In Pursuit of SDGs

Over the last half a century the concept of economic development has underwent a significant change. It has evolved from a narrow concept, focusing only on economic growth, to a more comprehensive normative paradigm that evaluates developmental policies and practices against human well-being. Traditionally, development was measured in monetary terms that is, gross domestic product (GDP) or wealth of a nation. Developmental theorists during the 1950s and 1960s equated high national income and rapid industrialisation with improved living standards and human well-being. A country’s improved GDP was considered as an indicator for social progress, and it was believed that the benefits of higher income would eventually trickle down to all the sections of society. Hence, the main focus was to increase national income and wealth through industrialisation and productivity that would automatically lead to improvement in the overall well-being of society ( Kumar & Sharma, 2014 ).