Though India is among the top ten scorers in terms of economic growth, its performance on development goals remains abysmal, says a recently released United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) report. India lags behind neighbours like Pakistan, Maldives and Sri Lanka when it comes to the status of health, poverty and gender inequality.
India is ranked 119th among 169 countries in the latest edition of the Human Development Index (HDI), well below comparable emerging economies and even behind poorer neighbours such as Sri Lanka and the Maldives.
The HDI, released annually by the (UNDP), measures human development based on indicators such as health, education and income.
The report says Delhi’s rate of multi-dimensional poverty is close to that of Iraq and Vietnam, while that of Bihar is similar to that of Sierra Leone and Guinea.
About a third of other Indian households are multi-dimensionally poor, with an MPI just below that of Honduras.
While India stands at 10 in the top 10 movers in HDI in terms of improvement in income, it does not figure in the top 10 movers’ list on health and education.
In value terms, India moved to 0.519 from 0.512 last year. But its rank remains unchanged under a revised method of calculating the index.
On the Gender Inequality Index, which was launched this year, India is ranked 122nd out of 138 countries, based on 2008 data.
The report says 27% of adult women in India have a secondary or higher level of education, compared with 50% of men.
For every 100,000 live births, 450 women in India die from pregnancy-related causes, while the adolescent fertility rate is 68 births per 1,000 live births. Female participation in the labour market in India is 36% compared with 85% for men.
In India, 55% of the population already suffers multiple deprivations, while another 16% is vulnerable to it.
Though we are poised as an economic superpower, these statistics are not encouraging at all.