Quick revision summary of Chapter 8: Comparative Development Experiences of India and its Neighbours (Indian Economic Development). Read the full notes for detailed explanations.
Board note: CBSE teaches this book in Class 12; UP, Bihar, Rajasthan and MP Boards teach it in Class 11.
1 Key definitions
Terms to remember
Great Leap Forward1958, China; massive industrialisation; backyard industries
Commune systemCollective cultivation; 26,000 communes in 1958
Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution1966-76 (Mao, 1965); students and professionals sent to the countryside
Township and village enterprisesOwned and operated by local collectives
Dual pricingFixed quantities at government prices, the rest at market prices
Special economic zonesSet up to attract foreign investors
Medium Term Development PlanWhat Pakistan’s first five year plan (1956) is now called
RemittancesMoney sent home by workers employed abroad
Sex ratioThe proportion of females per 1000 males
One-child normChina, late 1970s; one child per couple
Liberty indicatorsMeasures of the extent of freedom, such as democratic participation in decision-making
2 Three-country timeline
| Stage | India | China | Pakistan |
|---|---|---|---|
| Start | 1947 independence | 1949 People’s Republic, one-party rule | 1947 independence |
| First plan | 1951-56 | 1953 | 1956 (Medium Term Development Plan) |
| 1950s-1960s | Large public sector | 1958 GLF, communes; 1966-76 Cultural Revolution | Import substitution, Green Revolution |
| 1970s | One-child norm (late 1970s) | Nationalisation of capital goods industries | |
| Reforms | 1991 (borrowed from IMF and World Bank) | 1978 (own initiative) | 1988 (after denationalisation) |
| Now | Plans until March 2017 | 14th Plan (2021-25) | 12th Plan (2018-23) |
3 China’s 1978 reforms
- Initial phase: agriculture, foreign trade, investment; commune land to households for use (not ownership), all income kept after taxes
- Later phase: industry; private firms and township and village enterprises; SOEs face competition
- Dual pricing and special economic zones
- Why: no outside compulsion; Maoist vision failed; 1978 per capita grain output equal to the mid-1950s
- Success factors: education and health, land reforms, decentralised planning, small enterprises, rural health services, equitable foodgrain distribution, small-scale trials first
4 Demography and GDP (Tables 8.1, 8.2)
| Indicator | India | China | Pakistan |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population (million) | 1428 | 1411 | 240 |
| Annual growth (%) | 0.81 | -0.10 | 1.96 |
| Density (per sq. km) | 473 | 150 | 300 |
| Sex ratio | 930 | 898 | 948 |
| Fertility rate | 2.0 | 1.2 | 3.4 |
| Urbanisation (%) | 36 | 65 | 38 |
| GDP (PPP, trillion US dollars) | 15 | 35 | 1.5 |
| GDP growth 1980-90 (%) | 5.7 | 10.3 | 6.3 |
| GDP growth 2015-17 (%) | 7.3 | 6.8 | 5.3 |
| GDP growth 2024 (%) | 6.5 | 5.0 | 3.1 |
5 Sectors (Tables 8.3, 8.4)
| 2022 | India GVA / workforce | China GVA / workforce | Pakistan GVA / workforce |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agriculture | 18 / 43 | 8 / 23 | 24 / 36 |
| Industry | 28 / 26 | 38 / 32 | 21 / 26 |
| Services | 54 / 31 | 54 / 45 | 55 / 38 |
- China: agriculture to industry to services (normal course); India and Pakistan: directly to services
- Service workforce, 1980s to 2022: India 17 to 31, China 12 to 45, Pakistan 27 to 38
- Growth 1980-90 to 2014-18: industry China 10.8 to 5.3, India 7.4 to 6.9, Pakistan 7.7 to 4.8; services India 6.9 to 7.6
- China’s growth from manufacturing and services, India’s from services; Pakistan slowed in all three sectors
6 Human development (Table 8.5)
| Indicator | India | China | Pakistan |
|---|---|---|---|
| HDI / rank | 0.685 / 130 | 0.797 / 78 | 0.544 / 168 |
| Life expectancy | 72.0 | 78.0 | 67.6 |
| Mean years of schooling | 6.9 | 8.0 | 4.3 |
| GNI per capita (PPP, US dollars) | 9,047 | 22,029 | 5,501 |
| Below poverty line (%) | 21.9 (2019-21) | 0.0 (2023) | 21.9 (2023) |
| Infant mortality rate | 25.5 | 4.8 | 51 |
| Maternal mortality rate | 103 | 23 | 154 |
| Sanitation / drinking water (%) | 78 / 93 | 96 / 98 | 71 / 91 |
| Undernourishment (%) | 17 | 3 | 19 |
- Liberty indicators: democratic participation (added, no extra weight); constitutional protection of citizens’ rights and of judicial independence and the Rule of Law (not yet introduced)
7 Pakistan: slow growth and poverty
- Poverty: more than 40% in the 1960s, 25% in the 1980s, then rising
- Reasons: dependence on good harvests (no institutionalised technical change); foreign exchange from remittances and volatile farm exports; growing foreign loans and difficulty repaying; political instability
- Recovery: 2017-18 GDP 5.5%, industry 4.9%, services 6.2%
Remember
- Reforms: China 1978 (own initiative), Pakistan 1988, India 1991 (pressure from international agencies)
- China’s density is the lowest, India’s the highest
- China’s human development lead comes from pre-reform strategies
- China: “market system without losing political commitment”; collective land ownership gives rural social security
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