11_DEVELOPMENT EXPERIENCE OF INDIA, PAKISTAN AND CHINA

ECONOMICS (CLASS-XI)

Chapter-11

Development Experience of India, Pakistan and China –

A Comparative study

1. Compare the economies of India, Pakistan and China on the basis of (1) Growth rate of GDP and (2) Sectoral contribution in GDP and employment in the year 2003.

Ans.   1.       Till growth rate of GDP about 1980’s, all the three countries had more or less similar growth rates. But in the recent past, China has gone past both India and Chine in terms of growth rate of GDP. If we compare the growth rates for the decade of 1980-90 with that of 1990-2002-2003, we will see that China maintained its double digit growth rate but the growth rate of GDP in Pakistan declaimed sharply due to political instability. During the same period, India’s growth rate increased marginally.

2. Sectoral contribution to GDP and employment (Structure of Growth).

(a)      In terms of sectoral contribution to GDP, we find that the economies of India and Pakistan are relying more on tertiary sector while the economy of Chine is relying more on secondary sector. The experience of China in this respect is like the experience of most developed countries in the world where there is a gradual shift away from the secondary sector to the tertiary sector. However, the Indian experience as well as that of Pakistan shows that lesser importance was given to industrial expansion.

(b)      Among all the 3 nations, the percentage of workforce engaged in the agricultural sector is the highest in India (60%). This implies that people in India have chosen to remain employed in the primary sector despite a substantial reduction in its contribution to the GDP of the country. In all the 3 countries, the industrial and the service sector have less proportion of workforce.

2. Compare the economies of India, Pakistan and Chine on the basis of this demographic profile.

Ans.   1.       Population:- China is the most populated country followed closely by India as the second most populated country in the world. As compared to China and India, population of Pakistan is very less.

2. Growth of Population:- It is the highest in Pakistan (2.5%) followed by India at 1.7% and is the least in China at 1%.
3. Density of Population:- Due to its larger area and lowest growth rate of population, the density of population of China is the lowest followed by Pakistan and then India.
4. Sex ratio:- It is lowest in Pakistan (922 females/10 males), followed by India (933) and Chine (937)
5. Fertility rate:- It is the highest in Pakistan followed by India and then Chine.
6. Urbanisation:- It is high in both China and Pakistan in India, only 28% of its people live in the urban area
7. Compare and contrast the development of India, China and Pakistan with respect to some salient human development indicators.

Ans.   Human development indicators when compared show that China is well ahead of both India and Pakistan.

(i)       Maternal Mentality rates are high both in India and in Pakistan. In China for one lakh births only 50 women die whereas in India and Pakistan more than 500 women die per one lakh births.

(ii)      Human development index rank of China is at 85, India at 127 and Pakistan at 135.

(iii)     Life expectancy is highest in China followed by India and then by Pakistan.

(iv)     Adult literacy rate is highest in Chine followed by India and then by Pakistan.

(v)      The percentage of people living below poverty line are the highest in India followed by China and then Pakistan.

(vi)     Infant mortality rate is highest in Pakistan (81/1000 live births), followed by India (63/1000) and China (30/10)

4. How do you explain the re-emergence of poverty in Pakistan?

Ans.   There is re-emergence of poverty in Pakistan after the introduction of reforms in 1988. The reasons are:

(i)       The institutional reforms/land reforms have not been introduced properly in agriculture due to which still the agricultural growth is dependent upon the climatic conditions and good harvest. When there was good harvest, the economy was in good condition and vice-versa.

(ii)      Pakistan has relied heavily on the remittances from abroad and volatile agricultural exports for earning foreign exchange.

(iii)     There was also a growing dependence on foreign loans on the one hand and increasing difficulty in paying back the loans on the other due to political instability and low rate of growth in Pakistan.

5. Evaluate the various factors that led to the rapid growth and development in China.

Ans.   The reforms introduced in 1978 led to rapid growth in China:

(i)       In the agricultural sector, the commune lands were divided among the households. They were allowed to keep the income from land after paying taxes to the govt.

(ii)      In the industrial sector, the private firms were allowed to operate and produce goods which gave a stiff competition to the state owned enterprises.

(iii)     A policy of dual pricing was introduced whereby the farmers and the industrial units were required to buy & sale field amounts of inputs and output at both govt. administered and market based prices.

(iv)     In order to attract foreign investors, special economic zones were set up.

6. Explain the great leap forward campaign?

Ans.   It was introduced by Mao in China in 1958 with the purpose of industrializing the country on a massive scale. Under this campaign people were encouraged to set up industries in their backyards.

7. Define special Economic zones (SEZ’S).

Ans.   They are developed to attract foreign investment. They are special area where special economic laws prevail different from other areas of the country.

8. What is meant by the commune systems?

Ans.   It is a system under which people collectively cultivate forms.

9. Mention some examples of regional & economic groupings

Ans.   (i)       SAARC:-South Asian Association for Regional cooperation

(ii)      ASEAN:-Association of Southeast Asian Nations

(iii)     G-8:-  The groups of 8 countries consists of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, United Kingdom and United States.

10. What are the implications of the one child norm in China?

Ans.   The most important implication of the one child norm in China is the tremendous decline in the growth rate of population. But it also has other implications. For instance after a few decades, there will be more elderly people in proportion to young people which will force China to take steps to provide social security measures and there will be a ____ of workers in China.