Human development — India at the bottom of the barrel

The most important takeaway for India from the recently
released United Nations Human Development Report, The Real Wealth of Nations :
Pathways to Human Development, is the ‘crucial and compelling evidence’ that
there is a lack of any significant correlation between economic growth and
improvements in health and education.

In the last few years, investments — and interest — in
India’s social sector have improved. Yet, as the report proves, the work is far,
far from over : between 2005 and 2010 — also the years of economic growth —
India has moved up only one step on the Human Development Index ladder. It’s now
at 119, out of 169 countries and areas.

This year, being the 20th edition of the HDR, three new
indices were introduced to make the process more robust : the
inequality-adjusted Human Development Index, the Gender
Inequality Index (GII) and the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI).

Though India’s HDI (0.519) is above the average of 0.516, for
countries in South Asia, in GII, it is embarrassingly behind even Bangladesh and
Pakistan, ranked at 116 and 112, respectively. The GII reflects women’s
disadvantages in reproductive health, empowerment and economic activity.

With women at such a low priority level, is it surprising
that we languish below on other indicators too ? Equally sad is our MPI : 55%
Indians suffer from multiple deprivations; the average in South Asia is 54%.