Resources and Development

Class 10 notes

Resource: Everything available in our environment which can be used to satisfy our needs, provided, it is technologically accessible, economically feasible and culturally acceptable can be termed as ‘Resource’.

Understanding Part:

It is important to understand the above difinition word to word. Now let’s try to understand the above difinition. Anything which is available in the nature can be termed as resource, but there are certain conditions which make any natural gift a ‘resource‘. Number one that natural gift must be technologically accessible. Suppose there is uranium deposit in Ladakh valley and that uranium deposit is not usable because of lack of technology then that uranium deposit cannot be termed as resource. Number two that natural gift should be economically feasible. Economically feasible means that natural gift or thing must be within the reach of our earning or income. For example the gold available in the Kolar goldmines of Karnataka in India. The mining of the gold in the Kolar gold mine so much costly that it will be an act of foolishness to mine gold from Kolar gold mines because from that much amount of money we can import gold from other gold exporting countries like Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates etc. The third and the last condition is that the natural thing must culturally acceptable. Culturally acceptable means that the use of those things must be acceptable in our society. For example Sona Khad that is also made from human excreta. Sona Khad is very much fertile but whenever somebody knows that it is made up of human excreta then he avoids the use of sona khad. Under this condition the sona khad made from human excreta cannot be termed as resource. The same thing happens with biogas. For a resource social acceptance is always important.