Development

Development

Development carried 6 marks in the 2026-27 sample paper and in February 2026, and 5 in May 2026. It gave the Economics 5-marker in the sample paper (a table of infant mortality, literacy and attendance for three states) and in 2025 (groundwater and sustainability), a 3-marker on sustainability in February 2026, a 2-marker on different notions of development in May 2026, and MCQs on development goals, average income, the Human Development Report, the attendance ratio and BMI.

Marks are most often lost by working out an average wrongly or treating it as proof that everyone is better off, by mixing up the indicators (infant mortality is per 1,000 live births, counts deaths before the age of one, and is better when lower), by forgetting to square the height in BMI, and by calling groundwater non-renewable.

Revise in 5 Minutes

Development goals

• Goals depend on a person's life situation, change as needs are met, and can conflict: a plan can be development for some and a loss for others.
• People want more than income: equal treatment, freedom, security and respect.

Comparing countries and states

• An average allows fair comparison but hides how income is shared.
• Higher income does not guarantee health or schooling. A State with a lower income can have a lower infant mortality rate if it has good basic health and education services.
• Public facilities: some things money cannot buy for one family (clean air, unadulterated medicines, protection from infectious diseases). Schools, health centres and ration shops (the Public Distribution System) provided for all are cheaper and reach the poor.

Indicators

• Infant mortality rate: babies who die before the age of one, per 1,000 live births in that year.
• Literacy rate: share of literate people aged 7 and above.
• Net attendance ratio: % of children of the relevant age group who attend school.
• BMI = weight (kg) ÷ height (m)². Below 18.5: undernourished; above 25: overweight.

Sustainability

• Renewable resources can be overused: pumping more groundwater than rain recharges makes the water table fall.
• Non-renewable resources such as crude oil have a fixed stock: years left = reserves ÷ yearly use.
• Environmental damage crosses State and national borders; development must leave enough for future generations.

Traps

• Compare per person, not totals.
• IMR: lower is better; literacy and NAR: higher is better.
• A rising average does not mean everyone gained.
• Mean years of schooling is about adults; expected years is about children starting school.
• Groundwater is renewable, not unlimited.

How to use this page: try each question on paper first, then read the answer. The marks against each step show what an examiner looks for. The 1-mark MCQs and Assertion-Reason questions are in the quiz at the end, together with questions that test how well you understand the chapter; every quiz answer comes with its explanation.

Short Answer Questions (2 and 3 Marks)

Question 1 (2 marks)

A new highway bypass will move the weekly market from Kishore's village to a site 10 km away, but it will also bring a night bus service to the town. Kishore sells his vegetables at the weekly market; his granddaughter Pooja studies at a college in the town. Explain how each of them is likely to judge the plan, and why.

Answer.

Model answer:

1. Kishore will see it as a loss: the market will be 10 km away, so selling will cost more time and money.
2. Pooja will welcome it: a night bus lets her go to college and return safely.

Marking scheme:

1. Kishore is likely to see it as a loss: the market will be 10 km away, so selling will cost him more time and money, and his income may fall. — 1 mark
2. Pooja is likely to welcome it: a night bus lets her travel to college and back safely and at hours that suit her. — 1 mark

Question 2 (3 marks)

A notice in an imaginary village of 100 families says: "The average income of a family here is ₹13,400 a month, so our village is well off." In fact, 90 families earn ₹8,000 a month each and 10 families earn ₹62,000 a month each (hypothetical figures).

(i) Show that the average given in the notice is correct. (1 mark)

Answer.

Model answer:

Total = ₹7,20,000 + ₹6,20,000 = ₹13,40,000. Average = ₹13,40,000 ÷ 100 = ₹13,400.

Marking scheme:

1. Total = 90 × ₹8,000 + 10 × ₹62,000 = ₹7,20,000 + ₹6,20,000 = ₹13,40,000; average = ₹13,40,000 ÷ 100 = ₹13,400. — 1 mark

(ii) Explain two things that this average hides. (2 marks)

Answer.

Model answer:

1. Nine families out of ten earn ₹8,000, far below the average; ten rich families pull it up.
2. It hides the unequal sharing of income: a rich family earns nearly eight times as much as a poor one.

Marking scheme:

1. 90 of the 100 families (90%) earn well below the average; the average is pulled up by the 10 rich families. — 1 mark
2. It hides how unequally income is shared: a rich family earns nearly eight times a poor one, so the village is not 'well off' for most people. (Also accept: it does not show whether most families can afford food, schooling or health care.) — 1 mark

Question 3 (2 marks)

Distinguish between literacy rate and net attendance ratio.

Answer.

Model answer:

1. Literacy rate tells what share of people aged 7 and above can read and write.
2. Net attendance ratio tells what percentage of the children of the relevant age group are actually attending school.

Marking scheme:

1. Literacy rate: the share of literate people in the population aged 7 years and above. — 1 mark
2. Net attendance ratio: the share (percentage) of children of the relevant age group who are attending school. — 1 mark

Question 4 (3 marks)

A minister says, "Our per capita income has doubled in ten years, so our rank in the Human Development Index must have jumped." Give three reasons why the rank may have barely moved.

Answer.

Model answer:

1. The HDI also counts life expectancy and schooling; if these improved little, the index rose little.
2. The rank depends on other countries too; they have also improved.
3. The extra income may not have been spent on hospitals and schools, so health and education stayed behind.

Marking scheme:

1. The HDI also counts life expectancy and years of schooling; if health and schooling improved only a little, the index rises only a little. — 1 mark
2. The rank is relative: other countries are improving too, so a country can move up very little even when its own figures rise. — 1 mark
3. The extra income may not have gone into hospitals, schools and other services, so health and education lag behind income. (Accept any fair variant, e.g. most of the gain went to a few people.) — 1 mark

Question 5 (3 marks)

Fishing families in the imaginary coastal village of Machhlipur began using nets with a very fine mesh, and for a few years their catch rose. Now the catch is falling every year.

(i) Fish can breed again, yet the catch is falling. Explain why. (1 mark)

Answer.

Model answer:

Fish are renewable, but fine nets catch young fish before they breed, so more are taken out than nature replaces.

Marking scheme:

1. Fish are a renewable resource, but fine nets catch even young fish before they breed, so more fish are taken out than nature replaces: the resource is overused. — 1 mark

(ii) Why would it not help much if only a few families changed to nets with a bigger mesh? (1 mark)

Answer.

Model answer:

The fish are shared by all; if others keep catching young fish, the stock still falls, so all must follow one rule.

Marking scheme:

1. The fish in the sea near the village are shared by all; if the other families keep catching young fish, the stock still falls, so all the families have to follow the same rule. — 1 mark

(iii) Suggest one step that would make the village's fishing sustainable. (1 mark)

Answer.

Model answer:

Stop all fishing in the breeding season, so the young fish can grow and breed.

Marking scheme:

1. Any one: a village rule on the size of the mesh; no fishing in the breeding season; a limit on each boat's catch. — 1 mark

Question 6 (2 marks)

Nasreen, a trained tailor in an imaginary town, stays at home because the road to the market area is unsafe after dark. Explain two ways in which a safer town would add to her development.

Answer.

Model answer:

1. She could work at a tailoring shop in the market and add to the family's income.
2. She would be free to go out and return at the hours her work needs, even after dark.

Marking scheme:

1. She could take up paid work at a tailoring shop in the market, which adds to her family's income. — 1 mark
2. She would be free to go out and come back at the hours her work or a training course needs, instead of being tied to the house after dark. (Also accept: she would feel secure, which is a goal in itself.) — 1 mark

Question 7 (3 marks)

Study the hypothetical data for three States given below.

(i) Which State does best on health, and which on education? Give one figure for each. (1 mark)

Answer.

Model answer:

Health: Z, with the lowest IMR (12). Education: X, with 91% literacy.

Marking scheme:

1. Health: Z, with the lowest infant mortality rate (12). Education: X, with the highest literacy rate (91%) or net attendance ratio (88%). — 1 mark

(ii) What does the case of State Z show about development? (1 mark)

Answer.

Model answer:

A State can do well on health and still lag on education; one does not bring the other by itself.

Marking scheme:

1. A State can be ahead on one side of development (health) and behind on another (education); progress on one does not bring the other by itself. — 1 mark

(iii) Y's net attendance ratio (64%) is below its literacy rate (66%). What does this suggest about Y's literacy rate in the coming years? (1 mark)

Answer.

Model answer:

Too few children are in school now, so literacy will hardly rise, and may slip, unless attendance improves.

Marking scheme:

1. Fewer of today's children are in school than the share of people who can already read, so as they grow up Y's literacy rate is unlikely to rise much, and may even slip, unless attendance improves. — 1 mark

Question 8 (2 marks)

Gita, aged 14, lives in a hill village that has no electricity. She studies by a kerosene lamp and walks 7 km each way to the nearest secondary school. Suggest two development goals that would matter most to her, and say why.

Answer.

Model answer:

1. Electricity at home, so she can study after dark.
2. A secondary school nearer home, or a bus to it, so she saves time and does not drop out.

Marking scheme:

1. Electricity at home, so she can study after dark in good light, without the smoke of the lamp. — 1 mark
2. A secondary school nearer the village, or cheap, safe transport to it, so her time and energy go into studies and she does not drop out. (Also accept: a hostel, a bicycle scheme, a library.) — 1 mark

Question 9 (3 marks)

Fifty years ago, the main aim of the imaginary country of Tarangia was to grow enough food for all its people. Today most families get enough to eat, and new demands are heard: regular jobs for educated young people, cleaner air in the growing cities, and better schools in the villages. The government cannot pay for all of them at once.

(i) Why have Tarangia's development goals changed? (1 mark)

Answer.

Model answer:

Food, the first need, is now met, so people aim at new goals such as jobs, clean air and schools.

Marking scheme:

1. Once the first need, enough food, was met, people began to aim at other things they value, such as jobs, clean air and schooling. — 1 mark

(ii) Explain two things the government should keep in mind while choosing among these demands, if it is aiming at national development. (2 marks)

Answer.

Model answer:

1. The choice should be fair to all groups and places, villages as well as cities, not only to the loudest or richest.
2. It should look for a better way, such as cleaner factories that give jobs without dirtying the air.

Marking scheme:

1. Fairness: the choice should be fair and just to all groups and regions, for example to village children as well as city workers, and not only to those with the loudest voice or the most money. — 1 mark
2. A better way: whether some way meets more than one goal together, or with less harm, for example cleaner factories that give jobs without dirtying the air. (Also accept: whether the gains will last for future generations; whether the plan reaches the poor.) — 1 mark

Long Answer and Case-Based Questions

Question 10 (5 marks)

Study the hypothetical data on groundwater in the imaginary district of Kheragarh, a large producer of paddy, and answer the questions that follow.

(a) In which of the years shown did the district first pump out more groundwater than the rain put back? (1 mark)

Answer.

Model answer:

2010, when 980 million cubic metres were pumped out but rain added only 860.

Marking scheme:

1. 2010: 980 million cubic metres were pumped out against 860 added by rain (in 2005, 850 was still less than 880). — 1 mark

(b) Explain two effects this trend is likely to have on the district's farmers in the coming years. (2 marks)

Answer.

Model answer:

1. The water table will keep falling, so tubewells must go deeper and many will dry up; irrigation will cost more.
2. Without enough water, paddy yields will fall and farm incomes will drop.

Marking scheme:

1. The water table will keep falling, so wells and tubewells will have to be dug deeper, and many will go dry; the cost of irrigation will rise. — 1 mark
2. Without enough water, crops like paddy will fail or yields will fall, so farm incomes will drop. (Also accept: shortage of drinking water; small farmers may be forced out of farming.) — 1 mark

(c) Suggest two ways to make the district's use of groundwater sustainable. (2 marks)

Answer.

Model answer:

1. Grow less water-hungry crops, such as millets and pulses, on part of the paddy land.
2. Harvest rainwater and build check dams to raise recharge, and use drip irrigation to cut waste.

Marking scheme:

1. Grow crops that need less water, such as millets and pulses, on part of the land in place of paddy. — 1 mark
2. Raise recharge and cut waste: rainwater harvesting and check dams, drip or sprinkler irrigation, and limits on new tubewells. (Accept any two sensible steps.) — 1 mark

OR

Study the same table and answer the following.

(a) By how much did the water pumped out exceed the water added by rain in 2020? What percentage of that year's recharge is this? (1 mark)

Answer.

Model answer:

1,260 − 840 = 420 million cubic metres, which is 50% of the recharge (420 ÷ 840 × 100).

Marking scheme:

1. 1,260 − 840 = 420 million cubic metres; 420 ÷ 840 × 100 = 50 per cent of the recharge. — 1 mark

(b) Farm incomes in Kheragarh rose between 2000 and 2020. Explain why this rise may still not be sustainable development. (2 marks)

Answer.

Model answer:

1. The higher output rests on pumping more water than the rain puts back, so it will stop once the water table falls too low.
2. Today's farmers are using up water their children will need; development must leave enough for the future.

Marking scheme:

1. The higher output depends on using up groundwater faster than rain replaces it, so the gains cannot last once the water table falls too low. — 1 mark
2. Development must also protect the needs of future generations; today's farmers are using water that their children will need. — 1 mark

(c) The number of tubewells rose from 8 thousand to 30 thousand. Explain how this helps to explain the trend in the table, and who is likely to be hit first as the water table falls. (2 marks)

Answer.

Model answer:

1. More tubewells pumped more water, from 700 to 1,260 million cubic metres, while recharge fell a little.
2. Small farmers and poor families with shallow wells are hit first, as they cannot dig deeper.

Marking scheme:

1. More tubewells mean more pumping: water pumped out rose from 700 to 1,260 million cubic metres while the rain's addition fell slightly, so the water table keeps falling. — 1 mark
2. Small farmers and poor families with shallow wells or hand pumps are hit first, as they cannot afford to dig deeper. (Also accept: landless farm workers, who lose work when crops fail.) — 1 mark

Question 11 (5 marks)

The government of an imaginary State plans to turn 200 hectares of farmland near the town of Rajpur into an industrial park. Explain how five different groups of people are likely to view this plan, and why.

Answer.

Model answer:

1. Landowning farmers: some welcome the price paid for land; others oppose losing land that has fed them for generations.
2. Landless farm workers: they oppose it, as they lose farm work and may lack factory skills.
3. Educated unemployed youth: they welcome it, hoping for regular jobs.
4. Shopkeepers and transporters: they welcome more business.
5. Families living nearby or downstream: they fear smoke and waste water will harm their health and fields.

Marking scheme:

1. Farmers who own the land: some welcome the price or compensation, others oppose losing land that has fed their families for generations. — 1 mark
2. Landless farm workers: they are likely to oppose it, as they lose farm work and may not have the skills that factories want. — 1 mark
3. Educated young people without jobs in Rajpur: they welcome it, hoping for regular jobs in the new units. — 1 mark
4. Shopkeepers, transporters and industrialists: they welcome it, as more units mean more business and profit. — 1 mark
5. Families living nearby or downstream: they fear smoke and waste water harming their health, water and fields. (Accept any five groups with a reason.) — 1 mark

OR

Poor families cannot buy many of the things they need one household at a time. Explain five facilities that a State government can provide for everyone together, stating how each one improves people's lives.

Answer.

Model answer:

1. Government schools: poor children can study, which raises literacy and later incomes.
2. Primary health centres: cheap treatment near home lowers infant deaths and illness.
3. Safe drinking water: fewer water-borne diseases and less time spent fetching water.
4. Street lighting and police patrols: people, especially women, can move and work safely after dark.
5. Sanitation: drains and public toilets keep the area clean and cut the spread of disease.

Marking scheme:

1. Government schools: children of poor families can study, which raises literacy and later incomes. — 1 mark
2. Primary health centres: treatment near home at low cost, which lowers infant deaths and illness. — 1 mark
3. Safe drinking water supply: fewer water-borne diseases and less time spent fetching water. — 1 mark
4. Street lighting and police patrols: people, especially women, can move and work safely after dark. — 1 mark
5. Sanitation: drains and public toilets keep the area clean and cut the spread of disease. (Also accept: ration shops, public libraries, parks.) — 1 mark

Question 12 (4 marks)

Read the source given below and answer the questions that follow.

Two Towns, One River

The imaginary town of Lohanagar, on the river Sona, has grown fast. Its new dyeing units and tanneries give work to thousands of people, and the town's average income has nearly doubled in ten years. Most of these units, however, let their waste water run into the river without treating it.

Forty kilometres downstream lies Nadipur, a town of farmers and fishing families. This year its fishermen landed less than half of their usual catch, and farmers say the river water has begun to harm their crops. Nadipur's council has written to the State government, since it has no power to act in Lohanagar.

Some officers in Lohanagar argue that the town should grow first and clean the river later.

(a) Why could Nadipur's council not solve the problem on its own? (1 mark)

Answer.

Model answer:

The waste comes from Lohanagar, outside its area; pollution does not stop at a town's boundary.

Marking scheme:

1. The pollution comes from Lohanagar, outside Nadipur's area; damage to the environment does not stop at the boundary of a town, State or country. — 1 mark

(b) Why can we say that Lohanagar's growth, in its present form, is not sustainable? (1 mark)

Answer.

Model answer:

It is ruining a river that others and future generations need for water, fish and farming.

Marking scheme:

1. It is damaging the river on which other people, and future generations, depend for water, fish and farming, so the gains come at a cost that cannot go on. — 1 mark

(c) Suggest two steps that the dyeing units and tanneries themselves could take to protect the river without closing down. (2 marks)

Answer.

Model answer:

1. Treat waste water before releasing it, for example in a shared treatment plant.
2. Use less harmful dyes and chemicals, and reuse water inside the units.

Marking scheme:

1. Treat their waste water before letting it out, for example by setting up a shared treatment plant. — 1 mark
2. Use less harmful dyes and chemicals, and clean and reuse water inside the units so that less of it is let out. (Accept any two sensible steps.) — 1 mark

Question 13 (4 marks)

Read the source given below and answer the questions that follow.

What the Weighing Scale Showed

Class 10 students of a government school in the imaginary village of Devpur helped at a health camp last month. With the camp doctor, they measured the weight and height of 50 adults and worked out each person's Body Mass Index (BMI).

Fifteen of the 50 had a BMI below 18.5. Most of them came from families of daily-wage workers, and several said they often ate only one proper meal a day. Many said that in the months when there is no farm work, the family has to cut down on food.

The students put their findings on a chart in the school corridor and sent a copy to the block office.

(a) What does a BMI below 18.5 show about an adult? (1 mark)

Answer.

Model answer:

The person is undernourished.

Marking scheme:

1. The person is undernourished. — 1 mark

(b) What percentage of the adults checked at the camp were undernourished? (1 mark)

Answer.

Model answer:

15 ÷ 50 × 100 = 30%.

Marking scheme:

1. 15 ÷ 50 × 100 = 30 per cent. — 1 mark

(c) Most of the undernourished adults came from families of daily-wage workers. Give two reasons why such families are more likely to be undernourished. (2 marks)

Answer.

Model answer:

1. Their income is low and irregular, so in months without work there is not enough money for food.
2. Their work is hard physical labour, which needs more food than they can buy.

Marking scheme:

1. Their income is low and irregular: in weeks or seasons without work there is no money for enough food. — 1 mark
2. Their work is hard physical labour, so they need more food than they can afford. (Also accept: little money is left for pulses, milk or vegetables; no savings to fall back on.) — 1 mark