Development is a process that accounts for generating ideas/aspirations/dreams about various goals and laying down the methods to realize them.

Development is Goal-oriented

• Developmental goals vary from person to person and nation to nation
• At times developmental goals of people may even be conflicting
• For example, Industrialists may want more dams to get electricity, but for the tribal population, it may mean the destruction of their inhabited lands 

National Development

• A positive change in growth resulting in the creation of tangible and intangible assets for the nation is called national development

Parameters for Comparison of Different Countries and States

• Income attributes

• While comparing countries, their income is considered to be an important attribute
• Countries with higher income are considered more developed than others with less income

• Per Capita Income

• For correlation between nations, total income isn’t a precious measure
• Since countries have different populations, contrasting total income won’t let us know what an average individual is prone to acquire
• Hence, they can compare the countries based on their average income, i.e., their total income divided by their total population
• Average income is often termed as per capita income

• Other Criteria

Other indicators like literacy rate, Infant mortality rate, attendance ratio etc. are equally important to assess the development of a state concerned. For example:  In Haryana, the per capita income is more than that in Kerala. However, the Infant Mortality rate in Kerala is better than that of Haryana.