While it is increasingly realised that a GNP-based understanding of development is not just inadequate but also distorted, much more work remains to be done to obtain a comprehensive and satisfactory matrix. What is clear is that such an effort is important for correcting the many distortions in most development 
strategies.

One aspect that needs more consideration is that of equity. If in an unequal society increase in GNP goes largely to the affluent sections, then there is hardly any real increase in human welfare. But if most of the increase goes to the hitherto deprived sections then there is a big increase in human welfare.

Hence reducing inequality and moving towards an equality and justice based society which is free from exploitation and deprivation and in which meeting basic needs of all people on a sustainable basis gets the highest priority should be accepted as a basic precept of development instead of merely talking of increase of GNP.

Another important but neglected aspect of the precept of equity and justice is that this should guide not just the internal structure but also the external relations of a society. This is obviously important in a world of huge international inequalities and glaring injustices in international trade, investment, transfers and other economic interactions. These international injustices are often sought to be disguised with some clever jargon or sugar coated with a few doles or concessions.

But these cannot suppress the reality of high levels of injustices and continuing efforts to increase this exploitation which can have a harmful impact on vulnerable groups in poorer countries, often countries with a colonial past.

While it is very important to reduce economic disparities, it is no less significant to reduce social disparities and many-sided discrimination on the basis of religion, caste, race, colour and gender. This is important enough by itself but also because economic disparities are often related to such discrimination or even rooted in it.

Another important aspect relates to social integration and cohesion in the form of relationships of mutual help and close ties of sharing joys and sorrows at the level of family, neighborhood, community, village and settlement etc. These social relationships are in fact often the most important determinant of how a person feels on any day. Close and helpful relations in family and community make it possible to feel satisfaction and social security while lack of such relationships make for a rather lonesome and stressful existence even at higher levels of income and wealth.

It is thus very important to keep in mind how social relationships and interactions are changing over a period of time, and to actively encourage the improvement of such relationships, or take steps to check any visible or predicted deterioration in such relationships.

Another important but neglected aspect is to create and maintain a strong ethical base. Without this achievements in any other area can be very difficult. There should be broad agreement in society regarding the importance and acceptance of basic norms of honesty and truth, caring for others and concerns of others, duties of citizens, democratic norms, peace, non-violence and professional ethics. There should be continuing creative efforts to create such a strong ethical base, to maintain it and to improve it.

While such ethical concerns have been neglected to the extent that accumulation of wealth by any means including even corruption has gained acceptance among sections of society, another  very unfortunate tendency has been to hijack  the sense of morality associated with commitment to ethical norms towards a false but aggressive morality based on narrow religious sectarianism and even religious fanaticism. In this situation idealism and determination of many youth in particular has been diverted towards a dark and dangerous tunnel of conflict and violence.  Well thought out efforts involving communities and community leaders are needed to check these dangerous trends.

These should be part of wider efforts to create broad-based support for justice-based peace and non-violent methods of resolving various problems, suspicions, prejudices and conflicts, both at the internal and international levels. Any drift towards violent methods or deliberate accentuation of conflicts should be checked firmly and carefully, or else the entire development process will be affected adversely.

While priority for better health already has wide acceptance, this is often reduced to a few indicators and the concentration on these few indicators leads to relative neglect of more comprehensive efforts to improve physical, mental and spiritual health. Even in developed countries with good indicators there has been a big increase in several chronic health problems and some serious diseases as well, sometimes accompanied by an increase in depression and related mental health problems. A more comprehensive understanding of better health and efforts based on these are badly needed.

Another aspect relates to the well-being of other forms of life. The entire discussion on development has been human-centric, so that the decimation and mass extinction of many species as well cruelty to many species have been ignored while evaluating the development experience of many countries. It is clear that well-being of wild life, farm animals, domesticated animals, aquatic life, endangered species and in fact all forms of life should get adequate attention.

Yet another concern which needs much greater attention is that for needs of future generations, a concern for giving sustainability enough attention compared to present-day consumption. This is an important aspect of the wider need for according greater attention to environmental protection. Many people think and talk about the money they have saved for helping their children, but what about air, water and soil which are more important than money for survival but are more polluted today than ever before.
The fact is that various critical environmental problems have escalated to an extent that we are now on the verge of nothing less than a survival crisis in the sense that the basic life-creating conditions of planet earth are badly threatened. In this context climate change has been at least been talked about. But there are many other related aspects of this survival crisis including the acidification of oceans, the mass extinction of species, the water crisis and land use changes. These survival aspects need attention and it is pointless to claim development achievements if life-creating condition are under increasing threat.

The writer is a free-lance journalist who has been involved with various social movements and initiatives.