The Story of Development
Development involves thinking about equality, better lifestyle through better administration and principles, more equitable distribution of resources and how these goals to be achieved. The way we live today is influenced by the past. Any change in the conditions has to be implemented keeping that in mind. Only through democratic political processes, these hopes and possibilities can be achieved in real life.
Different people have different aspirations for and notions of development. Each person seeks a different goal. They seek things that are most important for them, i.e., that which can fuLfil their aspirations or desires. Two persons or groups of persons may also seek things which are conflicting.
Important
Examples of conflicting interests: A girl expects as much freedom and opportunity as her brother, and that he also shares in the household work. Her brother may not like this.
Similarly, to get more electricity, industrialists may want more dams. This may submerge the land and disrupt the lives of people who are displaced – such as tribals. w They may prefer small check dams or tanks to irrigate their land.
Two lessons are: different persons can have different developmental goals and what may be development for one may not be developed for the other. It may be destructive for other groups.
→ HDI: Human Development Index.
→ Life Expectancy: This between birth denotes, as the name suggests, average expected length of life of a person at the time of birth.
→ Per Capita Income: Average income of each person in a country/state.
→ BMI: Body Mass Index
→ Sustainability: It is the ability to exist constantly without harming the current condition.
→ Infant Mortality Rate: Infant Mortality Rate 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.
→ Literacy Rate: It measures the proportion of the literate population in the 7-and-above age group.
→ Net Attendance Ratio: It is the total number of children of age group 14 and 15 years attending school as a percentage of a total number of children in the same age group.
→ Perennial: Permanent