What do you understand by 'development' - Essay Example

? What do you understand by ‘development’, and is the alleviation of poverty the essential prerequisite for development to take place? Introduction “Poverty is one of the main problems which have attracted attention of sociologists and economists. It indicates a condition in which a person fails to maintain a living standard adequate for his physical and mental efficiency” (Azad India Foundation, 2010). On the other hand development is much more complicated term than poverty. It is difficult to define development in few words because of the complex parameters associated with it. Development is highly subjective. It is easy to say which countries are richer and which are poorer. However, it is difficult to say whether a rich country is developed in the true sense or not. It should be noted that the richest country in the world America has a substantial portion of people living below the “In 2009, 14.3 percent of all persons lived in poverty” (Poverty in the United States, 2010). Nobody can say that America is not at all a developed country from the above figures. If America is not a developed country, no other country in the world can be labeled as developed. Poverty and development are two of the most popular topics in the current world. It is often said that poverty and development travel in opposite directions of they are inversely proportional. In other words, development takes place when poverty decreases or poverty increases when development decreases. This paper analyses the relationships between poverty and development and argues that true development takes place only when all the people in a country gets almost equal living standards. Relationships between poverty and development Indicators of wealth, reflect the quantity of resources available to a society, provide no information about the allocation of those resources—for instance, about more or less equitable distribution of income among social groups, about the shares of resources used to provide free health and education services, and about the effects of production and consumption on people’s environment. Thus it is no wonder that countries with similar average incomes can differ substantially when it comes to people’s quality of life: access to education and health care, employment opportunities, availability of clean air and safe drinking water, the threat of crime, and so on (What Is Development?, 2004, p.7). From the above description, it is evident that income distribution is detrimental in the income distribution in developed countries are even. Therefore, it is quite possible that a substantial portion of people in such countries may face poverty. According to Usborne (2008), “28 million people in the US will be using government food stamps to buy essential groceries in the fiscal year 2008, the highest level since the food assistance program was introduced in the 1960s” (Usborne, 2008). External world may surprise to read these statistics. People in poor and developing countries are of the view that all Americans are richer and their living standards are higher. However, such claims are far from reality. Plenty of Americans are still struggling to get food and education even though the government is trying hard to raise the living standards of poor people. The case of India is not an exception. “Poverty in India is reducing but it is still a major issue. Rural Indians depend on unpredictable agriculture incomes, while urban Indians rely on jobs that are, at best, scarce” (Poverty in India, 2010). India is believed to be one of the rapidly emerging economies in the world. Many people believe that India may become a superpower in near future itself. The living standards of Indians have increased a lot in the last couple of decades. India is believed to be one of the rapidly emerging economies in the world at present. “According to UN agency, “the Indian economy is likely to expand by 8.1 per cent in 2011, the fastest growth rate in the world after China” (India's GDP to grow 8.1% in 2011, second only to China: UNCTAD). However, being the second most heavily populated country in the world, income distribution in India is not even and hence serious poverty still exists in rural areas of India. Even after more than 50 years of Independence India still has the world's largest number of poor people in a single country. Of its nearly 1 billion inhabitants, an estimated 260.3 million are below the poverty line, of which 193.2 million are in the rural areas and 67.1 million are in urban areas. More than 75% of poor people reside in villages. Poverty level is not uniform across India. The poverty level is below 10% in states like Delhi, Goa, and Punjab etc whereas it is below 50% in Bihar (43) and Orissa (47). It is between 30-40% in Northeastern states of Assam, Tripura, and Meghalaya and in Southern states of Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh (Azad India Foundation, 2010). India’s poverty can be divided as rural poverty and urban poverty. People living in urban areas of India may not have the scarcity of food. In fact the living standards of urban people in India are much better than that of the villagers. They have plenty of job opportunities and hence food money is not a big problem for them now. Business Process Outsourcing or BPO business is developing rapidly in Indian cities. “The largest IT services markets are the most advanced economies, whose per capita incomes make them distant economically from India” (Ghemawat, 2011, p.95). However, such people may not get proper shelter, clean air or pure drinking water. For example, in Mumbai, plenty of people are living in gullies and villages. It should be noted that Mumbai is one of the most developed cities in India. People staying in Mumbai might not have the scarcity of food since most of them have some kind of professions or jobs. However, they may not have access to clean air, proper shelter or pure drinking water. On the other hand, villagers in India have access to clean air, may face scarcity of food. Agriculture is the major revenue source of Indian rural community. Agriculture in India is heavily dependent on Monsoon. This year villagers in India failed to get Monsoon properly. As a result of that their agricultural yields expected to be very less. In other words, poverty would strike villagers severely this year. Even though Indian government has introduced plenty of food programs and subsidies, poverty is still a reality in rural areas of India. Governmental subsidies and aids are looted by some mediators working in between the government and the poor people. For example, Indian government is providing food grains and kerosene through ration depots to the poor people on a subsidized rate. Ration dealers on the other hand, sell these items in the black market and making money. In order to stop such looting, India government has recently introduced a program to pay the subsidies directly to the bank account of the poor people. It is difficult predict the success or failures of this program since it is only in the introductory stage now. “The government has initiated, sustained, and refined many programs since independence to help the poor attain self-sufficiency in food production. The poor spend about 80 percent of their income on food while the rest of the population spends more than 60 percent” (Poverty in India, 2010). Nobody has any doubt about the emergence of India as a powerful economy in recent times. It is a fact that the living standards of Indians have been increased a lot in recent past. Yet, it is difficult to label India as a developed country or as a poverty free country. It should be noted that India is nuclear power. Moreover, they are one among the rarest countries which has indigenously developed long range and short range missile technology and space exploration technology. India’s abilities in the technology world are unquestionable. Many of the Indian companies are currently acquiring foreign companies. Prominent companies are currently offshoring their business to India. In short, development is taking place rapidly in India; however, the benefits of development are not reaching the rural areas properly. In other words, because of the discrepancies in the income distribution system, poor people are becoming poorer and rich people are becoming richer in India. The case of China is not an exception. China is believed to be the most rapidly developing nation in the world at present. Plenty of people believe that China may expel US from the superpower spot in near future itself. However, poverty is not a myth, but a fact in China amidst huge economic developments. Despite China's strong and sustained economic growth, poverty is still persistent, especially in remote rural areas. Income inequalities between eastern and western China have broadened, and the income gap between rural and urban residents has widened considerably since the late 1970s. Urban incomes are now more than three times higher than rural incomes (Rural poverty in China, N.d.) According to Nobel Prize winner and renowned Indian economist Amartya Sen; “Poverty is the lack of capability to function effectively in society. Inadequate education can thus be considered a form of poverty” (Van der Berg, n. d., p.2). Plenty of people define poverty only in terms of food. For them people who are experiencing shortage of food are ling in poverty whereas people who are not facing food problems are not at all poor. May be this classification has more meaning in the last century. But, such a classification is meaningless in the twenty-first century. The needs of the current generation have been increased a lot because of the advancements and developments in science and technology. Inadequate education is still a problem in many of the countries even though food availability is not a problem. Majority of the people in this world has better access to technology at present. Internet and mobile phones are no more the symbols of wealth. However, there are plenty of people in this world who still do not have access to mobile phones and internet. India government is currently planning to provide mobile phones to each and every family in India. In short, food availability is no more a criteria or rating scale to measure poverty in a country. One popular theory about the cause of poverty might be called the “robber baron” theory. According to this theory, if I am rich and you are poor, it must be the case that you have been the victim of my exploitation and oppression. This point of view was popularized by Karl Marx, who believed that the relationship between capital and labor was inherently that of oppressor and oppressed (Davis, 2012). Exploitation of the poor by the rich is still taking place in many ways all over the world. Even America is not free from such exploitations. Many of the congressmen in America are lobbying for big companies. They take bribes and elections funds from big companies and safeguard the interests of these companies while Congress takes decisions on critical economic and business policies. Nobody is taking birth in this world as rich or poor. In fact natural resources are equally owned by the people in this world. However, rich people control the majority of the natural wealth in this world, not because of their rights but because of their ability to better exploit it. African countries are generally poor countries because of the lack of natural resources. Somalia and Ethiopia like countries are struggling from poverty. The people in these countries are looking for food and not for computers or mobile phones. They do not have education or proper infrastructure to exploit the possibilities offered by globalization. Mohamed (N.d) pointed out that “Leadership failure in Somalia has caused our people to sit on a golden rock while starving to death” (Mohamed, n.d.). It is the duty of developed countries to assist such countries in improving education and developing infrastructure. Otherwise they will shift their attention towards antisocial behaviors. For example, Somalia is a country famous for sea robbers. Somalians do not have enough natural resources to eradicate poverty. Conclusion Poverty and development are travelling in one direction in most of the countries in the world at present because of the problems in income distribution. In other words along with development, poverty is also increasing in many countries. Current economic order in developed, developing and underdeveloped countries are more oriented towards the rich. Proper development may not take place in such countries. It can be argued that development is taking place in a country only when the gap between the rich and poor reduces. In all the other cases, instead of development, wealth accumulation is taking place. References 1. Azad India Foundation, Poverty in India, 2010.[Online] Available at: http://www.azadindia.org/social-issues/poverty-in-india.html[Accessed 08 January 2013] 2. Davis, J.J. 2012. First-world Wealth And Third-world Poverty. [Online] Available at:http://www.fee.org/the_freeman/detail/first-world-wealth-and-third-world-poverty/#axzz2E3EOAMbl[Accessed 08 January 2013] 3. Ghemawat, P. 2011. The Cosmopolitan Corporation. Harvard Business Review. May 3, 2011 4. India's GDP to Grow 8.1% in 2011, Second Only to China: UNCTAD. 2011. The Times of India. Sep 6, 2011. 5. Mohamed A H. N.d., Poverty in Somalia, [Online] Available at:http://www.authorsden.com/visit/viewarticle.asp?id=24182&AuthorID=12041 [Accessed 08 January 2013] 6. Poverty in the United States, 2010. National Poverty Centre. [Online] Available at: http://www.npc.umich.edu/ poverty/ [Accessed 08 January 2013] 7. Poverty in India, 2010. [Online] Available at: http://www.economywatch.com/indianeconomy/poverty-in-india.html[Accessed 08 January 2013] 8. Rural poverty in China, N.d. [Online] Available at: http://www.ruralpovertyportal.org/country/home/tags/china [Accessed 08 January 2013] 9. Usborne D. 2008, USA 2008: The Great Depression, [Online] Available at: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/usa-2008-the-great-depression-803095.html[Accessed 08 January 2013] 10. Van der Berg, S. N.d. Poverty and Education. UNESCO: International academy of education. [Online] Available at: http://www.iiep.unesco.org/fileadmin/user_upload/Info_Services_Publications/pdf/2009/EdPol10.pdf[Accessed 08 January 2013] 11. What Is Development?, 2004. [Online] Available at: http://www.worldbank.org/depweb/english/beyond/beyondco/beg_01.pdf[Accessed 08 January 2013] Read More