Knowledge: the only Catalyst for Social
Development
-
CA Avineesh Matta
Knowledge is
all pervasive. The humanity has developed ever since the origination of human
life, just riding on the waves of knowledge only. Even before the discovery of
fire in Stone Age the humans slowly and gradually developed to the present day
social milieu through and by knowledge only. Discovery, information, query,
quest, innovations are all manifestations of and manifested by knowledge. Humanity
is all about development. It is the divine duty of humans to develop themselves
and be the facilitators and propagators of the development per se. That is what
we in Hinduism term it as GYANA, the knowledge.
The Vastness
Knowledge
goes beyond the confines of what we see or experience today as technological
innovations or scientific achievements. It encompasses each and every bit and
part of smallest of the organisms and the tinniest of the substance. The only
limitation is the human mind. Whatever a human mind has observed, experienced
or applied, no doubt is the result of knowledge, but there still remains a
whole lot en-wrapped in the covers of dynamic process of development. Knowledge
is ever evolving and ever enveloping, touching the untouched and knowing the
unknown. Leave aside the scientific and technological development; knowledge is
also the upshot of human emotions and realization. Thus, the literature,
creative pursuits, et al are the emancipation of human knowledge.
The Quad
Knowledge is the quad of
the information, ideas, innovation and quest. Knowledge is ubiquitous to each component
of the quad. In the quest of satisfying
needs and desires, all human actions are guided by and are the result of this
quad.
In the process, the humans, at lot many times may take actions which
are primarily detrimental to human development itself. The environmental degradation
is one such manifestation in the process of development. Therefore, we need to
understand what the ‘development’ should be.
The Development
Humans are of the universe and for the universe, the Srishti.
Therefore the process of human development in true sense be the one which is
continuing. Continuing, even when we the contemporaries are not there on this Mother
Earth; continuing still when our generations in succession will be there; and
thus, we in the present are the trustees in effect for the others. Our actions
and endeavours in development must be guided by this principle. Our quest for knowledge
and its consequential application must result in sustainable development.
The Indicators
Ordinarily the development is synonym with the Economic Development
translated by GDP or Per Capita Incomes. Being empirical, these data are easily
compliable and comprehendible. Over time, importance of Economic Indicators as a
measure of human development diluted and thus came the indices like Human
Development Index developed by United Nations Development Programme and the
Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare (ISEW) developed by economist Herman Daly
and theologian John Cobba. These indices not only cover into ambit, the
economic indicators but also other indicators which makes a human life happy,
healthy and comfortable on sustainable basis.
Human Development Index is an aggregate of indicators like,
longevity, knowledge and the command over resources needed for a decent life. Measured
on a scale of 0 to 1, these are based on the national averages of each
individual nation. Longevity is indicated by the life expectancy at birth and knowledge
in terms of adult literacy and mean years of schooling. Command over resources
are reflected by the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per person after adjusting it
for purchasing power. In view of the fact these indicators are the national averages;
they do not take care of the inequalities in wealth, directly. However by
including longevity and literacy they do reflect indirectly the distribution of
resources. In HDI, knowledge has been
adopted as an important component of human development, alibi, in a limited
parlance.
Going forward, human development in true sense must be sustainable. Therefore
Indicators of Sustainable Development include a larger gamut encompassing
Economic, Social, Institutional and Environmental. This is what has been suggested
by the UNDP on which the work is underway. Social Development Indicators are reflected
by,
- Poverty levels
- Demographic dynamics and
sustainability
- Education, Public Awareness and Training
(including gender issues)
- Protecting and promoting human
health, and
- Human settlements (including
traffic and transport).
Poverty shall be measured in terms of unemployment rate and
population living below absolute poverty. Total fertility rate, Population
growth rate in (%), Population density in (persons/km²) and the Net migration
rate (persons/year) shall be the base for measuring Demographic dynamics and
sustainability.
Knowledge levels are proposed to be measured in terms of literacy in
a country. Adult literacy rate in (%), Primary school enrolment ratio in (%),
Secondary school enrolment ratio in (%), Population reaching grade 5 of primary
education in (%) and Expected years of schooling together with percentage of
GDP spent on education, Females per 100 males in secondary school, percentage
of women in civil service and Women per 100 men in the labour force in
percentage terms shall form the basis of measuring Education, Public Awareness
and Training including Gender issues to understand the literacy as an indicator
of social development.
Human health will be indicated by Percentage of people without
access to safe drinking water, Pesticide residue in fish (mg/kg), percentage of
urban population exposed to concentrations of SO2, particulates,
ozone, CO and Pb, Calorie supply per capita (calories/day) and Concentration of
coliforms and pesticides in drinking water (mg/1). Infant mortality rate (per
1,000 births), Life expectancy at birth (years), Incidence of environmentally
related diseases along with percentage spent of GDP on health will also be
factored in.
The holistic Social Development is also affected by the rural-urban
population ratio and strain on urban cities. Slums and shanty places of living
are offshoot of such strain which most of the time are harbinger of criminals
and crime. It is not by choice but by circumstances we find higher rate of
civic crime germane to such areas. Thus Human settlements (including traffic
and transport) are indicative of human development.
Percentage of population in urban areas, Area and population of
marginal settlements (km², no.), Cost/number of injuries and fatalities related
to natural disasters, Floor area per person (m²), percentage of population with
sanitary services together with Expenditure on low-cost housing, Expenditure on
public transportation and Infrastructure expenditures per capita will form the
basis to work out the related index.
Economic Development to be meaningful, must be in tandem with
societal aspiriations. All the above are factors forming the base of and are
the result of knowledge gained through the process of information as input. Interestingly,
the process itself is knowledge and the output information will also be the
knowledge.
The Societal Components
Social Development primarily refers to the welfare of all the components
of society. The citizens and the residents; the humans and the non humans; the
environment and the resources; the underprivileged and the infirm; the reform-able
and the protect-able - all are the components seeking inevitable attention in
development. The welfare can only be achieved
through and by the medium of knowledge only.
The citizens are to be made aware of their rights, privileges,
duties and obligations through knowledge. Empowered citizen is the foundation
stone of a strong democracy. Empowerment comes through information. Now we have
legislations such as Right to Information Act. But how to translate information
to knowledge in the direction of welfare and development is a challenge. Here
comes the obligation on all of us to help covert information into knowledge. Seems
small but has a laudable outcome. Knowledge must be applied to conserve ecosystem,
wildlife and environment. We as a nation has a large pool of the underprivileged
- financially weak, socially deprived and physically challenged, It is the
supreme duty of humans to work towards the welfare of old and infirm. Even the
criminals are to be reformed. It is only through the application of knowledge
that these deprivations in the society can be remedied. Knowledge is to be used
to protect, preserve and promote culture and heritage. Knowledge cannot be and
must not be confined to particular place, community or region. It knows no
boundaries. Positive use and seamless travel of knowledge and Gyana will make the world beautiful to
live for one and for all. Thus, the developed humans to make vasudev kuttumbkamm, the universal
brotherhood.
CA Avineesh Matta is a practicing chartered accountant. He carries
keen interest in socio-economic and developmental issues.
- This Article was published in BJP - Journal on the occasion of 1st National Convention on Knowledge Economy
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