Revision: Indian Economic Development >> Current Challenges Facing Indian Economy Economics Commerce (English Medium) Class 11 CBSE

Sustainable development is the development that meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

• In 1987, the Brundtland Commission cited the definition of sustainability.
  "Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generation to meet their own needs."
• “Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”
                  -World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987-
• “The alternative approach (to sustainable development) is to focus on natural capital assets and suggest that they should not decline through time.”
                                                                           -Pearce, Markandya and Barbier, 1989-

• Rural credit funds farm inputs and family needs.
• Earlier, farmers relied on moneylenders; now banks, RRBs, cooperatives, and NABARD provide loans.
• SHGs and microcredit promote savings and empower women.
• Issues: loan defaults, weak deposit culture, and misuse of funds.
• Jan-Dhan Yojana improved financial inclusion with zero-balance accounts and direct benefits.

• Move labour from crops to allied activities like dairy, poultry, fisheries and horticulture to stabilise incomes.​
• Promote non-farm work such as food processing, crafts, tourism, beekeeping and IT-enabled services in rural areas.​
• These activities especially support small farmers and women, and make rural livelihoods more sustainable.​

• Government expenditure on education rose from 7.92% (1952) to 16.54% (2020) of total expenditure, and from 0.64% to 4.47% of GDP, though still below the recommended 6%.
• Elementary education takes the largest share, but per-student spending is highest in higher/tertiary education.
• Spending varies widely across states — from ₹96,968 in Sikkim to ₹10,710 in Bihar (2020–21).
• The Education Commission (1964–66) and Tapas Majumdar Committee (1999) emphasized higher investment; the Right to Education Act (2009) made schooling free and compulsory for ages 6–14.
• India also levies a 2% education cess to fund elementary education.
• Educational achievements have improved: adult literacy, primary completion, and youth literacy have risen substantially for both males and females since 1990.

• As the economy develops, workers move from agriculture (primary) to industry (secondary) and then to services (tertiary).
• Primary sector still employs the largest share of workers, especially in rural areas.
• In rural areas, most workers are in agriculture; in urban areas, most are in services and some in industry.
• Women are heavily concentrated in the primary sector; men are more spread across secondary and service sectors.

• India’s unemployment is structurally and cyclically driven, with youth at the highest risk.
• Unemployment is measured by hours worked, with underemployment also common.
• Solutions include focused skill development, industrial growth, and targeted government schemes.

Sustainable development means improving life today without reducing the ability of future generations to meet their needs.​

• It links needs with fairness in resource use, especially for the poor (food, jobs, health, education, water, energy, housing).​
• Environment and economy must stay within nature’s carrying capacity: use renewables no faster than they regenerate and gradually replace non‑renewables with sustainable alternatives.​