| India | 3139 | 64 | 61 | 60 | 126 |
| Myanmar | 1027 | 61 | 60 | 48 | 130 |
| Pakistan | 2225 | 63 | 50 | 35 | 134 |
| Nepal | 1490 | 62 | 50 | 61 | 138 |
| Bangladesh | 1870 | 63 | 41 | 53 | 137 |
(i) As per the Per Capita Income in US Topcountry – Srilanka with 4930$; Bottom country – Myanmar with 1027$.
(ii) Considering the life Expectancy at birth: Top country – Sri Lanka has 74; Bottom country – Myanmar has 61.
(iii) Literacy Rate for 15+ yrs population: Top country – Sri Lanka has 91; Bottom country – Bangladesh has 41.
(iv) Gross Enrollment Ratio for three levels: Top country – Sri Lanka is 69; Bottom country – Pakistan is 35.
(v) According to the HDI Rank in the world: Top country – Sri Lanka ranks 93; Bottom country – Nepal ranks 138.
Question 13. The following table shows the proportion of undernourished adults in India. It is based on a survey of various states for the year 2001. Look at the table and answer the following questions.
| State | Male (%) | Female (%) |
| Kerala | 22 | 19 |
| Karnataka | 36 | 38 |
| Madhya Pradesh | 43 | 42 |
| All Sates | 37 | 46 |
(i) Compare the nutritional level of people in Kerala and Madhya Pradesh.
(ii) Can you guess why around 40 percent of people in the country are undernourished even though it is argued country? Describe in your own words.
Answer: (i) The nutritional level of people of Kerala is quite higher than the people – bothmales and females of Madhya Pradesh. Their ratio of the under-nourished is less than that of Madhya Pradesh i.e more per cent of males and females are undernourished in Madhya Pradesh.
(ii) There is enough food in the country, even then 40% of the people in the country are undernourished because:
- A large number of people are so poor that they cannot afford nutritious food.
- In most of the states, the Public Distribution System (PDS) does not function properly and the poor people cannot get food items at cheaper rates.
- There is a lack of educational and health facilities in many parts of the country. So many people remain backward and poor. As such, they are unable to get nutritious food.