MP Board · Class 10 · Social Science · Geography: Resources and DevelopmentExplain the classification of resources on the basis of ownership and status of development with suitable examples for each category.

Resources can be classified into different categories based on ownership and their status of development as outlined below:

1. On the Basis of Ownership

• Individual Resources: These resources are owned privately by individuals. Farmers own land allotted to them by the government against payment of revenue. In urban areas, people own plots, houses, and other properties. Examples include plantation, pasture lands, ponds, and water in wells owned by individuals.
• Community-Owned Resources: These resources are accessible to all the members of a particular community. Village commons (grazing grounds, burial grounds, village ponds) and public parks, picnic spots, and playgrounds in urban areas are accessible to all people living there.
• National Resources: Technically, all the resources belong to the nation. The government has legal powers to acquire even private property for public good. Roads, canals, and railways are constructed on land acquired by the government. All minerals, water resources, forests, wildlife, and land within the political boundaries, along with the oceanic area up to 12 nautical miles (22.2 km) from the coast, belong to the nation.
• International Resources: These resources are regulated by international institutions. The oceanic resources beyond 200 nautical miles of the Exclusive Economic Zone belong to open ocean, and no individual country can utilize these without the concurrence of international institutions.

2. On the Basis of the Status of Development

• Potential Resources: Resources that are found in a region but have not been utilized. For example, the western parts of India, particularly Rajasthan and Gujarat, have enormous potential for the development of wind and solar energy, but so far these have not been developed properly.
• Developed Resources: Resources that are surveyed and their quality and quantity have been determined for utilization. The development of resources depends on technology and level of their feasibility.
• Stock: Materials in the environment which have the potential to satisfy human needs but human beings do not have the appropriate technology to access them. For example, water is a compound of two gases (hydrogen and oxygen), which can be used as a rich source of energy, but we do not have advanced technical know-how to use them for this purpose.
• Reserves: Reserves are the subset of the stock, which can be put into use with the help of existing technical know-how, but their use has not been started yet. These can be used for meeting future requirements, such as river water used for generating hydroelectric power.