- Human development
NCERT Questions
- Choose the right answer of the following from the given options:
(i) Which one of the following is India’s rank in terms of human development Index (HDI) among the countries of the world in 2011?
a) 126
b) 134
c) 128
d) 129 (2021)
Ans. b) 134
(ii) Which one of the following states of India has the highest rank in Human Development Index?
a) Tamil Nadu
b) Punjab
c) Kerala
d) Haryana
Ans. c) Kerala
(iii) Which one of the following states of India has the lowest female literacy?
a) Jammu and Kashmir
b) Arunachal Pradesh
c) Jharkhand
d) Bihar
Ans. d) Bihar
(iv) Which one of the following states of India has the lowest female child sex ratio 0 – 6 years?
a) Gujarat
b) Haryana
c) Punjab
d) Himachal Pradesh
Ans. d) Haryana
(v) Which one of the following Union Territories of India has the highest literacy rate?
a) Lakshadweep
b) Chandigarh
c) Daman and Diu
d) Andaman and Nicobar Islands
Ans. a) Lakshadweep
- Answer the following questions in about 30 words:
(i) Define human development.
Ans. Human development is a process of enlarging the range of people’s choices, increasing their opportunities for education, health care, income and empowerment, and covering the full range of human choices from a sound physical environment to economic, social and political freedom.
(ii) Give two reasons for low levels of Human Development Index (HDI) in most of the northern states of India.
Ans. Kerala with the composite index value of 0.790 is placed at the top rank. There are several socio political, economic and historical reasons for such a state of affairs. Kerala is able to record the highest value in the HDI largely due to its impressive performance in achieving near 100% literacy (93.91%) in 2011. Apart from the educational attainment, the levels of economic development too play significant impacts on HDI. Lack of awareness and opportunities for education and lack of job opportunities are the reasons for poor development and low HDI ranking in the northern states of India.
(iii) Give two reasons for declining child sex ratio in India.
Ans. The main underlying cause is the social attitude of the people, which results from the cultural fabric of the country. Where there is general preference for male child, people tend to have male children and also there are illegal practices of female foeticide and infanticide in modern times. The states with highest per capita income have lowest child sex ratio because these states have facilities of prenatal sex determination resulting sex selective abortion resulting in low child sex ratio. Also, after the birth of female child the negligence on health care of the female child leads to higher infant mortality rates for female kids resulting in low child sex ratio.
- Answer the following questions in about 150 words:
(i) Discuss the spatial patterns of female literacy in India in 2011 and bring out the reasons responsible for it.
Ans. Overall literacy in India is approximately 74.04% (2011). While female literacy is only 65.46%. Total literacy as well as female literacy is higher than the national average in most of the states from South India. There are wide regional disparities in literacy rate across the states of India. There is a state like Bihar which has very low 63.82% literacy and there are states like Kerala and Mizoram which have literacy rates of 93.91% and 91.58% respectively.
Kerala is able to record the highest value in the HDI largely due to its impressive performance in achieving near 100% literacy (93.91%) in 2011. In a different scenario, the states like Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Assam and Uttar Pradesh have very low literacy. For example, total literacy rate for Bihar was as low as 63.82% during the same year. States showing higher total literacy rates have fewer gaps between the male and female literacy rates.
Apart from the special variations, percentage of literacy in the rural areas and among the marginalised sections of a society such as females, scheduled cast scheduled tribes agricultural labourers etc. is very low. It is worth mentioning here that though there has been improvement in the percentage of literates among the marginalised section, yet the gap between the rich and the marginalised sections of the population has increased over the years.
(iii) Which factors have caused spatial variations in the levels of human development among the 15 major states in India?
Ans. India has been placed among the countries with Medium Human Development Index. It has Human Development Index of 134 (2011) and 129 in 2021. Kerala with the Composite Index value of 0.790 is placed at the top rank followed by Delhi 0.750, Maharashtra 0.572, Tamil Nadu 0.570 and Haryana 0.552. States like Bihar 0.367, Assam 0.444 and Uttar Pradesh 0.380 Madhya Pradesh. 0.375 and Odisha 0.362 are at the bottom among the 15 major states in India.
There are several socio political, economic and historical reasons for such a state of affairs. Kerala is able to record the highest value in the HDI largely due to its impressive performance in achieving near 100% literacy (90%) in 2007 – 08. States like Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Assam and Uttar Pradesh have very low literacy. States showing higher total literacy rates have fewer gaps between the male and female literacy rates.
Apart from the educational attainment, the levels of economic development to play significant impacts on HDI. Economically developed states like Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Punjab and Haryana have higher value of HDI as compared to states like Assam, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, etc.
Regional distortions and social disparities continue to play an important role in the Indian economy, polity, and society. In India, social divisions of caste, religion, sex plays an important role in the access of the particular social groups to various life chances. Hence alter their standing in the Human Development Index. It is found that state with wider variations in social group like Uttar Pradesh tend to have lower human development index due to communal tensions, differential resources distribution to people to different social groups.
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