Economic Development: SEBA Class 10 Economics (Social) answers

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Get here notes, textbook solutions, answers, extras, questions, pdf, mcqs for Political Science and Economics (social science) chapter 2 Economic Development of class 10 (HSLC) for students studying under the Board of Secondary Education, Assam (SEBA). These notes/answers, however, should only be used for references and modifications/changes can be made wherever possible.

Introduction to the chapter Economic Development: Economic growth, economic development, and human development are not synonymous; these concepts are distinct from one another. In 1990, the first Human Development Report was published. To promote economic well-being, India has chosen democratic planning. The public sector was the leading sector in India during the first phase of planning, which lasted from 1951-52 to 1990-91. Liberalisation, privatisation, and globalisation have grown in importance since the second phase of planning began in 1991-92 and continues to this day. NITI Aayog has taken the place of the Planning Commission of India. A set of important objectives guides Assam’s Twelfth Five Year Plan.

Answer in one sentence

1. Economic growth
2. Economic development
3. Human development
4. Economic planning
5. Democratic planning
6. Liberalisation
7. Privatisation
8. Globalisation

Answers:

1. Economic Growth: Economic growth is a quantitative concept that refers to output growth, specifically growth in Per Capita Income, which is the average income earned per person in a given area.

2. Economic Development: Economic development is both a quantitative concept that evaluates economic growth and a qualitative concept that measures the rise in a country’s standard of living. When the local quality of life improves, economic development increases.

3. Human Development: Human Development is the expansion of collective choice of the people and has three indicators namely – Life Expectancy, Literacy and Standard of living.

4. Economic Planning: Economic planning is an instrument to attain a set of well-defined objectives within a defined time period as determined by a central planning agency. In India, the plan is formulated for a period of five years.

5. Democratic Planning: When people are involved in different stages of planning, it shows that decisions aren’t being forced on them. In this way, India’s federal structure allows for the decentralisation of power.

6. Liberalisation: The term “liberalisation” refers to the “removal of controls” in order to promote economic development. Economic liberalisation is the reduction of government regulations and restrictions in an economy in exchange for increased private sector participation.

7. Privatisation: Privatisation refers to the transfer of ownership, management, and control of public-sector enterprises to the private sector, which implies total or partial disinvestment.

8. Globalisation: Globalisation refers to the integration of a country’s economy with the economies of the rest of the world, and it can also refer to a cultural, social, and political preference for developed countries.

Short answer type questions of the chapter Economic Development

1. Mention two important points of difference between economic growth and economic development.

Answer:

Economic Growth	Economic Development
Increase in the monetary growth of a nation in a particular period.	It refers to the overall development of the quality of life in a nation which includes economic growth.
It is a quantitative measure that shows the possible increase in the number of commercial transactions in an economy.	It is a quantitative as well as qualitative improvement in the life of citizens of a country and is most appropriately determined by Human Development Index.

2. What are the three indices of human development?

Answer: There are three indicators of Human Development as specified by the UNDP are:

i. Life expectancy: Life expectancy is the number of years that a child is expected to survive at the time of birth.

ii. Literacy: The levels of literacy include adult literacy and the gross enrolment ratio of primary and secondary education and other branches.

iii. Standard of living: This basically refers to accessibility to pure drinking water and sanitation.

3. What is meant by extension of collective choice?

Answer: The primary foundation of human development is the extension or expansion of collective choice. Collective Choice Theory is the study of how a rule is chosen to transition from a set of individual preference orders over alternatives available to a society of those individuals to a collective or social preference order over those same alternatives.

4. Mention four important objectives of India’s Five Year Plans.

Answer: The main objectives of planning in India are –

i. To raise the rate of growth of the economy

ii. To remove socio-economic inequalities

iii. To remove poverty, to expand employment opportunities

iv. To remove regional inequalities, to ensure sustainable economic development without causing damage to the environment.

5. Who are the members of NITI Aayog?

Answer: The National Institution for Transforming India is abbreviated as NITI. The Prime Minister of India serves as the Chairman of NITI Aayog. The Vice-Chairman, Chief Ministers of states, Lieutenant Governors of Union Territories, four Central Ministers, the Chief Executive Officer, and experts from various fields are the other members.

Structure of NITI Aayog Committee-

Chairman: Prime Minister.
Vice-Chairman: Appointed by Prime Minister.
Full-time members: Three experts.
Part-time members: Two numbers.
Ex Officio members: Maximum four Cabinet Ministers.
Chief Executive Officer: One IAS officer.
Executive Council: All Chief Ministers and Lt. Governor of Union Territory.

6. Explain one of the main points of difference between the first phase of planning in India (1951-52 to 1990-91) and the second phase (1991-92 to the present day).

Answer: Because the industrial policy accepted the goal of the socialistic pattern of society, the public sector was the leading sector in the economy during the first period of planning (1951-52 to 1990-91), and the role of the private sector was secondary. However, the Indian economy’s growth rate was unsatisfactory during this time period.

In India, the second phase of planning spans the years 1991-1992 to the present. Because of the economic policies implemented in 1991 emphasising liberalisation, privatisation, and globalisation, the importance of the private sector grew during this period, while the emphasis on the public sector declined.

7. Briefly explain the three main causes of the introduction of economic reform measures in India.

Answer: There are three important factors that have brought a significant change in the Indian economy.

i. Firstly, the aggregate public expenditure exceeded the aggregate public revenue which resulted in a huge fiscal deficit. Public expenditure in the public sector was rising over the years but the vast majority of public sector undertakings incurred heavy losses and hence, the returns to public expenditure were low.

ii. Secondly, the high rate of inflation had an unfavourable impact on the Indian economy. Socially and economically backward people with limited income were badly hit by the price rise.

iii. Thirdly, India’s balance of payments position. was highly disturbing. The inflow of funds into India was on the decline. On the contrary, there was an outflow of capital from India. Consequently, the foreign trade deficit was rising alarmingly.

8. Mention three benefits of economic reforms in India.

Answer: Three benefits of the economic reforms in India are:

i. Firstly, there has been a rise in the rate of growth of the economy. The annual rate of growth in 2005-06, 2006-07 and 2007-08 was 9.5 per cent, 9.7 per cent and 9.2 per cent respectively which was much higher than the growth rate achieved earlier. During the period 2009-10 to 2012-13, the average rate of growth of the Indian economy was 6.7 per cent.

ii. Secondly, the wholesale price index has shown a downward trend. However, the retail prices have not registered the same trend.

iii. Thirdly, the foreign currency reserves with the Reserve Bank of India have increased considerably. This amount was $328.7 billion (1 billion = 100 crore or 1000 million) in 2015 (march). This reserve could finance seven months of imports into India. In 1990-91, the amount of foreign exchange reserve was so small that it could cover only 15 days of import.

9. Briefly explain two problems of economic reforms in India.

Answer: The two problems of economic reforms in India are:

i. Firstly, new economic reforms failed to control inflation. Although the Government had a plan to contain the rate of inflation 9 per cent in 1991-92 (as mentioned in the Memorandum to IMF) the actual rate of inflation successfully declined to 6.5 per cent in April 1993 but then the same rate again increased to the level of 11.0 per cent in 1994-95.

ii. Secondly, the new economic reforms are a complete surrender to the World Bank-IMF precepts and the Government has surrendered its sovereignty in order to procure a huge amount of loans from such international agencies.

10. Mention five important objectives of Assam’s Twelfth Five Year Plan.

Answer: The important objectives of Assam’s Twelfth Plan are:

i. to raise the rate of growth of the Assam economy’ to 10 per cent in the next two to three decades in order to remove the gap between Assam’s economy and the economies of the developed states in India

ii. to tackle the’ problem’ of flood and erosion with the latest technology and scientific management

iii. to achieve self-sufficiency in power generation and to apply modem technology in power supply and distribution

iv. to raise the value of Assam’s human development index and accordingly increase the amount of investment in health and education

v. to lay emphasis on skill formation in order to expand opportunities for self-employment and promote the growth of micro, small and medium industries including the traditional cottage industries.

Additional/extra questions and answers/solutions

1. When was the first Human Development Report published?

Answer: The first Human Development Report was published in 1990.

2. Write the new concepts of Human Development introduced in 2010.

Answer: The new concepts of Human Development introduced in 2010 include:

i. The inequality-adjusted human development Index.
ii. Gender inequality index and
iii. multidimensional poverty index.

3. What do you understand by life expectancy?

Answer: The number of years a child is expected to live at the time of birth is referred to as his or her life expectancy.

4. What is the average life expectancy in developed and underdeveloped countries?

Answer: The average life expectancy in developed countries is higher because public health services are better. On the contrary, in developing countries life expectancy is low because public health services are rather poor.

5. Who is the Chairman of NITI Aayog?

Answer: Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of India is the Chairman of NITI Aayog.

6. Name the revolution that started in the mid-’60s?

Answer: The revolution that started in the mid-’60s is the Green Revolution.

7. What is economic development?

Answer: It means raising the general standard of living by introducing radical changes in the production system and making the best use of the country’s natural resources.

8. What do you mean by economic planning?

Answer: It is a well-organized economic effort to bring about rapid changes in the social and economic conditions of the people.

9. What is per capita income?

Answer: Per capita income refers to the income of the people in a country or a geographical location.

10. What is a mixed economy?

Answer: Mixed economy refers to the type of economic system where some of the production is done by the government while others are done by the private sector. A mixed economy is a combination of both the government and private sector.

11. When did the tenth five-year plan of Assam start and end? What priorities were fixed in the tenth plan in Assam?

Answer: The tenth five-year plan of India began on April 1, 2002, and ended on March 31, 2007. The tenth plan in Assam included Social service, agriculture, rural development and education.

12. Give one reason for low capital formation in a developing economy.

Answer: Savings and income are the sources of capital formation in any country. However, this process of capital formation is very slow in developing countries which leads to low capital formation in a developing economy.

13. When was the planning commission of India constituted?

Answer: India’s planning commission was established in March 1950.

14. Which year did the tenth five-year plan begin and end?

Answer: The tenth five-year plan of India began on April 1, 2002, and ended on March 31, 2007.

15. In which plan of India priority was given to reducing poverty?

Answer: In the sixth five-year plan, priority was given to reducing poverty in India.

16. In which year was the North Eastern council constituted?

Answer: The North Eastern Council was constituted in 1972.

17. Where is the secretariat of the NE Council located?

Answer: The secretariat of the North East Council is located at Shillong.

18. What do you understand by developing countries?

Answer: According to the World Development Report, developing countries are those with a low per capita income, a high population growth rate, and a high population density.

19. Differentiate between developed and developing economics.

Answer: Two differences between developed and developing economies are:

i. Developed countries have higher per capita income whereas developing countries have lower per capita income.
ii Developed countries are rich in capital formation whereas developing countries are poor in capital formation.

20. How are the countries of the world divided on the basis of per capita income?

Answer: On the basis of per capita income, countries around the world can be divided into three categories: low income, middle income, and high income. Lower-income countries are also referred to as third-world countries.

21. Mention three features of developing countries.

Answer: Three features of developing countries are:

i. Low per capita income: One of the primary characteristics of a developing country is a low per capita income. In developing countries, national income is very low, and population growth is rapid.

ii. Dependance on agriculture: Developing countries are primarily agricultural. Agriculture provides a significant portion of the national income in such countries. However, the agricultural sector, on the other hand, is underdeveloped and underproductive.

iii. Rapid growth of population: There is a rapid growth of population in developing countries because of the unequal balance in birth rate and mortality rate. In comparison to the birth rate, the mortality rate is significantly low. Further, the mortality rate seems to be decreasing owing to the advancement of medical services. This largely affects the population growth in a country.

22. Mention the importance of infrastructures for economic development.

Answer: A country’s infrastructure is the foundation for its growth. One distinguishing feature of developing countries is their lack of infrastructure. Underdeveloped countries have limited transportation and communication systems, as well as a limited supply of finance. Rapid economic development is not possible in the absence of these infrastructures, which are regarded as essential for economic growth.

23. Mention any three important objectives of economic planning.

Answer: The three important objectives of economic planning are given below:

i. Removing barriers to development: One of the goals of economic development is to remove development barriers. Economic development in developing countries is difficult to achieve. When it comes to national development, such countries face a number of challenges.

ii. Utilisation of natural resources: Natural resources are not fully utilised in developing countries.

iii. Establishment of infrastructure for development: One distinguishing feature of developing countries is their lack of infrastructure. The aim of economic planning is to develop and upgrade the basic infrastructure of a country which includes transportation and communication systems, electricity generation, and finance.

24. Explain in brief the wastage of human resources in developing countries.

Answer: Excessive population growth is a problem in developing countries. Large-scale unemployment, price rise, food crises, and other social and economic variables have hampered economic development in these countries. Wastage of human resources, combined with population growth, has caused serious problems in developing countries. Human resource waste increases as the population grows. Underdeveloped agriculture, industry, and service sectors of developing economies cannot provide people with employment opportunities in proportion to population growth.

25. Write in brief what should be the population policy in a developing country?

Answer: Excessive population growth causes enormous problems in developing countries. Large-scale unemployment, price increases, food crises, and other social and economic factors have hampered the process of economic development in such countries. A transparent population policy is essential for controlling population growth; such a policy can aid in the efficient use of human resources and the resolution of the unemployment problem. It also aids in the expansion of education, the development of women’s education, and the provision of public health services, in addition to population control. The importance of economic plan is more in the developing countries so far as the solution of population problems is concerned.

26. What are the basic human needs? How is it related to economic development?

Answer: The basic needs of human beings are food, shelter, clothes, clean drinking water, medical treatment, transport and education. Economic development is not possible unless these basic needs are met. Economic development is the most efficient use of material resources.

27. Mention any three advantages of the public sector in India.

Answer: Three advantages of the public sector in India are:

i. Establishment of heavy industries.
ii. Development of transport and communication, production and distribution of electricity.
iii. Establishment and expansion of financial institutions.

28. Mention two significant results of India’s liberalisation policy, which was implemented in 1991.

Answer: Two significant results of India’s liberalisation policy implemented in 1991 are

i. Economic reforms implemented through this policy added a new scale to the states of the mixed economy.

ii. The industrial licensing system, which was required for the establishment, as well as the restrictions on foreign capital and technology investment, were made more flexible as a result of this liberalisation policy.

29. Write any four objectives of the Tenth five years plan of India.

Answer: The following are the four objectives of India’s tenth five-year plan:

i. To increase the Gross national product at the rate of 8% per annum.
ii. To reduce the proportion of the population living in poverty by 5% by 2007 and 15% by 2012.
iii. Creating avenues and means for gainful and high-level employment can serve as a basis for population growth.
iv. To ensure primary education for all the children of the country by 2007.

30. When was the North East Council (NEC) established and what was the motive behind its establishment?

Answer: NEC was established in 1972. It was established for rapid economic development.

31. Discuss the main functions of the North Eastern Council.

Answer: Functions of the NE Council are as follows:

i. To prepare integrated regional planning for the development of the entire NE region and to reduce economic disparity.
ii. To establish economic cooperation and coordination among all the northeastern states.
iii. To prepare projects on transport and communication, electricity, and flood control.
iv. To maintain effective coordination among the north-eastern states regarding the distribution of benefits derived from the execution and maintenance of the development project.
v. To assess the progress of investment made for project execution and to make recommendations to the central government.
vi. To take the necessary steps for a systematic survey and research on projects related to regional planning.
vii. To discuss matters relating to the security, law and order situation of the NE states and to provide necessary suggestions in this regard.

32. What are the advantages of economic development?

Answer: Changes occur in social organisational patterns, traditional outlooks, and national institutions. It accelerates economic development, narrows income disparities, and eradicates absolute poverty.

33. Why is five-year planning necessary?

Answer: Five-year planning is necessary for the reconstruction of the national economy and for economic development.

34. What was the objective of the tenth year plan?

Answer: The objective of the tenth year plan was (a) power (b) Social service and (c) Agriculture and rural development.

35. What do you understand by the vicious cycle of poverty?

Answer: Developing countries are densely populated. These countries have extremely low levels of income. These countries rely primarily on traditional agricultural systems. This is the primary cause of the poverty cycle.