Capability approach

Geography glossary

Also called: Capabilities and choices · Topic: Human Development: Concept, Approaches and Measurement · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 3 "Human Development"

Meaning

The capability approach (also called capabilities and choices) is the approach linked to Amartya Sen. It says human development rises when people build up their capabilities in three areas: health, education and access to resources. These capabilities then let people choose the life they value. It matters because it measures what people can do or be, not just what they own. The Human Development Index (HDI) follows this idea.

Explanation

What "capability" means

  • Capability is the real freedom a person has to be or do something they value.

  • Examples: being able to read, stay healthy or earn a living.

  • The approach looks at three areas:

  • Health: a long and healthy life.
  • Education: knowledge and skills.

  • Access to resources: the means to live a decent life.

  • Income and services are only means. Capabilities are the end goal.

How it works (cause → process → result)

  • Build capabilities first

  • Give people good health, schooling and access to resources.

  • People then choose

  • With these capabilities, people can choose the life they value.

  • More real choice → higher human development

  • The aim is to widen what people can actually do with their lives.

Role of people: agents, not receivers

  • The approach treats people as agents (people who make choices and act).
  • It does not treat them as passive recipients (people who are only handed benefits).
  • This is the main point that separates it from the welfare and basic needs approaches.

Origin and later growth

  • NCERT (Class 12, Table 3.1) lists it as one of four approaches: income, welfare, basic needs and capability.
  • Mahbub ul Haq (Pakistani economist) and Amartya Sen (Indian economist, Nobel Prize 1998) shaped the modern idea of human development in the 1990s.
  • The first UNDP Human Development Report came out in 1990.
  • Martha Nussbaum (American philosopher) built on Sen's idea in Women and Human Development (2000).
  • Sen chose not to fix a list of capabilities.
  • Nussbaum went further. She set out a list of central capabilities that every person should have.

Where it occurs

  • Worldwide (UNDP):
  • The idea shapes the UNDP Human Development Reports. The first came out in 1990.

  • The HDI measures health, education and access to resources, which are the three capability areas.

  • India: HDR 2025 (data for 2023):

  • India ranks 130 out of 193 countries. [2]
  • India's HDI value rose from 0.676 (2022) to 0.685 (2023). [2]
  • India is in the medium human development category. [2]

  • The rise came from three things: more mean years of schooling (the average years an adult has spent in school), higher national income per person, and life expectancy at its highest since the index began. [2]

  • Indian policies that fit this approach:

  • National Education Policy (NEP): builds the education capability.
  • The national health missions: build the health capability.

Don't confuse with

  • Income approach: its goal is higher income. It measures what people have. The capability approach measures what people can do or be. NCERT calls the income approach one of the oldest approaches.
  • Welfare approach: its goal is more government spending. It treats people as passive recipients, not participants. The capability approach treats them as agents.
  • Basic needs approach: the ILO first proposed it, not Sen. It ignores human choice and focuses on meeting six fixed needs for defined groups.
  • Nussbaum's central capabilities: these form a fixed list (2000). Sen deliberately gave no fixed list.

Prelims Hooks

  • Capability approach → Amartya Sen. Its three areas are health, education and access to resources.
  • Under the capability approach, people are active agents. Under the welfare approach, they are passive recipients.
  • The HDI follows the capability approach because it measures health, education and access to resources.
  • Martha Nussbaum, Women and Human Development (2000), set out a list of central capabilities. Sen gave no fixed list.
  • Matching pairs: NEP → capability; DBT → income; PDS → basic needs.
  • HDR 2025: India ranks 130/193, with an HDI of 0.685 (2023), in the medium category. [2]

Mains Points

  • From provision to choice:
  • The welfare and basic needs approaches give things to people. This can create dependence and leave people without a voice.
  • The capability approach makes people active agents.

  • India's policy mix shows both sides: PDS and housing (basic needs) work alongside NEP and the health missions (capability).

  • Income is a means, not the end:

  • India's HDI has risen by over 53% since 1990, faster than both the world and South Asian averages. [2]
  • Yet inequality cuts India's HDI by 30.7%, one of the largest losses in the region. [2]

  • Income growth alone does not spread capabilities to everyone. Health, education and access to resources must be targeted directly, especially in low-HDI states.

  • Three-layer policy response (GS-I, regional gaps):

  • A basic needs floor (PDS, Minimum Needs Programme) provides food, water and shelter.
  • Cash transfers (DBT) give people choice.
  • Capability-building through schooling and health gives people lasting freedom.

Related concepts

Read more

Sources

  1. 1Class 12, Ch 3 "Human Development" (primary)
  2. 2UNDP India, "India's human development continues to make progress, ranks 130 out of 193 countries" (HDR 2025)undp.org · tier 2