Class 11 Political Science Chapter 20 — Development
Welcome to HSLC Guru. This page provides comprehensive question-and-answer notes for Class 11 Political Science Chapter 20: Development, the concluding chapter of Political Theory (Part B) under the ASSEB (Assam State Board of Secondary Education) Higher Secondary First Year syllabus. The chapter examines what “development” really means, evaluates the dominant industrial growth model, exposes its social and ecological costs (displacement of tribals, environmental degradation, the Narmada Bachao Andolan, the Chipko Movement), and explores alternative paradigms — sustainable development (Brundtland Commission), Amartya Sen’s capability approach, the Human Development Index (HDI), and grassroots environmental movements. Students preparing for ASSEB HS First Year examinations will find NCERT exercises, additional short and long answer questions, MCQs, and a comparison table on different models of development.
Summary
Meaning of Development: In a broad sense, development conveys the ideas of improvement, progress, well-being and an aspiration for a better life. It articulates a vision for society as a whole. In a narrower sense, development refers to limited goals such as increasing the rate of economic growth, modernising the society, building dams, factories, hospitals, roads and other infrastructure. The term originally implied a process of transformation that promised the benefits of modernisation through scientific and rational thought, leading to economic growth, political maturity and social upliftment.
Dominant Model of Development: When countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America became independent after the Second World War, they faced the challenge of removing poverty and providing basic amenities to their citizens. Most newly independent countries, including India, adopted a model of development that emphasised rapid industrialisation, modernisation of agriculture, large dams, scientific and technological research and a high rate of growth measured by Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Western countries served as the reference point. Western model assumed that all societies move along a single path of progress, and that what the West has achieved, the rest must follow. Capital-intensive industries, big infrastructure (the Bhakra Nangal Dam, steel plants at Bhilai and Rourkela, large hydroelectric projects) became symbols of progress. Soviet planning influenced India’s adoption of Five Year Plans (the First Five Year Plan launched by Jawaharlal Nehru in 1951) emphasising heavy industry and centralised planning. The Bombay Plan of 1944 prepared by Indian industrialists also supported state-led development.
Social Costs of Development: The dominant model imposed enormous human costs. Large dams, mining projects, highways and industrial townships displaced millions of people — most of them tribals, dalits, and the rural poor — from their ancestral lands. The construction of the Sardar Sarovar Dam on the Narmada River alone threatened to displace nearly one million people across Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra. The Narmada Bachao Andolan, led by Medha Patkar and supported by Baba Amte, became a symbol of the people’s resistance to displacement-driven development. Displaced communities lost not only their homes and lands but also their cultural identity, social networks and traditional livelihoods. Compensation was often inadequate, delayed or never paid. Resettlement colonies lacked basic amenities. Indigenous knowledge, language and culture were marginalised. The benefits of development flowed mostly to urban elites and industrialists, while the costs were borne by the poorest.
Ecological Costs: The dominant model also exacted a heavy environmental price. Deforestation in the Himalayas, Western Ghats and Northeast India led to soil erosion, floods and the loss of biodiversity. Industrial pollution contaminated rivers (the Ganga, Yamuna, Brahmaputra) and the air of cities. Excessive use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides degraded the soil. Greenhouse gas emissions from industries and vehicles contributed to global warming and climate change. Melting of polar ice caps and glaciers threatens to raise sea levels and submerge low-lying countries like Bangladesh and the Maldives. Acid rain, ozone-layer depletion and species extinction are global ecological consequences. Energy and natural resources are being consumed at a pace that future generations may find no resources left to exploit.
Alternative Paradigms — Sustainable Development: Disenchantment with the dominant model gave rise to alternative conceptions. The most influential is sustainable development, defined by the Brundtland Commission Report titled Our Common Future (1987) as “development that meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” It calls for living within ecological limits, using renewable resources, controlling population growth, reducing pollution, conserving forests and water, and ensuring intergenerational equity. The 1992 Earth Summit at Rio de Janeiro and the 2002 Johannesburg Summit produced international commitments on sustainable development.
Capability Approach (Amartya Sen): Indian economist and Nobel laureate Amartya Sen proposed that development should be measured not by per capita income alone, but by people’s capabilities — their freedom to lead the kind of lives they value. Real development means expanding people’s freedoms — freedom from hunger and disease, freedom to be educated, to participate in public life, to make choices. The Human Development Index (HDI), developed by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) since 1990, is inspired by Sen’s approach. It measures development by combining three indicators: life expectancy at birth (a measure of health), mean and expected years of schooling (a measure of education), and Gross National Income per capita (a measure of standard of living).
Environmental Movements and Climate Change: Grassroots movements have transformed our understanding of development. The Chipko Movement (1973) in the Garhwal Himalayas, led by Sunderlal Bahuguna and Chandi Prasad Bhatt, saw villagers — especially women — hugging trees to prevent them from being cut down. The Narmada Bachao Andolan (1985 onwards) opposed large dams. The Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) in Nigeria under Ken Saro-Wiwa fought against environmental destruction by oil companies in the Niger Delta. Climate change is the foremost environmental challenge of our time. The 1997 Kyoto Protocol and the 2015 Paris Agreement seek to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but rich industrial countries that historically caused the bulk of emissions must shoulder the larger responsibility, while protecting the right of poor countries to develop.
New Rights and Democratic Decision-Making: The development debate has generated new rights claims — the right to be consulted before projects are launched, the right to refuse projects that harm communities, community ownership of natural resources, and the rights of future generations and other species. Democracy is the most suitable form of government to make development decisions because it allows debate, accommodates dissent, gives a voice to the affected, and balances competing interests. Development must be participatory, decentralised, ecologically sound, socially just, and culturally sensitive.
সাৰাংশ
উন্নয়নৰ অৰ্থ: ব্যাপক অৰ্থত উন্নয়ন বুলিলে উন্নতি, প্ৰগতি, কল্যাণ আৰু এক উন্নত জীৱনৰ আকাংক্ষাক বুজোৱা হয়। সংকীৰ্ণ অৰ্থত উন্নয়ন বুলিলে অৰ্থনৈতিক বৃদ্ধিৰ হাৰ বঢ়োৱা, সমাজ আধুনিকীকৰণ, বান্ধ-কাৰখানা-চিকিৎসালয় নিৰ্মাণ আদিকে বুজায়। দ্বিতীয় বিশ্বযুদ্ধৰ পিছত স্বাধীন হোৱা এছিয়া, আফ্ৰিকা আৰু লেটিন আমেৰিকাৰ দেশসমূহে এই সংকীৰ্ণ অৰ্থত উন্নয়নৰ পথ গ্ৰহণ কৰিছিল।
প্ৰভাৱশালী উন্নয়ন আৰ্হি: ভাৰতকে ধৰি অধিকাংশ নৱস্বাধীন দেশে দ্ৰুত শিল্পায়ন, আধুনিক কৃষি, ডাঙৰ বান্ধ, GDP বৃদ্ধিৰ ওপৰত গুৰুত্ব দিয়া পশ্চিমীয়া আৰ্হি গ্ৰহণ কৰিলে। ভাকৰা-নাঙ্গল বান্ধ, ভিলাই আৰু ৰাউৰকেলা ইস্পাত কাৰখানা আৰু পঞ্চবাৰ্ষিক পৰিকল্পনা (১৯৫১, প্ৰধানমন্ত্ৰী জৱাহৰলাল নেহৰুৰ নেতৃত্বত) এই আৰ্হিৰ প্ৰতীক হিচাপে স্থাপিত হ’ল।
উন্নয়নৰ সামাজিক ব্যয়: বৃহৎ বান্ধ, খনি আৰু শিল্পায়নে লাখ লাখ আদিবাসী, দলিত আৰু গ্ৰাম্য দৰিদ্ৰক বাস্তুচ্যুত কৰিছে। সৰদাৰ সৰোবৰ বান্ধে নৰ্মদা উপত্যকাত প্ৰায় দহ লাখ মানুহক উচ্ছেদ কৰাৰ সম্ভাৱনা সৃষ্টি কৰিছিল। মেধা পাটকৰ আৰু বাবা আম্টেৰ নেতৃত্বত গঢ়ি উঠা নৰ্মদা বচাও আন্দোলন বাস্তুচ্যুতিৰ বিৰুদ্ধে এক ঐতিহাসিক সংগ্ৰাম। ক্ষতিপূৰণ অপৰ্যাপ্ত, পুনৰ্বাসন অসম্পূৰ্ণ আৰু সাংস্কৃতিক ক্ষতি অপূৰণীয় হৈ ৰৈ গ’ল।
পৰিৱেশিক ব্যয়: অৰণ্য বিনাশ, মাটি ক্ষয়, নদী প্ৰদূষণ, বায়ু প্ৰদূষণ, গ্ৰীণহাউছ গেছ নিৰ্গমন, বিশ্ব উষ্ণায়ন, হিমবাহ গলন আৰু সমুদ্ৰ পৃষ্ঠৰ উচ্চতা বৃদ্ধিয়ে বাংলাদেশ আৰু মালদ্বীপৰ দৰে দেশক বিপদাপন্ন কৰি তুলিছে।
বিকল্প আৰ্হি — চিৰস্থায়ী উন্নয়ন: ১৯৮৭ চনৰ ব্ৰুণ্ডটলেণ্ড আয়োগৰ আৱাৰ কমন ফিউচাৰ প্ৰতিবেদনত চিৰস্থায়ী উন্নয়নক “ভৱিষ্যৎ প্ৰজন্মৰ প্ৰয়োজন পূৰণ কৰাৰ ক্ষমতাত আঘাত নকৰাকৈ বৰ্তমান প্ৰজন্মৰ প্ৰয়োজন পূৰণ কৰা উন্নয়ন” বুলি সংজ্ঞায়িত কৰা হৈছে।
সক্ষমতা আৰ্হি (অমৰ্ত্য সেন): অৰ্থনীতিবিদ অমৰ্ত্য সেনে কোৱা মতে উন্নয়ন বুলিলে কেৱল আয় বৃদ্ধি বুজোৱা নহয়, ব্যক্তিৰ সক্ষমতা আৰু স্বাধীনতা বঢ়োৱাকেই বুজায়। UNDP-এ ১৯৯০ চনৰ পৰা প্ৰকাশ কৰি অহা মানৱ উন্নয়ন সূচকাংক (HDI) আয়ুষ্কাল, শিক্ষা আৰু মাথাপিছু আয়ৰ আধাৰত উন্নয়ন জোখে।
পৰিৱেশ আন্দোলন: ১৯৭৩ চনৰ গাঢ়ৱাল হিমালয়ৰ চিপকো আন্দোলন (চুন্দৰলাল বহুগুণা আৰু চণ্ডী প্ৰসাদ ভট্ট), নৰ্মদা বচাও আন্দোলন আৰু নাইজেৰিয়াৰ MOSOP (কেন চাৰো-ৱিৱা)-এ পৰিৱেশ-ভিত্তিক বিকল্প উন্নয়নৰ পথ দেখুৱালে। জলবায়ু পৰিৱৰ্তন বৰ্তমানৰ সবাতোকৈ ডাঙৰ চেলেঞ্জ; ১৯৯৭ চনৰ ক্যোটো প্ৰটোকল আৰু ২০১৫ চনৰ পেৰিছ চুক্তিয়ে গ্ৰীণহাউছ গেছ নিয়ন্ত্ৰণৰ বাবে আন্তৰ্জাতিক প্ৰচেষ্টা ব্যক্ত কৰে।
NCERT Textbook Questions and Answers
1. What do you understand by the term development? Would all sections of society benefit from such a definition of development?
Answer: The term development has two distinct meanings. In a broad sense, development conveys the ideas of improvement, progress, well-being and an aspiration for a better life — a vision for society as a whole. In a narrower sense, it refers to more limited goals such as increasing the rate of economic growth, modernising the society, constructing dams, factories, hospitals and infrastructure, often without considering the human and environmental costs.
All sections of society do not benefit equally from the dominant definition of development. Industrialists, urban middle classes and the politically powerful benefit from new factories, dams and roads. They get jobs, electricity, transport and rising incomes. However, displaced families, tribals, landless labourers, fishermen and forest-dwellers lose their lands, livelihoods, cultural identity and traditional resources without adequate compensation. The Narmada Bachao Andolan exposed how nearly a million people stood to lose their homes for the Sardar Sarovar Dam, while the benefits flowed to distant urban consumers and big farmers. A more inclusive, participatory and sustainable definition of development is therefore necessary, one that protects the interests of all sections including future generations.
2. Discuss some of the social and ecological costs of the kind of development which has been pursued in most countries.
Answer: The dominant industrial-growth model has imposed serious social and ecological costs.
Social costs:
- Displacement: Large dams, mines, highways and industrial projects have uprooted millions, especially tribals and dalits. The Sardar Sarovar Dam alone threatened to displace nearly one million people.
- Loss of livelihood: Displaced communities lose access to agricultural land, forests, rivers and grazing lands that supported their livelihoods.
- Cultural disruption: Indigenous knowledge, language, traditions and community life are eroded when communities are scattered into resettlement colonies.
- Inadequate rehabilitation: Compensation is often delayed or denied; resettlement sites lack water, schools and health facilities.
- Inequality: Benefits flow to urban elites while costs fall on the poorest, deepening inequality.
Ecological costs:
- Deforestation: Forests are cleared for dams, mines and agriculture, leading to loss of biodiversity, soil erosion and floods.
- Pollution: Industrial effluents and urban sewage have polluted rivers like the Ganga and Yamuna; vehicular and industrial emissions have contaminated city air.
- Global warming: Greenhouse gas emissions are warming the planet, melting polar ice and glaciers, raising sea levels and threatening countries like Bangladesh and the Maldives.
- Resource depletion: Fossil fuels, groundwater, fisheries and mineral resources are being depleted at unsustainable rates.
- Climate change: Erratic monsoons, droughts, floods and cyclones are becoming more frequent and severe.
3. What are some of the new claims for rights which the process of development has generated?
Answer: The development process has produced new claims for rights:
- Right to consultation: Communities affected by a project have the right to be informed and consulted before construction begins.
- Right to refuse: Citizens have the right to reject projects, laws or policies that threaten their lives, lands or culture.
- Community rights over natural resources: Forest-dwellers, tribals and farmers have a right to use, manage and protect water, forests, land and biodiversity collectively.
- Rights of future generations: Present generations cannot exhaust resources at the cost of those who come after; we must conserve a livable planet.
- Rights of nature and other species: Animals, plants and ecosystems have an intrinsic right to exist; their interests must be considered in development decisions.
- Right to information and participation: Citizens must be able to access government plans, environmental impact assessments and budget data, and participate in decision-making.
4. What would be the advantages of democracy over other forms of government for ensuring that decisions regarding development are made to promote the common good?
Answer: Democracy offers important advantages for development decision-making:
- Debate and discussion: Democracy allows different viewpoints to be heard so that conflicts over development can be resolved through dialogue.
- Accountability: Elected representatives can be questioned and replaced if they pursue policies that hurt the common good.
- Voice for the marginalised: Democracy guarantees fundamental rights and gives even small communities, tribals, dalits and women the platform to articulate their grievances.
- Decentralisation: Through panchayats, municipalities and local bodies, decisions can be taken closer to the people who are affected, ensuring local needs are reflected.
- Free press and civil society: A free press, environmental groups, social movements and NGOs help expose harmful projects and bring corrective pressure on the government.
- Conflict resolution: Democracy provides peaceful, constitutional means to settle disputes between project supporters and affected communities through courts, tribunals and parliamentary debate.
- Adaptability: Democratic systems can revise plans, scale down harmful projects and adopt new technologies based on feedback.
Authoritarian systems may impose grand projects without public scrutiny, leading to enormous human and ecological costs that are not even debated. Hence, democracy is best suited to ensure the common good in development.
5. In your view how successful have popular struggles been in making the state responsive to the social and environmental costs of development? Discuss with examples.
Answer: Popular struggles have achieved partial but significant success in compelling the state to respond to the social and environmental costs of development.
- Chipko Movement (1973): Villagers in the Garhwal Himalayas, especially women, hugged trees to prevent contractors from felling them. Led by Sunderlal Bahuguna and Chandi Prasad Bhatt, the movement led the Government of India to ban the commercial felling of trees in Himalayan forests above 1000 metres for fifteen years (1980).
- Narmada Bachao Andolan (1985 onwards): Led by Medha Patkar and supported by Baba Amte and Arundhati Roy, the movement protested displacement caused by the Sardar Sarovar and other dams on the Narmada. It pressured the World Bank to withdraw funding (1993) and forced governments to revise rehabilitation policies.
- Silent Valley Movement (Kerala, 1970s-80s): Citizens, scientists and writers prevented the construction of a hydroelectric project in the Silent Valley rainforest, protecting unique biodiversity.
- Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), Nigeria: Led by writer Ken Saro-Wiwa, the movement opposed environmental destruction by Shell and other oil companies in the Niger Delta. Although Ken Saro-Wiwa was executed in 1995, Shell halted operations in Ogoniland in 1993 — a remarkable victory.
- Right to Information (RTI) Movement, India: Grew out of grassroots struggles in Rajasthan led by MKSS (Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan) and culminated in the RTI Act, 2005, giving citizens the right to scrutinise government decisions.
However, success is uneven. Many displaced people remain unrehabilitated; environmental laws are weakly enforced; and global problems like climate change continue. Yet popular struggles have transformed the development debate, given a voice to the voiceless, and made the costs of development part of public discourse.
6. What is sustainable development? Discuss its main features.
Answer: Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. The concept was popularised by the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED), known as the Brundtland Commission, in its 1987 report Our Common Future.
Main features:
- Intergenerational equity: Resources must be conserved for future generations.
- Ecological balance: Economic activity must respect the limits of nature — climate, water, air, soil and biodiversity.
- Renewable energy: Shift from fossil fuels to solar, wind, biomass and other clean sources.
- Pollution control: Reduce industrial, vehicular and agricultural pollution; recycle waste.
- Population management: Ensure access to family planning, education and health to stabilise population.
- Resource efficiency: Use raw materials, water and energy efficiently in production and consumption.
- Community participation: Involve local communities in conserving forests, watersheds, fisheries and traditional knowledge.
- Social justice: Address poverty, inequality and gender disparities, since unsustainable development hurts the poor most.
Additional Short Answer Questions
1. Define development in a broad sense.
Answer: In a broad sense, development is the process of improvement, progress, well-being and the aspiration for a better life. It applies to society as a whole and includes economic, social, political, cultural and ecological dimensions.
2. Define development in a narrow sense.
Answer: In a narrow sense, development means specific economic objectives — increasing the rate of GDP growth, building dams, factories, hospitals and infrastructure, modernising the economy on the lines of the industrialised West.
3. What is underdevelopment?
Answer: Underdevelopment refers to a low standard of living characterised by poverty, low productivity, low incomes, poor health, illiteracy and inadequate political and ecological infrastructure that perpetuates the cycle of deprivation.
4. What was the Bombay Plan?
Answer: The Bombay Plan was an economic blueprint prepared in 1944 by leading Indian industrialists, including J.R.D. Tata and G.D. Birla. It supported state involvement in industrial development and recommended planning for rapid industrialisation, infrastructure and basic industries — a precursor to India’s Five Year Plans.
5. When was India’s First Five Year Plan launched? By whom?
Answer: India’s First Five Year Plan (1951-56) was launched by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. It focused mainly on agriculture and irrigation; subsequent plans, especially the Second (Mahalanobis Plan), emphasised heavy industry.
6. What is the Narmada Bachao Andolan?
Answer: The Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) is a people’s movement led by Medha Patkar against the construction of large dams on the Narmada River, especially the Sardar Sarovar Dam. It opposes large-scale displacement and calls for sustainable, just rehabilitation.
7. Who led the Chipko Movement?
Answer: The Chipko Movement of 1973 was led by Sunderlal Bahuguna and Chandi Prasad Bhatt in the Garhwal Himalayas (now in Uttarakhand). Villagers, especially women like Gaura Devi, hugged trees to prevent commercial felling.
8. What is the Brundtland Commission Report?
Answer: The Brundtland Commission Report, titled Our Common Future, was published in 1987 by the World Commission on Environment and Development chaired by Gro Harlem Brundtland. It defined sustainable development and brought environmental concerns to the centre of global development discussions.
9. What is the Human Development Index (HDI)?
Answer: The Human Development Index, published annually by the UNDP since 1990, is a composite measure of development that combines life expectancy at birth, mean and expected years of schooling, and Gross National Income per capita. It ranks countries on a scale of 0 to 1.
10. Who developed the capability approach to development?
Answer: The capability approach was developed by Indian economist and Nobel laureate Amartya Sen, with contributions by philosopher Martha Nussbaum. It defines development as the expansion of people’s freedoms and capabilities to lead lives they value.
11. What is the Kyoto Protocol?
Answer: The Kyoto Protocol, adopted in 1997 and effective from 2005, is an international treaty under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change that binds developed nations to specific targets for reducing greenhouse-gas emissions.
12. What is the Earth Summit?
Answer: The Earth Summit was the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1992. It produced Agenda 21, the Rio Declaration, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Convention on Biological Diversity.
13. Who was Ken Saro-Wiwa?
Answer: Ken Saro-Wiwa (1941-1995) was a Nigerian writer and activist who founded the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) to protest the destruction of the Niger Delta by oil companies. He was executed by the Nigerian military regime in 1995, but his struggle led Shell to halt operations in Ogoniland.
14. What is GDP?
Answer: Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is the total monetary value of all final goods and services produced within a country during a given year. It is the most widely used indicator of economic growth, but it does not measure inequality, sustainability or well-being.
15. What are renewable resources?
Answer: Renewable resources are natural resources that can be replenished within a human lifetime — solar energy, wind, water, biomass, forests (if managed properly) and geothermal heat. Their use is central to sustainable development.
16. What is climate change?
Answer: Climate change refers to long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns, primarily caused by human emissions of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane from burning fossil fuels, deforestation and industrial agriculture. It results in global warming, melting glaciers, rising seas and extreme weather events.
17. What is the Paris Agreement?
Answer: The Paris Agreement, adopted at COP21 in December 2015, is an international climate accord under which nearly all countries pledged to limit global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, ideally 1.5 degrees, through Nationally Determined Contributions.
18. Define indigenous people.
Answer: Indigenous people are descendants of the original inhabitants of a land, with distinct languages, cultures, customs and close relationships with their ancestral environment. Many live in forests, hills and remote regions and have suffered disproportionately from displacement caused by development.
19. What is the Silent Valley Movement?
Answer: The Silent Valley Movement was a successful environmental campaign in Kerala, India, in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It opposed a proposed hydroelectric dam in the Silent Valley rainforest. The project was finally cancelled, and the area was declared a national park in 1985.
20. What is intergenerational equity?
Answer: Intergenerational equity is the principle that the present generation has an ethical responsibility to leave the planet’s natural resources and ecological systems in a condition that allows future generations to meet their own needs. It is a foundational idea of sustainable development.
Long Answer Questions
1. Critically examine the social costs of the dominant model of development with reference to displacement and the Narmada Bachao Andolan.
Answer: The dominant model of development pursued by India and most newly independent countries after the Second World War assumed that rapid industrialisation, large dams, mining, urbanisation and modern agriculture would lift the masses out of poverty. However, the social costs of this model have been enormous, falling disproportionately on the poorest sections of society — tribals, dalits, fisher-folk and small farmers.
Displacement: It is estimated that over the seven decades after Independence, large dams, mines, industrial projects, defence installations and wildlife sanctuaries have displaced more than fifty million people in India alone. Of these, about forty per cent are tribals, even though tribals form only eight per cent of the population. Displacement leads to multiple deprivations — loss of land, jobs, food security, social networks, cultural identity, traditional knowledge, schools and access to common property like forests, ponds and grazing lands.
The Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA): The NBA, born in 1985 under the leadership of Medha Patkar, with support from Baba Amte, Arundhati Roy and many activists, became the most powerful mass struggle against displacement-driven development. The Sardar Sarovar Dam on the Narmada — at a final height of 138.68 metres — submerges hundreds of villages in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat, threatening to displace nearly one million people. The Andolan demanded:
- A halt to construction until rehabilitation was complete.
- Adequate compensation in cultivable land, not just cash.
- Independent environmental and social assessments.
- The right of affected communities to be consulted and to refuse the project.
Through hunger strikes, dharna, satyagraha, court cases and international campaigns, the NBA forced the World Bank to withdraw its loan in 1993, prompted the Supreme Court to set up the Narmada Water Disputes Tribunal, and pushed governments to draft new rehabilitation policies. Although construction continued and many people remain unrehabilitated, the NBA has permanently changed the development conversation. It established that affected people have a voice, that costs and benefits must be debated openly, and that displacement is not a small price for progress but a massive denial of rights.
Other social costs: Beyond displacement, the dominant model has widened economic inequality between rich and poor, urban and rural, men and women. It has weakened traditional crafts and small industries, increased agrarian distress and farmer suicides, and turned cities into overcrowded, polluted spaces with massive slums. The capability deprivation of the marginalised — in education, health and freedom — has only deepened in many regions.
2. Explain the concept of sustainable development. What are its main components and challenges?
Answer: Sustainable development is the most influential alternative to the dominant model. The classic definition by the Brundtland Commission (1987) reads: “development that meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”
Main components / pillars:
- Economic sustainability: Productive activity that creates wealth and jobs without depleting natural capital.
- Social sustainability: Equity, inclusion, education, health, gender justice and human rights for all.
- Environmental sustainability: Preservation of biodiversity, control of pollution, conservation of forests, water and soil, and respect for ecological limits.
- Cultural sustainability: Respect for diverse cultures, indigenous knowledge and ways of life.
Key principles:
- Intergenerational equity — leaving a livable planet for future generations.
- Intra-generational equity — closing gaps between rich and poor today.
- Precautionary principle — when there is risk of serious environmental harm, lack of full scientific certainty should not be used to postpone action.
- Polluter Pays Principle — those who pollute must bear the cost of cleaning up.
- Participation — affected communities must be involved in decision-making.
Major challenges:
- Population pressure on limited resources.
- Climate change caused by historic emissions of rich countries but suffered most by the poor.
- Reluctance of industrial nations to bear their fair share of mitigation costs.
- Global inequalities between the Global North and Global South.
- Vested interests of corporations and governments addicted to fossil fuels.
- Lack of finance and technology transfer to developing countries.
- Consumerism and unsustainable lifestyles in affluent societies.
The 2015 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with seventeen goals to be achieved by 2030, form the latest global framework. They cover poverty, hunger, education, gender, water, energy, climate, oceans, peace and partnerships, and aim to integrate the three pillars of sustainability.
3. Discuss Amartya Sen’s capability approach to development.
Answer: Amartya Sen, the 1998 Nobel laureate in Economics, proposed a fundamental shift in how we think about development. Instead of measuring development by income or GDP alone, he argued that it should be measured by people’s capabilities — their substantive freedoms to lead the kind of lives they value.
Key ideas of the capability approach:
- Functionings: the various things a person may value doing or being — being well-nourished, healthy, educated, employed, mobile, respected, and able to participate in community life.
- Capabilities: the real opportunities, or freedoms, to achieve these functionings. A person may have the capability to be educated even if they choose not to go to school, but if there is no school they have no capability.
- Development as freedom: Sen argues that development is the process of expanding the freedoms people have. He identifies five instrumental freedoms — political freedoms, economic facilities, social opportunities, transparency guarantees and protective security — which complement and reinforce each other.
- Beyond income: A high-income society can still leave many people without dignity, voice or healthy lives. Conversely, low-income societies like Kerala and Sri Lanka have achieved high human development by investing in health and education.
Influence: The capability approach inspired the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to launch the Human Development Index in 1990 under the leadership of the Pakistani economist Mahbub ul Haq, in close collaboration with Sen. Today the HDI, the Multidimensional Poverty Index and the Sustainable Development Goals all reflect the central insight of the capability approach: development is about people, not just money.
4. What is the Human Development Index? How is it calculated and why is it important?
Answer: The Human Development Index (HDI) is a composite statistical index introduced in 1990 by the UNDP to measure development beyond economic growth.
Three dimensions and indicators:
- A long and healthy life: measured by Life Expectancy at Birth.
- Knowledge: measured by Mean Years of Schooling (for adults aged 25 and above) and Expected Years of Schooling (for children entering school).
- A decent standard of living: measured by Gross National Income (GNI) per capita in purchasing-power-parity (PPP) US dollars.
Each indicator is normalised on a scale from 0 to 1, and the HDI is the geometric mean of the three indices. Countries are then classified into four groups: Very High Human Development (HDI ≥ 0.800), High (0.700-0.799), Medium (0.550-0.699) and Low (< 0.550). Norway, Switzerland, Iceland and other Nordic states routinely top the rankings.
Importance:
- Shifts the focus from income to people.
- Reveals that high-GDP countries can lag in health and education.
- Allows cross-country and over-time comparisons.
- Has been refined into the Inequality-adjusted HDI (IHDI), the Gender Development Index (GDI), the Gender Inequality Index (GII) and the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI).
- Has influenced national policymaking and welfare priorities worldwide.
However, the HDI has limitations: it does not measure inequality directly, omits environmental and political freedoms, and uses national averages that hide regional and gender gaps. Hence the HDI is a useful but partial measure of development.
5. Critically examine the role of environmental movements in shaping alternative paradigms of development.
Answer: Environmental movements have powerfully reshaped the global understanding of development by raising the voices of the affected, exposing hidden ecological and social costs, and proposing alternatives.
Major movements:
- Chipko Movement (1973, Uttarakhand): Villagers under the leadership of Sunderlal Bahuguna and Chandi Prasad Bhatt physically embraced trees to prevent commercial logging in the Garhwal Himalayas. The movement led to a 15-year ban on tree felling above 1000 metres in Himalayan forests.
- Silent Valley Movement (1970s, Kerala): Protected a unique tropical rainforest from a hydroelectric dam.
- Narmada Bachao Andolan (1985): Mobilised national and international opinion against large dams and forced reforms in rehabilitation policy.
- Appiko Movement (1983, Karnataka): A southern counterpart of Chipko in the Western Ghats.
- Bishnoi tradition (Rajasthan, 18th century onwards): A precursor of modern environmentalism, protecting trees and wildlife as religious duty.
- MOSOP (Nigeria): Ken Saro-Wiwa’s struggle against oil-company pollution in Ogoniland.
- Greenpeace (1971) and Extinction Rebellion (2018) — global movements pressing for climate action.
- Anti-nuclear movements in Koodankulam (Tamil Nadu) and Jaitapur (Maharashtra).
Contributions to alternative paradigms:
- Shifted attention from GDP to ecology, equity and rights.
- Empowered local communities, especially women and indigenous people.
- Influenced laws — Forest Conservation Act 1980, Environment Protection Act 1986, Forest Rights Act 2006, National Green Tribunal 2010.
- Pushed governments to do environmental impact assessments and consult affected communities.
- Inspired international agreements like the Rio Declaration (1992) and the Paris Agreement (2015).
Limitations:
- Many movements remain localised; corporate and state pressures continue.
- Activists often face repression, violence and slander.
- Climate action lags behind the urgency of the crisis.
Despite these limits, environmental movements have made development a contested and democratic subject — no longer the sole preserve of governments and corporations.
6. Why is democracy considered the most suitable form of government for development decisions?
Answer: Democracy is best suited for development decisions because:
- It encourages free debate and discussion of competing visions of development.
- It allows the affected to be heard through elections, referenda and consultations.
- It guarantees fundamental rights — speech, assembly, information — that empower citizens.
- It allows judicial review of arbitrary or harmful projects.
- It creates accountability through periodic elections and legislatures.
- It encourages decentralisation through panchayats and municipalities, bringing decisions closer to the people.
- It enables a free press, civil society and NGOs to monitor and protest harmful policies.
- It provides peaceful, lawful means to resolve conflicts of interest.
Authoritarian regimes may push grand development projects but cannot incorporate dissent or correct course quickly. Even when democracy is slow, it produces more legitimate, balanced and humane development.
7. Explain the new claims of rights generated by the development process.
Answer: The development process has produced rights claims unknown to earlier generations:
- Right to consultation: Communities affected by a project must be informed and consulted before approvals are granted. Public hearings under environmental laws give partial recognition to this right.
- Right to refuse: Affected communities can reject projects that threaten their lives or culture. The Forest Rights Act 2006 strengthens tribal communities’ rights over forest lands.
- Community rights over natural resources: Forests, rivers, fisheries, grazing lands and biodiversity are not just state or private property — they are commons in which communities have customary rights.
- Rights of future generations: Living people have a duty to preserve resources and ecological systems for those yet to come.
- Rights of nature and species: Animals, forests, rivers and ecosystems have intrinsic worth; courts in Ecuador, India and New Zealand have recognised legal personhood for some rivers and ecosystems.
- Right to information: The RTI Act, 2005 gives citizens access to government records, allowing them to scrutinise development decisions.
- Right to participation: Citizens must be able to participate in planning, monitoring and evaluating development projects.
8. Compare the dominant and alternative models of development.
Answer: The dominant model emphasises economic growth, large-scale industry, big infrastructure, urbanisation and the Western lifestyle as universal goals. Success is measured by GDP and per capita income. It is top-down, expert-driven and capital-intensive. The alternative model — sustainable, capability-based and people-centric — emphasises balance, equity, ecological limits, decentralisation and community participation. Success is measured by health, education, freedom, environmental quality and intergenerational justice. The two models often conflict in real life over specific projects (dams, coal mines, highways, special economic zones), and the policy challenge is to find a balance that respects rights, livelihoods and ecology while ensuring economic progress.
Comparison: Dominant vs Alternative Models of Development
| Aspect | Dominant Model | Alternative Model |
|---|---|---|
| Main Goal | Maximise economic growth (GDP) | Expand human capabilities and well-being |
| Focus | Industry, infrastructure, modernisation | People, ecology, equity |
| Measure of Success | GDP, per capita income | HDI, capabilities, sustainability indicators |
| Approach | Top-down, expert-led | Bottom-up, participatory |
| Scale | Large dams, mega-projects, big industry | Small-scale, decentralised, community-based |
| Resources | Capital and energy intensive | Renewable, locally sourced |
| Time Horizon | Short-term growth | Long-term sustainability, intergenerational |
| Treatment of Nature | Resource to be exploited | Living system with intrinsic worth |
| Treatment of Local Communities | Often displaced or ignored | Consulted and involved |
| Reference Point | Western industrial countries | Plural, context-specific paths |
| Examples | Sardar Sarovar Dam, mega-cities, fossil-fuel power plants | Chipko Movement, watershed management, organic farming, solar microgrids |
| Underlying Philosophy | Modernisation theory, neoliberal economics | Capability approach, deep ecology, gandhian / community traditions |
Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs)
1. The Brundtland Commission report Our Common Future was published in:
(a) 1972 (b) 1987 (c) 1992 (d) 2002
Answer: (b) 1987
2. The Human Development Index is published by:
(a) World Bank (b) IMF (c) UNDP (d) WHO
Answer: (c) UNDP
3. The HDI was first published in:
(a) 1985 (b) 1987 (c) 1990 (d) 1995
Answer: (c) 1990
4. Who developed the capability approach to development?
(a) Karl Marx (b) Amartya Sen (c) Adam Smith (d) John Maynard Keynes
Answer: (b) Amartya Sen
5. The Chipko Movement began in:
(a) 1965 (b) 1973 (c) 1985 (d) 1992
Answer: (b) 1973
6. The Chipko Movement is associated with:
(a) Rajasthan (b) Madhya Pradesh (c) Uttarakhand (d) Kerala
Answer: (c) Uttarakhand
7. Who led the Chipko Movement?
(a) Medha Patkar (b) Sunderlal Bahuguna (c) Vandana Shiva (d) Anna Hazare
Answer: (b) Sunderlal Bahuguna
8. Who leads the Narmada Bachao Andolan?
(a) Arundhati Roy (b) Medha Patkar (c) Aruna Roy (d) Vandana Shiva
Answer: (b) Medha Patkar
9. The Sardar Sarovar Dam is built on the river:
(a) Ganga (b) Krishna (c) Narmada (d) Godavari
Answer: (c) Narmada
10. Ken Saro-Wiwa was associated with which country?
(a) Kenya (b) Nigeria (c) South Africa (d) Ghana
Answer: (b) Nigeria
11. The Earth Summit was held in 1992 in:
(a) Stockholm (b) Rio de Janeiro (c) Johannesburg (d) Paris
Answer: (b) Rio de Janeiro
12. The Kyoto Protocol was adopted in:
(a) 1992 (b) 1997 (c) 2002 (d) 2015
Answer: (b) 1997
13. The Paris Agreement on climate change was adopted in:
(a) 2010 (b) 2012 (c) 2015 (d) 2018
Answer: (c) 2015
14. India’s First Five Year Plan was launched in:
(a) 1947 (b) 1950 (c) 1951 (d) 1956
Answer: (c) 1951
15. The Bombay Plan was prepared in:
(a) 1934 (b) 1940 (c) 1944 (d) 1948
Answer: (c) 1944
16. Who was the first Prime Minister of India to introduce the Five Year Plan?
(a) Rajendra Prasad (b) B.R. Ambedkar (c) Jawaharlal Nehru (d) Sardar Patel
Answer: (c) Jawaharlal Nehru
17. Which of the following is NOT an indicator of the HDI?
(a) Life expectancy (b) Schooling years (c) Per capita income (d) Voter turnout
Answer: (d) Voter turnout
18. Sustainable development meets the needs of the present without compromising the needs of:
(a) the rich (b) the poor (c) future generations (d) animals
Answer: (c) future generations
19. Amartya Sen was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics in:
(a) 1990 (b) 1995 (c) 1998 (d) 2001
Answer: (c) 1998
20. Who founded MOSOP in Nigeria?
(a) Wangari Maathai (b) Ken Saro-Wiwa (c) Nelson Mandela (d) Julius Nyerere
Answer: (b) Ken Saro-Wiwa
21. Which movement protected trees in the Western Ghats of Karnataka?
(a) Chipko (b) Appiko (c) Silent Valley (d) Narmada Bachao
Answer: (b) Appiko
22. The Right to Information Act in India was passed in:
(a) 2000 (b) 2005 (c) 2010 (d) 2014
Answer: (b) 2005
23. Indigenous people are mostly found in:
(a) Big cities (b) Coastal capitals (c) Forests and remote areas (d) Industrial belts
Answer: (c) Forests and remote areas
24. The Forest Rights Act in India was enacted in:
(a) 2002 (b) 2004 (c) 2006 (d) 2010
Answer: (c) 2006
25. Melting of the Arctic and Antarctic ice will primarily cause:
(a) Earthquakes (b) Drought (c) Sea level rise and floods (d) Famines
Answer: (c) Sea level rise and floods
This concludes the question-answer notes on Class 11 Political Science Chapter 20 — Development — for ASSEB Higher Secondary First Year students. For more chapters, return to HSLC Guru.