Human Development — Class 12 Geography

Growth and development both refer to change over time, but growth is a quantitative, value-neutral change that may be positive or negative, while development is a qualitative, value-positive change that improves conditions. For decades a country's progress was judged only by economic growth, but the concept of human development, introduced by Dr Mahbub-ul-Haq with contributions from Prof Amartya Sen, places people at the centre. Human development enlarges people's choices and improves their lives so they can lead long, healthy and meaningful lives. Its three key areas are access to resources, health and education, and building people's capabilities in these areas widens their freedom and choices. Human development rests on four pillars: equity (equal access to opportunities), sustainability (continuity of opportunities for future generations), productivity (enriching human labour), and empowerment (the power to make choices). There are four approaches — the income approach, the welfare approach, the basic needs approach and Amartya Sen's capability approach. Human development is measured by the Human Development Index (HDI), which scores countries from 0 to 1 on life expectancy, education (adult literacy and enrolment) and access to resources (purchasing power), each weighted one-third. The Human Poverty Index measures shortfalls in development. Countries are grouped into very high, high, medium and low human development, and Bhutan uniquely uses Gross National Happiness as a measure of progress.