CHAPTER

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HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
also essential but in a different perspective. The basic tenet behind this is that it is the use of income and not income itself that is decisive in expanding human choices. Since the real wealth of nations is their people, the goal of development should be the enrichment of human life. There has been a conceptual broadening of the notions of human well-being and deprivation in recent years. The notion of wellbeing has shifted away from just material attainments, or the means for development, to outcomes that are either desirable in themselves or desirable because of their role in supporting better opportunities for people. Similarly, poverty is viewed not only in terms of lack of adequate income, but as a state of deprivation spanning the social, economic and political dimensions of the life. WHY HUMAN DEVELOPMENT? According to Paul Streeten, human development is necessary on account of the following reasons. 1. The ultimate purpose of the entire exercise of development is to improve the human conditions and to enlarge peoples choices. 2. Human development is a means to higher productivity. A well-nourished, healthy, educated, skilled, alert labour force is the most productive asset. Therefore, investments on these sectors are justified on grounds of productivity too. 3. It helps in reducing the rate of growth of population. 4. Human development is friendly to the physical environment also. Deforestation, desertification and soil erosion decline when poverty declines.

The well-being of people must be the goal of development. Money alone cannot bring about well-being of people in its broad perspective e.g. economic, social, cultural. The UN advocated the concept of Human Development (HD) as the goal of all member countries. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), in its first Human Development Report published in 1990, defined human development as the process of enlarging peoples choices. The most important elements of HD are long and healthy life, education and decent standard of living. Additional choices include political freedom, guaranteed human rights, and various ingredients of self-reliance and self-esteem. These are the essential choices, the absence of which can block many other opportunities. Human development thus is a process of widening peoples choices as well as raising the level of well-being. Thus men, women, and children must be the centre of attention in the process of development. The development must be woven around people, not people around development. Moreover, development must be participatory and for this, people must have the opportunity to invest in the improvement of their capabilities in health, education, and training. They must also have the opportunity to put their capabilities to use, by participating fully in community decisions and to enjoy human, economic and political freedom. The basic difference between the concepts of economic growth and the human development is that the first focuses exclusively on the increase in income, while the second embraces the widening of all aspects of human life economic, social, cultural or political. For any such development to take place, economic growth is obviously

Human Development

5. Improved living conditions and reduced poverty contribute to a healthy civil society, enhanced democracy and greater social stability. 6. Human development also helps in reducing civil disturbances in the society and in increasing political stability. Thus, the concept of human development embraces not just the economy but has holistic connotations. The political, cultural and social factors are given as much importance as the economic factors. Besides, a careful distinction is maintained between ends and means of development. While expansion of human options is regarded as the criteria of development, the expansion of income is treated as an essential means to it. The entire process has been made anthropocentric. INDICATORS
OF

attainments of women, and the Human Poverty Index to evaluate the state of deprivation in the society. Several other variables have gradually been added to the above sets of indicators. Among them, health indicators related to longevity are birth rate, death rate with special reference to infant mortality, nutrition, and life expectancy at birth. Social indicators include literacy particularly female literacy, enrolment of school-going children, drop out ratio, and pupil-teacher ratio. Economic indicators are related to wages, income, and employment. Per capita Gross Domestic Product, incidences of poverty and employment opportunity are also favoured indicators in this group. They are converted into a composite index to present the holistic picture of the Human Development. HDI of India

HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

The quality of life and the level of human wellbeing are difficult to measure quantitatively. However, in search of a comprehensive measure that could capture the various dimensions of human development, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has developed a composite index, now known as the Human Development Index (HDI). It includes (i) longevity of life, (ii) knowledge base, and (iii) a decent material standard of living. To keep the index simple, only a limited number of variables are included. Initially, life expectancy was chosen as an index of longevity, adult literacy as an index of knowledge and per capita Gross National Product adjusted for Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) as an index of decent life. These variables are expressed in different units. Therefore, a methodology was evolved to construct a composite index rather than several indices. In India, three sets of indicators have been selected for preparing the Human Development Report 2001. Among them, a core set of composite indices presents the state of human development for the society as a whole. Besides, Gender Equality Index has been estimated to reflect the relative
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As compared to the pre-independence days India has done well in development in general but it ranks 115th among 162 countries in terms of the UNDPs Human Development Index (HDI) and is placed in the group of countries with Medium Human Development (HDI of 0.571 in 2001). Indias comparative position on Human and Gender Development is given in Table 4.1. Not only developed countries surpass India in respect of human development, even countries like Sri Lanka and Indonesia are far better than India. Similarly, the index of gender development, though improved in 2001 as compared to 1992, is still low. Low level of human development is evident from the value of the principal indicators usually employed to calculate Human Development Index (HDI). Some of them are discussed below. HEALTH INDICATORS Health is a major component of human development. It is measured in terms of birth rate, death rate (with special reference to infant mortality rate) nutrition, and life expectancy at birth.

India People and Economy

Table 4.1: Indias Global Position on Human and Gender Development Country Human Development Index 1992 2001 0.933 0.927 0.594 0.439 0.483 0.364 0.207 0.939 0.936 0.718 0.571 0.498 0.470 0.274 Gender Development Index 1992 2001 0.911 0.901 0.578 0.401 0.360 0.334 0.196 0.937 0.935 0.715 0.533 0.466 0.459 0.260

Norway Australia China India Pakistan Bangladesh Niger

The crude death rate (number of deaths per thousand population in a particular year) in India has declined rapidly from 25.1 in 1951 to 8.7 per thousand in 1999. But crude birth rate did not decline appreciably. Decline in infant mortality rate (number of deaths of children under one year of age per thousand live births) was less than half in 1999 of what it was in 1951. Child (0-4 years) mortality rate declined from 51.9 per thousand in 1971 to 22.5 in 1999. It means risk of death has declined at each stage of life. Certainly it is a definite improvement in health. A comparative statement showing the demographic indicators from 1951 to 1999 is given in Table 4.2.

The birth rates have also declined but at a slower rate. It came down from 40.8 per thousand in 1951 to 26.1 in 1999, (decline of 14.7 points) while death rate declined by 16.4 points. Simultaneously, total fertility rate also registered decline from 6 children per woman of child-bearing age in 1951 to 2.9 in 1999. Life Expectancy: With the declining vital rates (birth, fertility and death rate) life expectancy at birth has gone up. It was only 37.1 years for male and 36.2 years for female in 1951; it went up to 62.30 and 65.27 years, respectively, during 1996-1999. Increase in case of female life expectancy has been more

Table 4.2: India: Selected Health Indicators of Human Development Indicator Birth rate (per thousand) Death rate (per thousand) Infant mortality rate (per thousand live births) Child (0-4 year) mortality rate Total fertility rate Expectation of life at birth: Male Female 1951 40.8 25.1 148 NA 6.0 37.1 36.2
2

1971 36.9 14.9 129 51.9 5.2 46.4 44.7

1981 33.9 12.5 110 41.2 4.5 54.1 54.7

1991 29.5 9.8 80 26.5 3.6 60.6 61.7

3

1999 26.1 8.7 70 22.51 2.9 62.30 65.27

1. The data relates to the year 1998 2. The data relates to the year 1961-71 3. The data relates to the year 1991-96

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Human Development

remarkable. It was lower than that of males in 1951, but it is now higher. This progress is attributed to increasing food security on one hand, and expansion of medical and health facilities on the other. For example, per capita per day availability of cereals and pulses increased from 394.9 gm in 1951 to 417 gm in 2001. At the same time, number of allopathic hospitals and dispensaries per lakh population has gone up to 4, and that of hospital beds to 94 in 1999. Growth of health institutions is presented in Table 4.3.
Table 4.3: India: Growth of Health Institutions, 1961-1992 (Number in thousand) Type of Institution Primary Health Centres Community Health Centres Hospitals Dispensaries Hospital beds Doctors Dentists Nurses 1961 1971 1981 1991 1992 2.6 3.1 9.4 230 84 3.6 36 5.1 3.9 12.2 349 151 5.5 81 5.7 0.2 6.8 16.8 569 269 8.6 154 20.4 20.7 2.1 2.2

female differentials are also wide. Only 54.16 per cent of the females are literate as against 75.85 per cent of males. The state-wise distribution of female literacy is given in Fig. 4.2. In rural area proportion of literate females is only 46.70 per cent as against 73.20 per cent for those in urban areas. The progress in literacy rates in the country since 1951 is presented in Table 4.4.
Table 4.4: India: Progress in Literacy Rates in per cent, 1951-2001 Census Year 1951 1961 1971 1981 1991 2001 Person 18.33 28.30 34.45 43.57 52.21 65.38 Male 27.17 40.40 45.96 56.38 64.13 75.85 Female 8.86 15.35 21.97 29.76 39.29 54.16 Totals,

11.2 13.7 27.4 27.4 810 394 340 835 411 385

Source: Provisional Population Paper-1 of 2001, Census of India, 2001.

10.8 11.3

SOCIAL INDICATORS Education is universally recognised as a major component of human development. As such, a certain minimum level of literacy seems to be essential for a population to break out of the vicious circle of poverty. Human Development is therefore assessed in terms of literacy and related indicators. Literacy The literacy rate in India increased from 18.33 per cent in 1951 to 65.38 per cent in 2001. The state-wise distribution of literacy (2001) is given in Fig. 4.1. Only 59.4 per cent of the rural population are literate while 80.30 per cent of the urban population is literate. Male35

There has been remarkable progress in literacy. For the first time since independence, the absolute number of illiterates has declined by over 31.9 million in the last decade. Population in 7+ age group increased by 171.6 million during 1991-2001, while 203.6 million persons have become literate during this decade. Now, 562.01 million persons are literate. Literacy rate of total population increased by more than three times during 1951-2001. But the female literacy increased more than six times, from only 8.86 per cent in 1951 to 54.16 per cent in 2001. It is the outcome of the ef forts made by the government aiming at providing universal education to all including females. Regional Variations in Literacy Rates There are wide regional disparities in literacy rate. It varies from 47.53 per cent in Bihar to 90.92 per cent in Kerala (2001). Kerala maintains its top position closely followed by Lakshadweep (87.52 per cent) and Mizoram (85.99 per cent), while Bihar ranks last in literacy among the states and union territories

India People and Economy

Based upon Survey of India map with the permission of Surveyor General of India. Government of India Copyright, 2003 The territorial water of India extends into the sea to a distance of twelve nautical miles measured from the appropriate baseline. The administrative headquarters of Chandigarh, Haryana and Punjab are at Chandigarh. The interstate boundaries between Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Meghalaya shown on this map are as interpreted from the North-Eastern Areas (Reorganisation) Act, 1971, but have yet to be verified. The interstate boundaries between Uttaranchal and Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh and Bihar and Jharkhand have not been verified by the Governments concerned. The responsibility for the correctness of internal details rests with the publisher.

Fig. 4.1 India: State-wise Distribution of Literacy 2001 36

Human Development
0 72 76 80 84 88 92 96
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36

32

38

28

34

24

30

24

26

20

16

16

12

12

72

East of Greenwich

80

84

88

92

Based upon Survey of India map with the permission of Surveyor General of India. Government of India Copyright, 2003 The territorial water of India extends into the sea to a distance of twelve nautical miles measured from the appropriate baseline. The administrative headquarters of Chandigarh, Haryana and Punjab are at Chandigarh. The interstate boundaries between Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Meghalaya shown on this map are as interpreted from the North-Eastern Areas (Reorganisation) Act, 1971, but have yet to be verified. The interstate boundaries between Uttaranchal and Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh and Bihar and Jharkhand have not been verified by the Governments concerned. The responsibility for the correctness of internal details rests with the publisher.

Fig. 4.2 India: State-wise Distribution of Female Literacy 2001 37

India People and Economy

of India. Total 22 states and union territories are above the national average while 13 are below it. Literacy is very high (above 72 per cent) in nine states and union territories viz., Kerala, Mizoram, Lakshadweep, Goa, Delhi, Chandigarh, Pondicherry, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Daman and Diu. These are most urbanised states/union territories and some of them are highly influenced by social and religious organisations. Highest level of literacy in Kerala may be attributed to the states long tradition of education due to enlightened administration and high proportion of non-agricultural workers. Elementary Education It has now been recognised as a basic Human Right. Universalisation of Elementary Education (UEE) has been accepted as a national goal. As a result of the efforts made by the Central and State governments, 94 per cent of the countrys rural population has primary schools (grade I-V) within one km. and 85 per cent of rural population has upper primary schools (grade VI-VIII) within a distance of 3 km. The number of primary schools has gone up by three times, from 2.1 lakh to 6.42 lakh, and of upper primary schools by about 15 times, from 13596 to 1.98 lakh during 1950-51 and 1999-2000, respectively. Number of teachers in these schools has also increased from 6.24 lakh in 1950-51 to 32.17 lakh in 1999-2000. Expenditure on education as a whole as

percentage of GDP also rose from 0.7 per cent in 1951-52 to 3.94 per cent in 19992000. Total enrolment at the primary stage (IV) increased by 5.91 times, from 19.2 million in 1950-51 to about 113.61 million in 19992000. Out of this the relative share of girls enrolment increased from 28.1 per cent in 1950-51 to 43.6 per cent in 1999-2000. Total enrolment at the upper primary levels (VI-VIII) increased from 3.1 million to 42.06 million during this period. (Table 4.5). There is a vast disparity amongst the states and union territories in terms of enrolment. At primary level, Dadra and Nagar Haveli registers highest percentage (153.43) for boys and Sikkim registers the highest percentage (138.48) for girls in 19992000. Gross enrolment exceeds 100 per cent as some pupils enrolled are below or above the countrys standard primary school age (i.e., 6 to 11 years). Chandigarh registers lowest enrolment ratio (66.3 per cent) for boys and Uttar Pradesh registers lowest enrolment ratio (50.18 per cent) for girls. Overall, proportion of children of eligible age group enrolled in the primary schools is lowest in Uttar Pradesh (64.97 per cent) and highest in Sikkim (138.91 per cent). The national average is 94.90 per cent. Enrolment ratio in upper primary schools ranges from 32.36 per cent in Bihar to 95.61 per cent in Kerala with national average of 58.79 per cent in 1999-2000. Rajasthan

Table 4.5: India: Literacy and Enrolment Ratio in Primary and Upper Primary Schools Literacy Ratio Year 1950-51 1999-2000 P 18.3 65.4 M 27.2 75.9 F 8.86 Enrolment Ratio Primary B 60.6 G 24.8 85.2 T 42.6 94.9 Enrolment Ratio Upper Primary B 20.6 67.2 G 4.6 49.7 T Drop-Out Ratio Pr. U.Pr P-T Ratio Pr. 1:24 1:43 U. 1:20 1:38

12.7 64.9* 78.3* 58.8 40.2 54.2

54.2 104.1

Abbreviations:

P = Person. M = Male. F = Female. B = Boy. G = Girl. T = Total. Pr. = Primary School. U. Pr. = Upper Primary. P-T = Pupils Teacher *For 1960-61

Source: Government of India: Economic Survey 2001-2002

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Human Development

records highest ratio (105.89 per cent) and Bihar registers lowest ratio (41.38 per cent) for boys. In case of girls, highest enrolment ratio is (95.69 per cent) in Andaman and Nicobar Islands and lowest is 22.04 per cent again in Bihar. The national average is 67.15 per cent for boys and 49.66 per cent for girls. In all, nearly 79 per cent of children of 6-14 age group are attending schools. ECONOMIC INDICATORS An essential part of the human development is economic productivity. The ultimate goal of development is the human progress and economic growth is one of the means to achieve this goal. Growth in economy and productivity can be assessed with the help of Gross National Product and per capita income. GDP at constant price (1993-94) was Rs1404.66 billion in 195051 and Rs 11485.0 billion in 1999-2000. Accordingly, per capita net national product (per capita income) at constant price increased from Rs 3687 in 1950-51 to Rs 10067 in 1999-2000, recording growth of nearly 3.4 per cent per annum (Table 4.6). This growth is much lower than the stipulated rates. Level of poverty is synonymous with poor quality of life, deprivation, malnutrition, illiteracy and therefore, low human development. The eradication of poverty has been an integral component of the strategy of economic development in India. According to the latest (1999-2000) estimation, the poverty

ratio is 27.09 per cent in rural areas, 23.62 per cent in urban areas, and 26.10 per cent in the country as a whole. The percentage of the people living below the poverty line has declined steadily from 55 in 1973-74 to 36 in 1993-94 and 26 in 1999-2000. Still 260 million people are poor. Further, there are wide ruralurban and inter-state disparities (Fig. 4.3). One of the dimensions of the human development is the choice of opportunity to work. The data provided by the National Sample Survey Organisation reveal that the average annual growth rate of overall employment (in both organised and unorganised sectors) was 2.73 per cent per annum in the period from 1972-73 to 197778 but declined to 1.54 per cent per annum during 1983-84 to 1987-88. It further declined to 1 per cent per annum during 1993-94 to 1999-2000. Total employment in 1999-2000 was 397 million. Of this, about 5 per cent were in the public sector. Employment in this sector has been declining. Nearly 93 per cent employment was in the unorganised sector, which fluctuates with the overall economic situations. Inter-state disparities in level of human development are evident from Table 4.7. Kerala has the highest level of HDI. Besides Kerala, Punjab, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and Haryana with HDI of over 0.509 have done well. In general, HDI is better in smaller states and union territories. The states with lower than 0.509 HDI are Bihar (including Jharkhand), Orissa, Uttar Pradesh (including Uttaranchal) and Madhya Pradesh (including Chhattisgarh). It is seen that the economically

Table 4.6: India: Growth in Gross Domestic Product and Net Per Capita National Product 1950-51 to 1999-2000 Economic Indicators GDP at Current Prices (Rs Billion) GDP at Prices of 1993-94 (Rs Billion) Per Capita net National Product at 1993-94 prices (Rs) Source: Economic Survey 2001-2002.
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1950-51 95.47 1404.66 3687

1970-71 422.22 2962.78 5002

1990-91 5109.54 6828.71 7321

1999-2000 17556.38 11485.00 10067

India People and Economy

E N N

MYANMAR
(BURMA)

10.0 AND BELOW 10.1 - 20.0 20.1 - 30.0 30.1 - 40.0 40.1 AND ABOVE

Based upon Survey of India map with the permission of Surveyor General of India. Government of India Copyright, 2003 The territorial water of India extends into the sea to a distance of twelve nautical miles measured from the appropriate baseline. The administrative headquarters of Chandigarh, Haryana and Punjab are at Chandigarh. The interstate boundaries between Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Meghalaya shown on this map are as interpreted from the North-Eastern Areas (Reorganisation) Act, 1971, but have yet to be verified. The interstate boundaries between Uttaranchal and Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh and Bihar and Jharkhand have not been verified by the Governments concerned. The responsibility for the correctness of internal details rests with the publisher.

Fig. 4.3 India : Incidence of Poverty

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Human Development

less developed states are also the states with low human development index. Similarly, the economically better off states are also the ones with relatively better performance in HDI. However, the relationship between the HDI and the level of development does not show any correspondence among the middleincome states. In this category of states, Kerala and Himachal Pradesh have higher attainments on HDI but Karnataka and West Bengal have lower values.
Table 4.7: India: Inter-State Variation in Human Development Index 2001 State INDIA Andhra Pradesh Assam Bihar Gujarat Haryana Himachal Pradesh Karnataka Kerala HDI State 0.472 Madhya Pradesh 0.54 Maharashtra 0.386 Orissa 0.367 Punjab 0.479 Rajasthan 0.509 Tamil Nadu 0.63 Uttar Pradesh 0.478 West Bengal 0.638 HDI 0.394 0.523 0.404 0.537 0.424 0.531 0.388 0.472

Source: Human Development Report 2001.

and ideas. By the time of industrial revolution, they acquired so much knowledge, efficiency, power and technology that they started controlling nature and commenced extraction of material and energy from it on large scale, resulting in the depletion, scarcity, overexploitation of resources, and environmental degradation. Thus, they became destroyers of nature. It is difficult to generalise factors causing environmental deterioration. Human impact on environment is generally a function of the use of natural resources and of emission of pollutants into environment in the process of production and consumption of goods and services. At the same time, these processes proportionately relate to the number and growth of population. Thus, the quality of the environment is the result of the following three factors: 1. Quantity of resources consumed and pollution generated per unit of output, 2. Per capita output and consumption, and 3. Population size. In this generalisation, the first factor encompasses the technological effects, the second affluence effects and the third demographic effects. Incorporating these elements, the following for mula for environmental impact analysis is derived: where I = PAT I = Environmental impact P = Population (density and growth) A= Affluence (per capita consumption dependent on per capita income and life style) T = Har mful technology used in production. Density and growth of population are regarded as major factors responsible for depletion, scarcity and overexploitation of resources. Wasteful consumption is another major culprit. And technology is the third major cause deeply influencing the environment. Fossil fuel-based moder n technology that made large-scale production and manufacturing of innumerable synthetic products possible, have exerted high strain
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POPULATION ENVIRONMENT DEVELOPMENT NEXUS Relationship between population, environment and development is dynamic. In the early stages of development humans were close to nature and their requirements were fulfilled directly from the nature. Gradually they invented methods and techniques to get over natural hindrances. They domesticated animals and plants, and started using clothing and shelter to meet the challenges of climate, and making simple implements and artefacts. With further advancement in social and economic organisations and improvements in technology, capacity of humans to use the natural resources and to produce goods and services enhanced enormously. Development of means of transport accelerated the processes of resource exploitation. It increased the worldwide movement of humans, commodities

India People and Economy

on natural environment. Similarly, high per capita consumption is associated with the large-scale production and consumption of raw materials, fuel and energy in proportionately large quantity, and generation of huge wastes and garbage. Intensity of these two factors is very high in the developed

countries. Thus, in the destitution of the developing countries and the over consumption of the industrial countries lie the seeds of all environmental problems. And as such, vicious circle of the environmental degradation and faltering steps of development moves on.

EXERCISES Review Questions 1. Answer the following briefly: (a) Explain the concept of development. (b) Assess the global position of India in respect of Human Development. (c) Enumerate the indicators used for measuring the level of Human Development. (d) Describe the trend of fertility and mortality rates in India since 1951. (e) Examine the causes of comparatively low literacy rates in the country. (f ) Examine the progress of literacy in post-independence period. (g) Identify the areas of high and low literacy in the country. (h) Highlight the impact of population factor on the environment. 2. Distinguish between: (a) Human Resource Development and Human Development. (b) Human Development and Economic Development. 3. Discuss the concept of Human Development. 4. Why Human Development is necessary? Explain. 5. Examine the regional variations in total literacy in India. 6. Discuss the spatial pattern of female literacy in India. 7. Examine the progress of the Economic Indicators of Human Development in the country. 8. Discuss the factors affecting human impact on the environment. 9. Development and environmental degradation are two faces of the same coin. How far is it correct? Project Work 10. (a) Classify the major states into three classes on the basis of Human Development Index given in Table 4.7. (b) Prepare a brief write up on it. 11. (a) Conduct a survey of 7 to 10 year old children of your locality with the following details: males, females, class in which studying, and not attending any school. (b) Prepare a brief write up on it.
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