1. Look at data in table 1.3 and 1.4.

Is Punjab ahead of Bihar in

literacy rate etc. as it is in terms of per capita income?

Ans 1. Yes, Punjab is ahead of Bihar in literacy rate, infant mortality and
net attendance ratio as it is in terms of per capita income.

2. Think of other examples where collective provision of goods and

services is cheaper than individual provision.

Ans2. Examples where collective provision of goods and services is

cheaper than individual provision:

• If the public distribution system by the government functions properly

then it would be much cheaper for the people to consume products from
the ration shops than from the open market.
• It would be cheaper to get a treatment from government hospitals instead
of private hospitals

3. Does availability of good health and educational facilities

depend only on amount of money spent by the government on
these facilities? What other factors could be relevant?

Ans3. No, availability of good health and educational facilities does not
depend only on amount of money spent by the government on these
facilities. The other factors are:

• ngo’s,
• charity trusts . For e.g Vivek High is owned by D.A.V
• private companies

4. In Tamil Nadu 75% of the people living in rural areas use a

ration shop, whereas in Jharkhand only 8% of rural people do
so. Where would people be better off and why?

Ans4. In Tamil Nadu 75% of the people living in rural areas use a ration shop
which means that people buy goods at cheaper rates and therefore it is more
profitable. As the ration shops assure food security to the people, the food is
easily available and accessible them. Whereas in Jharkhand people are dying of
hunger because of the poor availability of food. The people in rural areas can not
easily afford food grains from the open market and hardly use the ration shops.
Therefore in Tamil Nadu where the facilities provided by the government is
cheap, the people are better off.
 5. Activity 2:

a) The literacy rate for all groups, including young and old, is ___for
rural males and ___for rural females. However, it is not just that
these many adults could not attend school but that there are
___who are currently not in school.
b) It is clear from the table that ___ % of rural girls and ___ % of rural
boys are not attending school. Therefore, illiteracy among children
in the age group 10-14 is as high as ___ % for rural females and ___
% for rural males.
c) This high level of illiteracy among ___ age group, even after more
than 60 years of our independence, is most disturbing. In many
other states also we are nowhere near realization of the
constitutional goal of free and compulsory education for all children
up to the age of 14, which was expected to be achieved by 1960.

6. In what respects is the criterion used by the UNDP for

measuring development different from the one used by the
World Bank?

Ans6. The world bank used the criterion of per capita income whereas the
UNDP used the criterion of HDI- Human Development Index.

7. Kerala, with lower per capita income has a better human

development ranking than Punjab. Hence, per capita income is
not a useful criterion at all and should not be used to compare
states. Do you agree? Discuss.

Ans7. No, I don’t agree with the statement. Per capita income is a very
useful criterion and should be used to compare states. It is just that it is
not the only factor on which human development of different states be
compared. There are other factors also on which it depends such as literacy rate,
infant mortality rate, net attendance ratio etc. Therefore it is not a correct
statement.