HUMAN DEVELOPMENT INDEX
DR.CHATE D.P.
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR
The quality of life people enjoy in a country, the opportunities they have
and freedoms they enjoy, are important aspects of development.
The concept of human development was introduced by
Dr. Mahbub-ul-haq and Indian economist Amartye sen.
Dr. Haq has described human development
as development that enlarges people’s
choices and improves their lives.
The human development index examines three important criteria of
economic development
1) Life expectancy
2) Education
3) Income levels
Create an overall score between 0 and 1.
1 - indicates a high level of economic development.
0- a very low level.
MEASURING HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
The human development index (HDI) ranks the countries based on their performance in the
key areas of health, education and access to resources.
Health :-
The indicator chosen to assess health is the life expectancy at birth.
A higher life expectancy means that people have a greater chance of living
longer and healthier lives.
Education :-
The adult literacy rate and the gross enrolment ratio
represent access to knowledge.
The number of adults who are able to read and write and the number of children enrolled
in schools show how easy or difficult it is to access knowledge in a particular country.
Access to resources is measured in terms of purchasing power (in
U.S. Dollars).
Education :-
The adult literacy rate and the gross enrolment ratio
represent access to knowledge.
The number of adults who are able to read and write and the number of children
enrolled in schools show how easy or difficult it is to access knowledge in a
particular country.
decent standerd of living is measured in terms of
purchasing power (in U.S. Dollars).
Example : Calculating HDI of India.
Life expectancy index = 0.679
Education index = 0.495
Income index = 0.599
HDI = (LI * EI * II)^1/3
HDI = (0.679 * 0.495 * 0.599)^1/3
= 0.586
INTERNATIONAL COMPARISONS
Often smaller countries have done better than larger ones in human
development.
Similarly, relatively poorer nations have been ranked higher than
richer neighbours in terms of human development.
For example, Sri Lanka, Trinidad and Tobago have a higher rank
than India in the human development index despite having smaller
economies.
GLOBAL HDI RANKINGS- TOP TEN
COUNTRIES
Human development report (2021-22)
HDI And INDIA
India ranks in 2023 is 132
HDI – 0.645
Gain of 0.003 HDI from previous year .
Comes under medium human development countries.
Indicators: -
Life expectancy at birth(by UN). Overall –64.19
years(Rank 147). male – 62.80
years.
Female – 65.73 years.
Education index : 0.473 .
Mean years of schooling : 5.1(rank 65).
GNI(Gross National Income)per capita at PPP : $5350
(rank 127) .
KERALA – THE HIGHEST HDI STATE
HDI - 0.764
LITERACY RATE – 93.91 %
LIFE EXPECTANCY – 74 years.
HIGHEST SEX RATIO – 1084/1000 .
LEAST CORRUPTED STATE.
CLEANEST AND HEALTHIEST STATE .
IMPORTANCE OF HDI
The HDI gives an overall index of economic development.
It does give a rough ability to make comparisons on issues of
economic welfare – much more than just using GDP statistics show.
It gives idea regarding areas of development which requires
improvement.
Statistics gives better decision making for areas having wide disparity.
More focus on social & human development rather than only capital
accumulation and growth.
CONCLUSION
There are certain differences among different states
development conditions so there must be equal opportunities for
development for all.
Some important issues are missing in HDI such as infrastructure
and some economic factors.
