HUMAN DEVELOPMENT INDEX

CONTEXT:
India ranked 131 among 189 countries on the Human Development Index (HDI) for 2019, slipping two places from the previous year, according to the Human Development Report (HDR) 2020 released by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).

MAIN POINTS:
The 2020 Report has introduced planetary pressures-adjusted Human Development Index, which adjusts the standard Human Development Index (HDI) by a country’s per capita carbon dioxide emissions and material footprint.

The other indices that form the part of the Report are:

Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index (IHDI),

  1. Gender Development Index (GDI),
  2. Gender Inequality Index (GII) and
  3. Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI).

HUMAN DEVELOPMENT INDEX:
HDI emphasizes that people and their capabilities should be the ultimate criteria for assessing the development of a country, not economic growth alone.

Three Basic Dimensions of Human Development:

  • A long and healthy life,
  • Access to knowledge, and
  • A decent standard of living.

TOP PERFORMERS FOR 2019:

Norway topped the index, followed by Ireland and Switzerland. Hong Kong and Iceland complete the top five.

INDIA’S PERFORMANCE:

  • HDI value for 2019 is 0.645, which puts the country in the medium human development category, positioning it at 131 out of 189 countries and territories.
  • Between 1990 and 2019, India’s HDI value increased from 0.429 to 0.645, an increase of 50.3%.
  • Life expectancy for Indian’s at birth was 69.7 years in 2019, slightly lower than the south Asian average of 69.9 years.
  • Between 1990 and 2019, India’s life expectancy at birth increased by 11.8 years.
  • The expected years of schooling in India was 12.2 years, compared with 11.2 years in Bangladesh and 8.3 years in Pakistan.
  • Between 1990 and 2019, mean years of schooling increased by 3.5 years, and expected years of schooling increased by 4.5 years.
  • In terms of Gross National Income (GNI) per capita, India at USD 6,681 fared better than some others in 2019, despite a fall over the previous year.
  • India’s GNI per capita increased by about 273.9% between 1990 and 2019.

SOURCE: ECONOMIC TIMES

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