CBSE Board Class 10, Social Science (Economics) | Understanding Economic

Development, Chapter - 1, Development | Answers of NCERT Textbook

Exercise
NCERT (CBSE) Class X Social Science Economics (Understanding Economic
Development)
Chapter - 1, Development
Solutions of NCERT Textbook Exercise

***IMPORTANT NOTE***: THESE ARE ONLY REFERENCE SOLUTIONS FOR THE

HELP.
Solutions of some intext questions ( Lets work these out) If some others
are left then do on own.
Page-6
3

Give some examples where factors other than income are important aspects of our lives.
Answer: Good income is important for a comfortable life, but it is not the only important
factor. A good income would be useless if a person does not have access to quality health
services. If good schools are not available in the neighbourhood, it can be difficult to provide
proper education to the children. These are some examples which show factors; other than
income; which affect our life.
Give three examples where an average is used for comparing situations.
Answer: Height of students in a class with a large number of students, income of people of a
state, forest cover in a country, etc. are some examples where averages are used for
comparing situations.

Page 9
2
Why do you think average income is an important criterion for development? Explain.
Answer: Income can enable people to at least make provision for basic necessities of life. If the average
income of a country is on a higher side, its chances of faring better on development index are better.
Hence, average income can be an important criterion for development.
3.

Besides size of per capita income, what other property of income is important in comparing
two or more societies?
Answer: Purchasing power parity is another important property of income; while comparing
two or more societies. Purchasing power parity shows the ability of people to purchase some
items which are taken for comparison.

Textbook Questions

Q4. 1st part in book pg-8. Right side , last para, 4 th line onwards till . ..1035 or less are called lowincome countries.
2nd part is below.

Economists agree that income is not the only factor to improve the quality of life. There are many other
factors which affect the development, e.g. infant mortality rate, literacy level, healthcare, etc. Hence, it can
be said that the criterion used by the World Bank has its own limitations.
Q5. The criterion used by the UNDP for measuring development is different from the one used by the World Bank in
the following respects:
The World Bank - The World Bank uses per capita income as the sole criterion for measuring development.
The UNDP - It uses the Human Development Index (HDI) based on a combination of factors such as health,
education, and income as the criterion for measuring development.
Thus, the UNDP does not rely solely on per capita income, as the criterion for measuring development, as in the case
with the World Bank.
Q6. We use averages because they are useful for comparing differing quantities of the same 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. Even though they are useful for
comparison, they may also hide disparities. For example, the infant mortality rate of a country does not differentiate
between the male and female infants born in that country. Such an average tells us nothing about whether the
number of children dying before the age of one are mostly boys or girls.
Q7. No, I do not agree with the statement that per capita income is not a useful criterion at all. Kerala, with lower per
capita income has a better human development ranking than Punjab because, human development ranking is
determined using a combination of factors such as health, education, and income. So, this does not imply that per
capita income is not useful. Rather, per capita income is one of the development factors and can not be neglected.
The World Bank uses per capita income as the criterion for measuring development and comparing states. But this
criterion has certain limitations because of which determination of Human Development Index (HDI) is done using this
criterion along with some other development factors like health, education etc.
Q8. The present sources of energy that are used by the people of India are electricity, coal, crude oil, cowdung and
solar energy. Other possibilities fifty years from now, could include ethanol, bio-diesel, nuclear energy and a better
utilisation of wind energy, especially with the imminent danger of oil resources running out.

Q9. Sustainability for development or sustainable development refers to the development which is done without
damaging the environment and other resources. In other words, balancing the need to use resources and also
conserve them for future is known as sustainable development.
The issue of sustainability is important for the development because development must happen in tandem with
future. If natural resources are not sustained, it will cause a stagnation of development after a point of time. Exploiting
resources unethically will ultimately undo the development that a country may have achieved. This is because in
future, those resources will not be available for further progress.

Q10. This statement is relevant to the discussion of development since both resources and development go hand in
hand. As the statement claims, our earth has enough resources - renewable and non-renewable to satisfy everyone's
need if we use them in an economic manner. For the sustainability of development, the consumption and
maintenance of resources is also crucial. We have to use the resources keeping our environment protected and clear
so that there is a balance between the development and use of our resources. As otherwise after a certain point of
time in future the development will be stagnated.
Q11. Environmental degradation manifests itself in different ways. Deforestation, falling levels of

ground water, soil erosion, water pollution, burning of fossil fuels, the hole in the ozone layer and
combustion from automobiles causing extreme air pollution especially in urban areas are some of
the examples of environmental degradation.

Assignment Solutions

Chapter 1 (Development)
A
Q1. Give an example to illustrate that, what may be development for one may
not be development for the other.
Q2. What is considered to be one of the most important attributes for
comparing countries?
Q3. What are the criterion fixed by UNDP for comparing countries?
Q4. Why do we say that income by itself is not a completely adequate indicator
of material goods and services that citizens are able to use?
Q5. Name some of the parameters of human development index.
Q6. Define sustainable development .Give an example to show that the present
type and levels of development are not sustainable.

Answer1: Page-4, right side , Last paragraph, 1 st line

All persons seek things that are most important for them, i.e., that which can fulfill
their aspirations or desires. In fact, at times,. It may even be destructive for
the other.
Answer2: For comparing countries, their income is considered to be one of the
most important attributes.
Answer3: In World Development Report brought out by the World Bank
income is used as the criterion classifying countries. Countries with per capita
income of US$ 12616 per annum and above in 2012, are called rich countries
and those with per capita income of US$ 1035 or less are called low-income
countries.
Answer4: Page-11, Heading-Public Facilities, Left side, 8 th line onwards
Income by itself is not a completely adequate .whole of your community takes
preventive steps.

Life Expectancy, Gross Enrolment Ratio and Per Capita Income are
some of the parameters of human development index. Besides these health
is also added up in this list later on.
Answer5:

Answer 6: Sustainable economic development means development should

take place without
damaging the environment, and development in the present should not
compromise with the
needs of the future generations.
Groundwater is an example of renewable resources. These resources are replenished by
nature as in the case of crops and plants. However, even these resources may be
overused. For example, in the case of groundwater, if we use more than what is being
replenished by rain then we would be overusing this resource.
Do part B on your own as these are one sentence questions or fill ups. Read book for
more help.