Why do we observe regional differences in educational attainment in India?
India is a land of diverse culture, religions and communities. Every region has its own customs and tradition. Also, as we go from one state to another, we find many differences in terms of language, habit, culture, need, climate, etc. Due to these differences, there exist regional differences in the educational attainment in our country. There exists a difference in the pattern of education across India. Some regions lack educational facilities whereas some give undue importance to education. For example, states like Bihar, Rajasthan, U.P and Arunachal Pradesh are educationally backward whereas, states like Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Uttranchal have higher literacy rates. Generally, it can be observed that the states that lack employment opportunities and where the standard of living is close to the subsistence level, education is given lesser importance. People in such states are engaged either in agricultural sector or informal sector that has very less to do with education. The opportunity cost of sending children to school in such states is very high than employing them. The neglect of education in these regions is primarily because of the low standard of living and poverty. These people cannot afford to send their children to schools and, in fact, employ them either in the farm lands or in informal sector. Further, it can also be observed that male children across India have lopsided access to education compared to female children. Besides the above factor, there are other factors like custom, climate, etc. that explains the regional differences in educational attainment in India.
Discuss the need for promoting women’s education in India.
Trace the relationship between human capital and economic growth.
Discuss the following as a source of human capital formation
(i) Health infrastructure
(ii) Expenditure on migration.
‘There is a downward trend in inequality world-wide with a rise in the average education levels’. Comment.
What are the main problems of human capital formation in India?
Education is considered to be an important input for the development of a nation. How?
How is human development a broader term as compared to human capital?
What are the indicators of educational achievement in a country?
What factors contribute to human capital formation?
Argue in favour of the need for different forms of government intervention in education and health sectors.
What was the focus of the economic policies pursued by the colonial government in India? What were the impacts of these policies?
What do you mean by rural development? Bring out the key issues in rural development.
Define a plan?
Who is a worker?
Explain the term ‘infrastructure’.
What is meant by environment?
Why are regional and economic groupings formed?
Why were reforms introduced in India?
Why calorie-based norm is not adequate to identify the poor?
Name some notable economists who estimated India’s per capita income during the colonial period?
Do you think the navaratna policy of the government helps in improving the performance of public sector undertakings in India? How?
Explain how the opportunity costs of negative environmental impact are high.
The following table shows distribution of workforce in India for the year 1972-73. Analyse it and give reasons for the nature of workforce distribution. You will notice that the data is pertaining to the situation in India 30 years ago!
Place of Residence | Workforce (in millions) | ||
Male | Female | Total | |
Rural Urban |
125 32 |
69 7 |
195 39 |
Define worker-population ratio.
Describe the path of developmental initiatives taken by Pakistan for its economic development.
Why are less women found in regular salaried employment?
Why is it necessary to became a member of WTO?
The three dimensional attack on poverty adopted by the govern-ment has not succeded in poverty alleviation in India. Comment.
Why was it necessary for a developing country like India to follow self-reliance as a planning objective?
Match the following:
1. Prime Minister 3. Quota 4. Land Reforms 5. HYV Seeds 6. Subsidy |
A. Seeds that give large proportion of output C. Chairperson of the planning commission D. The money value of all the final goods and services produced within the economy in one year. E. Improvements in the field of agriculture to increase its productivity F. The monetary assistance given by government for production activities. |