“Growth” and “Development” both almost mean the same- these refers to change over a period of time. But there is slight difference between the two.
Growth and Development
Growth: Growth is quantitative and value neutral. It is either positive or negative.
Development : Development means qualitative changes which is always value positive.
Positive growth always does not lead to development. Development occurs when there is positive change of quality.
For many years Development is measured in terms of economic growth. It means bigger the economy of the country means greater the development. But growth of economy does not really change the lives of the population.
Important aspects of development
i) Quality of life the people enjoy
ii) Opportunities the people have
iii) Freedom they enjoy.
Ideas of quality of life etc. for measuring development came in the works of two Asian Economists Mahbub-ul –Haq and Amartya Sen in late 80s and early 90s.
Human development
Concept of Human Development was first conceived by Mahbub –ul-Haq. Development is people centred in this concept.
Human Development- Human development means that development which enlarges people’s choice and improve their lives. Choice are not static but ever changing with time to lead a meaningful life.
Meaningful life does not merely mean long life. It incorporates:
· Life with a purpose
· Healthy life
· Ability to develop talent
· Participation in society
· Freedom to achieve goals.
Key areas of human development
Ø Access to resources
Ø Access to health
Ø Access to education
Only through education people can develop their capabilities. With this capabilities they can access to resources or health. Education improves knowledge and enlarge the people’s choice to live a decent life,otherwise their choice bound to be limited.
Four pillars of human development
Human development concept is supported by-
1. Equality
2. Sustainability
3. Productivity and
4. Empowerment
Equality refers to equal access to opportunities to all, irrespective of gender, caste, race, creed and income.
Sustainability means continuity in the availability of opportunities for sustainable human development for all generations.
Productivity means human labour productivity or productivity in terms of human works. Hence productivity must be constantly enriched by improving capabilities in human through education and knowledge.
Empowerment means having power to make choices. Empowerment can be achieved by:
v Increasing freedom
v Improving capabilities
v Good governance
v People oriented policies
v Importance to socially and economically backward classes.
Approaches to human development
There are various approaches to measure the human development. They are:-
1. The income approach
2. The welfare approach
3. The minimum needs approach
4. Capability approach
Income approach
This is one of the oldest approaches to human development. Human development is seen as being linked to income. The idea is that level of income reflects the level of freedom an individual enjoys. Higher the level of income ,higher is the level of human development.
Welfare approach
This approach looks at human beings as beneficiaries or targets of all development activities. The approach argue for higher government expenditure on education, health ,social security and amenities. People are not participants in development but only passive recipients. The government is responsible for increasing levels of human development by maximizing expenditure on welfare.
Basic needs approach
This approach was initially proposed by the International Labour Organization(IOL). Six basic needs i.e. health, education ,food, water supply, sanitation and housing were identified. The question of human choice is ignored and the emphasis is on the provision of basic needs of defined sections.
Capability approach
This approach is associated with Prof. Amartya Sen. Building human capabilities in the areas of health, education and access to resources is the key to increasing human development.
Measuring human development
Human Development Index(HDI) is measure taking the three key indicators of human development. These are:-
v Access to health in terms of life expectancy at birth.
v Access to education in terms of adult literacy
v Access to resources in terms of purchasing power (in US dollars)
Human Development is the sum total of weights assigned to all those dimensions. HDI is in between
0—1. Human development is the attainment of key sectors but it is also not most reliable because it does not say about the distribution.
Human Poverty Index
Human poverty index is related to human development. It measures the shortfall of human development. Sometimes it is most reliable than the Human Development Index.
Indicators of Poverty Index. It is non income measures.
1. Probability of not surviving till the age of 40.
2. Adult literacy rate.
3. Access to clean drinking water.
4. Number of underweight children.
Looking at both HDI and Human Poverty Index together gives the accurate picture of human development.
International Comparisons
International comparisons of human development is interesting. There is no direct relationship between size of territory and per capita income with Human Development.
Smaller countries have better Human development than the larger countries and poorer countries have higher Human development than the rich countries.
Sri Lanka and Trinidad and Tobago have higher Human Development Index than India. In the same way Kerala has higher human development index than Punjab and Gujarat in spite of having lower per capita income.
Countries can be divided into three groups on the basis of Human Development Index.
Table: Human Development categories and number of countries
Level of Human Development
Score in Development Index
Number of countries
High
Above 0.8
57
Medium
0.5—0.799
88
Low
Below 0.5
32
Countries with high index value
57 countries have high index value. These countries have higher index value because of the following reasons:
1. Providing education to the mass
2. Better health care facilities
3. Good governance
4. Higher investment in social sectors.
Table: Top ten countries in higher development index
Sl.No.
Country
Sl.No.
Country
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Norway
Iceland
Australia
Luxembourg
Canada
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Sweden
Switzerland
Ireland
Belgium
United states
Most of the high index value countries are former imperialist countries. Their social diversity is also low and almost all are industrialized countries.
Countries with medium index
Medium human development countries largest in number that is 88. Most of these countries are formed just after the 2nd World War. Many of these countries were the colonies in the past,including the countries which were formed after the disintegration of erstwhile Soviet Union in 1990. These countries have developed their human development index. As they have improved a lot because of
Ø People oriented policies
Ø Reducing social discrimination.
Causes of medium human development
· Higher social diversity
· Political instability
· Social uprisings.
Countries with low development index
About 32 countries have the low development index. Most of these countries are small countries.
Causes of low development index
· Political turmoil
· Social instability and civil war
· Famine
· Prevalence od diseases
To understand why particular region have high or low development index. It is important to look at the
· Government expenditure on social sector
· Political environment of the country
· Freedom the people enjoyed in that country
· Equitable distribution of resources.
Countries having high level of human development index invest more on social sector, political stability etc.
On the other hand countries having low level on human development index spent more on