About This Section
This section collects previous-year Board examination questions (CBSE and State Boards) from Chapter 1 — Development — with model answers. These show how the chapter is actually tested and help you practise writing exam-ready answers.
Board Previous Year Questions
Q1. What is the main criterion used by the World Bank to classify countries? What are its limitations? (3 marks)
Answer: The World Bank uses per capita income (average income) as the main criterion. Countries with per capita income of USD 66,500 or more per year (2024) are called rich; those with about USD 2,300 or less are low-income. Limitations: (i) it is an average that hides income distribution; (ii) it ignores health, education and environment; (iii) it does not reflect public facilities. Hence income alone is an incomplete measure of development.
Q2. Why is Kerala's Human Development better than Haryana's despite lower per capita income? (3 marks)
Answer: Kerala has better public provision of health and education. Its Infant Mortality Rate is only 6 (against 28 in Haryana), its literacy rate is 94%, and its net attendance ratio is 94. These outcomes come from good schools, hospitals and a well-functioning Public Distribution System — showing that public facilities, not just income, determine human development.
Q3. 'Money cannot buy all the goods and services that one needs to live well.' Justify with three examples. (3 marks)
Answer: Some essential goods and services cannot be bought individually and must be provided collectively: (i) a pollution-free environment for a whole locality; (ii) protection from infectious diseases, which needs community-wide preventive steps; and (iii) good public schools so that all children, including the poor, can study. A person may have income yet still lack these, so income alone cannot ensure a good life.
Q4. Explain any three limitations of using per capita income as the only indicator of development. (5 marks)
Answer: (i) Hides distribution — per capita income is an average and does not show inequality between rich and poor; two countries with the same average can differ greatly. (ii) Ignores non-income factors — it does not measure health, education, cleanliness or security, which strongly affect quality of life. (iii) Overlooks public facilities — many services (safety, clean water, health) are collectively provided and are not captured by individual income. Because of these, the HDI, which adds health and education to income, gives a fuller picture.
Q5. Distinguish between renewable and non-renewable resources, and explain why sustainability is important for development. (5 marks)
Answer: Renewable resources are replenished by nature (e.g., groundwater, forests) but can be overused; non-renewable resources have a fixed stock and get exhausted (e.g., crude oil, coal). Sustainability is important because development depends on these resources: crude oil could last only about 50 more years, and nearly one-third of India is overusing groundwater. If resources are exhausted and the environment degraded, the present pace of development cannot continue, harming future generations. Development must therefore be sustainable.