United Nations Development Program recently released Human Development Report (HDR) 2020. 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.
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 (UNDP). HDI emphasizes that people and their capabilities should be the ultimate criteria for assessing the development of a country, not economic growth alone.
Norway topped the index in 2019, followed by Ireland and Switzerland. Hong Kong and Iceland complete the top five.
In the 2020 Report, Singapore is ranked 11, Saudi Arabia 40, and Malaysia is at 62 in the global index, representing the top bracket among the Asian countries with “Very High Human Development”. Sri Lanka with rank 72, Thailand is on 79, China on 85 and Indonesia and Philippines both ranking 107, and Vietnam at 117, among others, were “High Human Development” countries. India, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal, Cambodia, Kenya and Pakistan were ranked among countries with “Medium Human Development” with ranks between 120 and 156.
Some key findings regarding India were :-
- 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 Indians at birth was 69.7 years in 2019, slightly lower than the south Asian average of 69.9 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 has increased by about 273.9% between 1990 and 2019.
Other indicators for India were :-
- Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index IHDI value for 2019 is 0.537.
- Gender Development Index (GDI) measures disparities on the HDI by gender. GDI value for 2019 is 0.820.
- In the Gender Inequality Index, India is at 123rd rank. Last year, it was ranked 122nd out of 162 countries.
The report also suggests that indigenous children in Cambodia, India and Thailand show more malnutrition-related issues such as stunting and wasting. In India, different responses in parent behaviour as well as some disinvestment in girls’ health and education have led to higher malnutrition among girls than among boys as a consequence of shocks likely linked to climate change. Disasters continued to trigger most new displacements in 2020. Cyclone Amphan hit Bangladesh and India, driving the largest single displacement event in the first half of the year, triggering 3.3 million pre-emptive evacuations.
