Human Development

Growth and Development

Both refer to changes over a period of time
Development means a qualitative change which
always values positive
Development takes place due to an increment or
addition to the existing conditions
Development occurs when there is a positive
change in quality
A country’s development level measured by its
economic growth
Aspects of development are quality of life people
enjoy in a country, opportunities they have and
freedom they enjoy.
 Human Development
This concept was introduced by Dr Mahbub-ul-Haq
in 1990. Human development is described as that
which enlarges people’s choices and improves their
lives, thus creating conditions where people can
lead meaningful lives.
This means that people develop talent, participate
in society and be free to achieve their goals.
According to Prof. Amartya Sen, the main objective
of development is an increase in freedom. Freedom
to make choices brings development, and social and
political institutions play a major role in increasing
freedom.
Building people capabilities in health, education and
equal access to resources increases freedom and
enlarges choices.
 Four pillars of human development
1 Equity- refers to making equal access to
opportunities available to everybody The
opportunities available to people must be equal
irrespective of their gender, race, income and in the
Indian case, caste
2 Sustainability- Sustainability means continuity in
the availability of opportunities All environmental,
financial and human resources must be used
keeping in mind the future Misuse of any of these
resources will lead to fewer opportunities for future
generations
3 Productivity- It means human labour productivity
or productivity in terms of human work Such
productivity must be constantly enriched by
building capabilities in people Efforts to increase
their knowledge, or provide better health facilities
ultimately leads to better work efficiency
4 Empowerment means to have the power to make
choices Such power comes from increasing freedom
and capability Good governance and people-
oriented policies are required to empower people

Approaches to human development

1 Income approach- This is one of the oldest
approaches to human development. It is linked to
income. The idea is that the level of income reflects
the level of freedom an individual enjoys. Higher
the level of income, the higher is the level of human
development
2 Welfare approach- This approach looks at human
beings as beneficiaries or targets of all development
activities. The approach argues for higher
government expenditure on education, health,
social secondary and amenities
3 Minimum needs approach- This approach was
initially proposed by the International Labour
Organisation (ILO) Six basic needs i e : health,
education, food, water supply, sanitation, and
housing were identified
4 Capabilities 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 is measured through Human
Development Index (HDI) which ranks the countries
between 0 to 1 based on their performance in the
key areas of health, education and access to
resources.

Important indicator of human development index

are-
(i) Access health is the life expectancy at birth
Higher life expectancy means people have a greater
chance of living longer and healthy life
(ii) Access to Knowledge- The adult literacy rate
and the gross enrolment ratio The number of adults
who are able to read and write and the number of
children enrolled in school
(iii) Access to resources- It is measured in terms of
purchasing power (in U S dollars)

Human Poverty Index

This index measures the shortfall in human
development. The index is based on the probability
of not surviving till 40, adult literacy rate, people
not having access to clean drinking water and
number of underweight children.

United Nations Development Programme

The United Nations Development Programme
(UNDP) since 1990, publishes the Human
Development Report by measuring the Human
Development Index and Human Poverty Index.

Gross National Happiness

This is Gross National Happiness (GNH) which is

another measure of accessing human development
and Bhutan is the only country in the world to
measure the country’s progress through GNH. The
GNH encourages the qualitative aspect of
development.

International Comparisons
On comparing the human development of different
countries, it is revealed that the size of the territory
and per capita income are not directly related to
human development.
For comparisons, the countries are classified into
four groups on the basis of human development
scores earned by them.

Very High Level of Human Development

The countries scoring above 0.802 are categorised
under it. There are 49 countries in this group.
Top ten countries with very high value index are
Norway, Australia, Netherlands, United States, New
Zealand, Canada, Ireland, Liechtenstein, Germany
and Sweden.
The countries in this group provide education and
healthcare which is an important government
priority as well as invest a lot in the social sector.
High Level of Human Development
Countries scoring between 0.702 and 0.801 are
grouped under it. They are 56 in number.
Good governance and lot of investment in social
sector has led to high level of human development
in these countries.
Medium Level of Human Development
Countries scoring between 0.555 and 0.701 are
grouped under it and there are 39 countries in this
group. ‘
Many of these countries were former colonies and
are facing political instability as well as high social
diversity.

Low Level of Human Development

Countries scoring below 0.554 are grouped under it
and there are 44 countries in it. These countries are
going through political turmoil, social instability,
civil war, famine or high incidence of diseases.
Internal comparisons reveal that the culture,
religion or community are non-determinants of
human development. Rather, pattern of
government expenditure on the social sector,
political environment, amount of freedom people
have and the distribution of resources play a
decisive role in the level of human development.