Unit : 1 — Economics as a Social Science with special emphasis on human development.
1. Economics as a study of Wealth and as a study of Man—Study of Wealth and Efficiency—Study of Man and Equity & Justice.
2. Western social institutions and economic theory emphasizing efficiency as the basis of material wealth accumulation.
3. Human development and equity & justice and the necessity of an alternative approach—Life sustenance, Self-esteem and Freedom as the basis of human development.
4. Political—economic issues of divergent social institutions under the two paradigms.
5. Introduction to Micro- and Macro-economics.
Unit : 2 — Man-Nature interaction as the basis for environmental sustainability.
1. Use of Nature in production and consumption—(a) source of natural inputs: renewable and non-renewable resources—(b) receiver of production and consumption wastes—both acting as limits to growth.'
2. Different types of pollution—concept of environmental sustainability : limiting the use of non-renewable resources, preserving the potential of nature to produce renewable resources and respecting (to sustain) the ecosystems.
3. Connecting environmental sustainability with "sustainability of economic growth" and "sustainability of social priorities / compulsions": (a) increase in national as well as per-capita income alone as savage growth that neglects both social sustainability (equity'& justice—social priorities) and environmental sustainability, (b) increase in income with distributive justice alone as socially benign growth that neglects environmental sustainability, (c) increase in income with environmental sustainability alone as environmentally sustainable growth that neglects social sustainability and (d) increase in income with distributive justice and concern for environment as Sustainable Development that realises efficiency-based growth with. I both social and environmental sustainability.
4. People's participation in environment management and human development.
5. The environmentalists and the non-environmentalists.
Basic Economic Concepts
Unit : 1 — Circular flow to focus production, consumption and distribution.
1. Production—material production and creation of utility through exchange —factors of production : land, labour, capital and entrepreneurship— resource scarcity and opportunity cost—short-run and long-run in production-returns within scale and returns to scale—the law of variable proportions—the production-possibility frontier— efficient and inefficient production—division of labour—specialisation and absolute and comparative advantages—economic growth and shifts of the PPF.
2. Consumption—definition and determinants—simple analysis of the consumption function—consumption in a class-divided society and different consumption baskets across different income classes.
3. Distribution—factor prices and factor shares—determinants (intuitive analysis only).
4. Households and Firms as the basic sectors of the economy—households as the owner of resources and firms as the users—the circular flow of income and expenditure—the three central problems: "What, how and for whom?".
Working of an economy under alternative systems
Unit : 1—Alternative economics systems—nature and distinctions :
1. Private property and market economy—features, merits and demerits.
2. State property and planned economy—features, merits and demerits.
3. Mixed economy (with the Indian economy as an illustrative example)— features, merits and demerits.
4. Common property resources and their uses / abuses (with the Indian economy as an illustrative example).
Unit : 2—Alternative approaches to the problem of allocation—rationing through market and rationing through command.
1. Definition of price—absolute price and relative price.
2. Use of the price system to solve the allocation problem in a market economy (intuitive reasoning)—given factor endowments, prices allocating scarce resources among alternative uses—use of the PPF for illustrations.
3. Use of commands to solve the same allocation problem in a planned economy—commands on factor use determining production and commands on distribution determining consumption—with simple illustrative examples.
4. Connecting the patterns of solving the allocation problem with alternative regimes of property rights—problem of settling the issue of allocation under undefined (production and consumption externalities with simple examples) or ill-defined (common property resources with simple examples) property rights—the necessity of well-defined property rights—examples ; on local, regional, national and international problems in the absence of ' well-defined property rights (simple illustration on intellectual property rights).
Dynamics of the economy
Unit : 1 — Growth and development.
1. Economic growth—definition and sources (labour, physical capital, human capital and technology)—national income-based growth indicators— benefits (less poverty and unemployment, improved living standards and life-styles) and costs (current sacrifice, social costs) of growth—sequencing of benefits and costs.
2. Uneven pattern of growth and persistence of economic backwardness in countries like India—features of economic under-development— differences among the less-developed countries.
3. Economic development—definition—distinction between growth and development—population and economic development.
Unit : 2 — Development approaches.
1. Per-capita income as the index of development—income-based classification of countries—necessity of extending the concept of development to distributive justice to address the problems of unemployment, inequality and poverty.
2. Basic needs approach—indicators of basic needs—health, education, nutrition, water supply, sanitation and housing.
3. Development defined in terms of entitlement and capability—entitlement-failure and hunger despite food-abundance.
4. Human development—definition and determinants—equity, sustainability, productivity and empowerment—the Human Development Index— classification of countries according to the HDI—differences in income-based and HDl-based classifications.
Understanding the environment.
1. Nature of the environmental problem in India—(a) industrial and urban pollution—health hazards-air pollution, water pollution, sound pollution due to poor management of solid waste; (b) agricultural and rural pollution—productivity loss—soil erosion and degradation, water pollution and deforestation; (c) loss of biodiversity—loss of flora and fauna—ecological imbalance and (d) dirty-tourism—loss of marine and mountain-environment—necessity of ecotourism.
2. Environmental'policy of India—functions of the Central Pollution Control Board and the State Pollution Control Boards—instruments—Commands and controls, taxes and charges, collective actions—recent international deliberations and a critical note on the compulsions of compliance.
Understanding the Indian economy (Part -1)
Unit : 1—Analysis of the agricultural economy of India.
1. Role of agriculture in the Indian economy.
2. Product market:—cash crops and food crops—marketable surplus of food-grains and its determinants.
3. Green revolution and its phases.
4. Food policy of India—the public distribution system.
5. Economic .©forms and Indian agriculture—problems and prospects.
Unit : 2 —Analysis of the industrial economy of India.
1. Industrial Policy Resolution, 1956-role of the public sector enterprises in India—performance and problems.
2. Trends in industrial production—stagnation and structural retrogression.
3. The small sector in India—importance, performance and problems— policies of the government.
4. Economic reforms—problems and prospects.
Understanding the economy of West Bengal.
Unit: 1—Land reforms, agriculture and decentralised planning:
1. 'Land reforms' as a cofnerstone of the rural development strategy—the indirectly induced changes (those resulting from the spontaneous operation of socio-economic processes) and the directly effected changes (the land reforms).
2. Charges in operational holdings in West Bengal following the Operation Barga—high share of leased-in land among the marginal and small farmers-inter-state comparisons; land reforms from above and land reforms from below—the Operational. Barga as an illustration of mutuality between the two dynamic forces.
3. Agricultural sector and the recent breakthrough achieved by West Bengal— changes in the production of the major crops since 1980-81—average annual compound growth rates of food grains in different states to locate the success of West Bengal.
4. Indicators of the changing agrarian economy of West Bengal—changing proportion of agricultural labour households; spread of irrigation (with emphasis on utilisation of minor irrigation potential), fertiliser consumption etc. and the increasing index of multiple-cropping; preservation of agricultural land.
5. Decentralised planning—definition and fundamental features—priorities of planning in West Bengal—involvement of the Panchayats.
6. Organisational set-up for district and block planning—District Planning Committees and block Planning Committees—financial provisions : tied and untied funds—formulation, implementation and monitoring of plans— public accountability—-sustainability and decentralised resource mobilisation.
Unit : 2 — Industry and services (with emphasis on information and bio¬ technologies):
1. Major industries of West Bengal—general index of industrial production in West Bengal—index for the manufacturing sector—pattern of industrialisation in West Bengal—directional changes in recent years and factors favouring such changes—scopes of Information Technology in West Bengal (with special emphasis onjob opportunities as self-employed service providers).
2. Scope of Bio-technology in West Bengal
(a) Origin and Definition : Old Vs. New Bio-technology.
(b) Importance and aims of Bio-technology.
(c) Possibilities of Application of Bio-technologies in West Bengal. The state is highly rich in bio-resources, rich in trained and resourceful manpower in Agriculture, Chemicals, Pharmaceuticals, healthcare Industries and being the gateway of various South East Asian Countries, has its natural potential for developing Bio-tech Industries which have been declared as a high priority sector by the Govt, of West Bengal.
(d) Development of Infrastructure in West Bengal to enhance Bio¬ technology Activities.
(e) Bio-technology and Environment :
(i) Bio-diversity and its conservation.
(ii) Reasons of concern for loss of Bio-diversity.
(iii) Steps to preserve Bio-Diversity.
(iv) Effect of genetically engineered and manipulated seeds and other agriculture crops on human health.
****
- 359 views
