Q1. [3] medium initial-understanding
Why is per capita income considered an incomplete measure of a country's development? Give any two reasons.
Generated by claude-sonnet-4-6 · 2026-06-26 13:19 · grounding rag
Model Answer
Per capita income is considered an incomplete measure of development for the following reasons:
- It hides inequality: Per capita income is an average figure. It does not show how income is distributed among people. A country may have a high average income but extreme inequality, where a few are very rich and most are poor.
- It ignores other important aspects: Development also depends on health, education, security, and equal treatment. For example, Kerala has a lower per capita income than Haryana but performs much better in literacy rate (94% vs 82%) and infant mortality rate (6 vs 28 per 1,000). This shows income alone cannot measure the quality of life.
Source: Chapter 1 — Development, Income and Other Criteria section
---
Explanation
- Examiners expect two distinct, clearly explained reasons — not just listed but briefly supported with an example (Kerala vs Haryana is ideal here as it is directly from the textbook).
- For 3 marks: introduce the idea briefly (1 mark), then give two reasons with explanation/example (1 mark each).
- Avoid writing a long essay — the answer above is the right length (~80 words).
- Key terms to use: average, inequality, distribution, health indicators, literacy, quality of life.