Human Development
• India is ranked 131 among 189 countries in world in terms of Human Development Index [HDI] in 2019. HDI rankings are based on a score between 0 and
(1) Each dimension of HDI is given a weightage of 1/3.
• India’s HDI value is 0.645 which put it in medium human development category. Norway is ranked 1 with HDI value of 0.957 among all countries of world. Human Development concept was developed by Mahbub ul Haq in 1990.
• HDI is measured in terms of Education, health & per capita income.
• In India, Kerala is at 1st rank and Chhattisgarh is placed at bottom in HDI 2019.
• factors determining nature of human development are as follows:
(1) Historical factors like colonization, imperialism and neo-imperialism.
(2) Socio-cultural factors like human rights violations, social discrimination on basis of race, religion, gender & caste, and social problems like crimes, terrorism, and war.
(3) Political factors like nature of state, forms of government, and level of empowerment.
Human Development in India
Indicators of Economic Attainment
• Gross National Product [GNP] and its per capita availability are taken as measures to assess resource base/ endowment of any country.
• Economic attainment and wellbeing of individuals depend on economic growth, employment opportunities and access to assets.
• poverty data for states show that poorest States are Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, & Madhya Pradesh while Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Punjab, Sikkim have below 10% of their population living below poverty line.
• A healthy life is one that is free from illness and disease and lasts a good amount of time. For a healthy and reasonably long life, it’s important to have access to health care before and after giving birth to reduce the number of babies who die and the number of mothers who die after giving birth. Having access to health care in old age, getting enough food, and being safe are also important.
• objectives of Swachh Bharat Mission are:
(1) Making India open defecation free and to achieve 100% scientific management of municipal solid waste.
(2) Making provisions for supply of clean energy fuel LPG to all households in rural India to reduce domestic pollution.
(3) Providing potable drinking water to every household to control spread of water-borne diseases.
(4) Promoting use of non-conventional energy resources, like wind & solar energy.
Indicators of Social Empowerment
• Freedom from hunger, poverty, servitude, bondage, ignorance, illiteracy and any other forms of domination is key to human development. Access to knowledge about society and environment is fundamental to freedom. Literacy is beginning of access to such a world of knowledge and freedom.
• Overall literacy in India is approximately 74.04% while female literacy is 65.46% as per census 2011.
Human Development Index
• Planning Commission calculated human development index by taking states and union territories as unit of analysis.
• India has been placed among countries showing medium human development.
• Kerala with composite index value of 0.790 is placed at top rank followed by Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Goa & Punjab.
• States like Bihar, Odisha & Chhattisgarh are at bottom among 23 major states in India.
• Apart from educational attainment, levels of economic development too play significant impacts on HDI.