These are the images that are flashed in one's mind whenever the word 'development' is heard. Western countries are often referred to as the benchmark for development or a term which they have already achieved but we have not.
So what do we mean by development ?
According to the Cambridge dictionary, the definition of 'development' is as follows :
The point is that if a region is having the best possible equipments for doing certain jobs or if they are doing things much faster compared to others, then they are developed. So by this, can we say that our villages are developed? I recently visited a village nearby and throughout the journey I kept hearing a statement from the people that "a lot of development is happening in our village these days". Instantly after hearing this, I thought that do they mean huge buildings, better transport, shopping malls etc? But no, for them development was a bit different, it was opening of schools, colleges, hospitals proper supply of electricity, water, sewage and other basic things.
So can we call the villages as 'developed' if they are having these things?
If we go by our interpretation of development, then there should be absolutely no villages on earth and everything should be as developed as the western world. But, wouldn't that encourage further deforestation, climate change, soil erosion and other modern day problems ? So should we develop our villages further or go as per our interpretation ? The answer to this question is a clear no in my opinion. Development can not be defined universally, it is a term that has different standards for different regions. Maintaining an ecological balance is the first thing that we have to do as humans, "[t]he need of villages the way they are, are as much required as the need for developed cities".
So then what should be the correct definition of development ?
In my opinion, it can be on the terms of "a process by which a region grows so that it matches the bare minimum requirement of living a good quality life keeping in mind the diverse nature of our planet"
Krishna Gupta
(Head Boy)
Class XII, Science
Schiller Institute Sr. Sec. School
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