India moves up one rank to 129 in human development index

New Delhi, December 9

India climbed one spot to 129 among 189 countries in the 2019 human development index, according to a report released by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on Monday.

In 2018, India’s human development index (HDI) value of 0.647 had put it at 130 rank.

In India, 27.1 crore people were lifted out of poverty from 2005-06 to 2015-16, UNDP India resident representative Shoko Noda said while releasing the UNDP’s development report 2019 “Beyond income, beyond averages, beyond today: inequalities in human development in the 21st century”.

India’s development initiatives like the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (for financial inclusion) and Ayushman Bharat (for universal health care) were crucial in ensuring that “we meet our promise to leave no one behind and fulfil PM’s vision of development for all”, she said.

Noda said the steady progress of India was due to nearly three decades of rapid development, which had seen a dramatic reduction in absolute poverty, along with gains in life expectancy, education, and access to health care.

As per the HDI, no other region has experienced such rapid human development progress, she said.

South Asia was the fastest growing region witnessing 46 per cent growth during 1990-2018, followed by East Asia and the Pacific at 43 per cent.

“India’s HDI value increased by 50 per cent (from 0.431 to 0.647), which places it above the average for countries in the medium human development group (0.634) and above the average for other South Asian countries (0.642),” Noda said.

South Asia also saw the greatest leap in life expectancy and years of schooling. For India, between 1990 and 2018, life expectancy at birth increased by 11.6 years, mean years of schooling increased by 3.5 years and expected years of schooling increased by 4.7 years. Per capita incomes rose by over 250 per cent, according to the report.

Beyond these gains in basic standards and capabilities, however, the picture becomes more complex, Noda added.

According to the HDI report, the incidence of mult-dimensional poverty varies enormously across countries and is still high. Out of the 1.3 billion multi-dimensional poor, 661 million are in Asia and the Pacific, which shares almost half of the multi-dimensional poor living in 101 countries of the world.

South Asia alone shares more than 41 per cent of the total number of multi-dimensional poor. Despite India’s significant progress, it accounts for 28 per cent of the 1.3 billion multi-dimensional poor. — PTI

Improving indicators

• 50% increase (from 0.431 to 0.647) in HDI places — India above South Asian nations (0.642)
• 27.1 crore people lifted out of poverty from 2005-06 to 2015-16
• 11.6 years increase in life expectancy at birth between 1990 and 2018
• 4.7 years rise in expected years of schooling during the period
• 250per cent rise in per capita incomes, according to the UNDP report