India ranks 129 among 189 countries on the 2019 human development index (HDI). As per the UN’s HDI 2019 report, India’s score improved from 0.431 to 0.647, moving it up a rank from 2017’s 130th. In the last three decades, India’s life expectancy at birth increased by 11.6 years, average schooling years by 3.5 years, and per capita income by 250 times. India did poorly in comparison to Sri Lanka (71) and China (85), but did better than countries like Pakistan (152), Bangladesh (135), Bhutan (134), Myanmar (145), and Afghanistan (170). South Asia was the fastest growing region in terms of human development—46% growth over the period 1990-2018.
The report highlights that, in terms of inequality-adjusted HDI or IHDI, India’s rank drops to 130. IHDI highlights the percentage loss in HDI due to inequalities. This drop cost India, for the purpose of calculating the score, half the progress made in the past 30 years. The report also brings to the fore gender-based inequality—India ranks 122 out of 162 in the gender inequality index. HDI also captures multidimensional poverty. India should take heed of what the report highlights in terms of areas needing improvement—inequality due to technology and climate change, and gender inequality. Meanwhile, India has set ambitious goals for universal healthcare and child nutrition. India has 28% of the world’s poor even after lifting 271 million people out of poverty between 2005-15. Surely, it has a long way to go before it matches the HDI standards in developed world, but past efforts have yielded gradual progress. Policy makers must focus on proper implementation, if they are to deliver the kind of progress expected from a country targeting to become a $5-trillion economy in the next half-decade. The report warns that in the coming decades, technological changes, climate change, and skilling gaps will contribute to increase in poverty. Therefore, as India aspires to improve on conventional parameters, it needs to brace for the new-age variables that will hinder human development.
