Growth and Development Are Not Too Synonymous

Arbaz Bhat

In today’s Economic competition, many earn and spend it on costly clothing, Luxurious House and Car. A handful of such people on the other hand ,though they can afford luxury also, yet they prefer a simple living. I am personally inspired by a Government Lecturer neighbour of mine who has three sons, he had the simplest house in our area, his clothes also used to be very very simple. Not caring about what others will say about him, he spent money he drew as salary on the Education of his children, half a decade passes, today his eldest son is a Dentist, The middle one recently got selected as Junior Engineer and the youngest one is in Twelfth and is doing well in his studies. Every well earning man is not going to be rich. Well, the story begins from a humble term “Progress” and ends at technical terms “Growth” and “Development”, I am here to stress on the latter two.
In order to achieve Development, it is necessary to achieve Growth۔ however every growing man is not destined to become a developed one، this is how the vein diagram goes۔. Now before I proceed , it is pertinent to clear the meanings of growth and development. The above two terms may be synonyms in the eyes of many, especially those who are less learned in terms of economics. But, when it comes to economics, these two terms have a different meaning to offer. “Growth” , a term stolen from science, means increase in quantity only, an increase in income, it is identified with quantifiability, and one can easily measure it in absolute terms. Development, one the other hand means improvement in quantity as well as quality, Development means when your earning makes you rich in real sense.
People who earn good are to be categorised in two groups, one is who use it judiciously, and the second one is non judicious use. Another issue related to the same is our definition of the word “Asset”. For instance, many parents seem too concerned about the costly marriage of their children, even when children are supposed to be married two decades later. For instance, if instead of Ten Lacs, only 3 lacs are spent on the marriage of a child and rest is spent on his education, it can do wonders to his career.
I don’t find a single logic to justify the costly marriage of an unemployed person. Similarly, if people continue to call houses , cars, and expensive Clothing as Assets, then future generations are going to suffer. An asset is the one that gives you money when you invest in it. Investing in cars and clothing means freezing of money.
If income is invested on beneficial activities like Education, or business, it comes back as more income and ultimately greater and greater profit. Similarly, usage of income on money freezing things like Car, Clothing results in fall in development and leads to fall in income and ultimately creates miseries. This peculiar relation between growth and development carries with it the secret of eternal satisfaction and happiness, i mean richness۔
Theory aside, coming to practicality, identifying a fruitful means of development can also be a difficult task. In my village, there are still few families who ask their children to help them in Apple picking and Agricultural work even when exams are so close. They do so to avoid labour charges, but what about the career of that child? Changing and updating with time is also a primary necessity for development, and this is where a major portion of the farming class has proved to be a failure. It is rightly said by “Seamus Heaney” a farmer’s son, a noted poet in his poem “Digging” that my father and my grandfather used to dig soil with Shovel (an agricultural tool) , but i will dig with pen , and it was digging of his pen that made him eternal. Farming class a few decades ago was the richest class of the society, but with the advent of industrialization, Private Sector, Improvement in Education, The transfer of Economic hubs got transferred to cities. Seeing the changing scenario, the farmers of time did not dive into education when they should have, therefore they saw its consequences. But fortunately, farmers have now shown active interest in Education and are doing great in this field too.
Money follows skills, like shadow follows a human body. If one follows money as a result he will not acquire skills and ultimately less money. Couple of days ago, I happened to spend some time with a renowned surgeon. He told me that, after completion of MBBS he had a good income from private practice in Sopore , he continued practice for many years and made good money. Meanwhile, he got selected for MS. “It was a tough Decision for me to choose between a handsome income generating private practice and MS” – he added. But he preferred MS (skill) . When he returned after MS he started to earn twice as much as what he used to earn as a MBBS doctor. The purpose of sharing this story with you is to make my point stronger , how money follows skill. It is a fact that a Computer knowing, English knowing , One who is good at communication skills will be prefered for a job than one who doesn’t have such skills in this part of the world and abroad.
Fortune favors the brave. Calculated risk is also a requisite of success, including economic success. A man can not change everything he does face, but, nothing can be changed unless it is not faced. I don’t insist on abandoning luxury. However , a balance between the income and expenditure is necessary.

• The writer can be reached at arbazbomai90@gmail.com