human development in india

1. Vishakha Vijayvargiya

2. Human development is increasingly viewed as the ultimate goal of development.
It has multiple dimensions such as life expectancy at birth, education, standard of
living, healthcare, inequalities, etc. and these can be improved and achieved with
the rapid economic growth.
The Human development is best measured by the United Nations Human
Development Index and the World’s Banks Human Capital Index. While, the
economic growth is measured by the Gross Domestic Product or gross national
product. However, there exists a strong correlation between Economic Growth and
Human Development as Economic Growth provides the necessary resources to
permit sustained improvements in Human Development.

3. •India today is among the largest economies of the world. However, according to the
United Nations Human Development Index report 2018, India ranks 130 out of 189
countries. The HDI 2018 highlighted some improvements such as increased life
expectancy at birth, increased enrollment in schools, etc. However, India’s gross
national income per capita also increased by a staggering 266.6 per cent between
1990 and 2017.
•According to the World Bank’s Global Human Capital Index 2019, India ranks 115th
out of 157 nations. The report also held that a child born in India is likely to be only
44% productive when (s)he grows up, if (s)he receives education and adequate
healthcare. So, This clearly states that the Indian economy has failed to provide a
trickle-down effect.

4.  Unequal Distribution of Wealth and Non-inclusive growth: In the last five years, only 1%
of the wealthiest in India increased their share in wealth of around 60% and the richest
10% in India own more than four times more wealth than the remaining 90%.
 This results in an uneven distribution of wealth across the various sections of the society and it
marks the prevalence of high inequality in the Indian socio-economic paradigm which led Non-
inclusive growth and low human development.
 Jobless growth: With increasing economic growth, the rate of growth of employment has
declined.
 According to NSSO, unemployment is India is highest in 45 years.
 With rising population and, consequently, the labour force, India will soon experience
demographic disaster rather than a demographic dividend.
 Also, according to ASSOCHAM, there is no deficiency of the adequate number of jobs, but the
majority of the labour force doesn’t have adequate skills required by the market.
 Dismal condition of Education and Health:
 On comparison with similarly placed emerging economies, India spends way too low in the
education and health sector.
 India spends 3% of GDP on education and 1.5% of GDP on health.

5.  Independent India retained the largely colonial superstructure of primary,
secondary, and tertiary education, which emphasis on rote learning and obsession
with marks in the exams.
 Consequently access, quality, and outcomes all are far lower than what anyone
would have desired.
 Dropouts are only one outcome of bad quality. Poor learning outcomes, low
employability of graduates, low productivity, and consequent low wages constitute
another set of outcomes.
 All these outcomes are reflected in the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER)
2018, which concluded that the quality of education is far from satisfactory.

6.  Even after many government schemes, both the infant mortality rate and the maternal
mortality rate remains high.
 There is a high prevalence of malnutrition in Indian children, reflected in a high
percentage of Child stunting, wasting and underweight.
 The neglect of women’s health, in particular, is striking.
 Apart from it, India features the highest deaths in the world due to air pollution.
 Also, there is a disconnect between the rate of technological growth and ability to
distribute the gains from it by adequately focusing on skilling (via knowledge,
education) and health, which is critical for greater resilience and sustained
productivity.
 Though the government has initiated many schemes for enhancing human capital
i.e. Skill India, Digital India, Startup India, Ayushman Bharat. However, the results
are not yet promising.

7.  The government needs to increase public expenditure on health and education as
envisaged by National health policy 2017 (2.5% of GDP) and Draft education policy
2019 (6% of GDP).
 Apart from holistic reforms in education, Right to Education must be accompanied by
Right to Learning.
 Promotion of Primary health centre under Ayushman Bharat, which focuses on
preventive healthcare is a step in the right direction.
 The government should also focus on promoting labour-intensive sectors such as gems
and jewellery, textiles and garments and leather goods.
 Skill framework in India needs to integrate with industries, so as to increase the
employability of the Indian labour force.
 The government should make efforts to curb digital divide, as it creates and
reproduces socio-economic backwardness.
 Human development and economic growth share a cause and effect to each other
relationship. Therefore, without investing in Human capital and addressing current
economic slowdown, the goal to becoming a $5 trillion economy, will remain a pipe
dream for India.

8.  India has been ranked at the 116th position in the HCI 2020.
 Human Capital: It consists of the knowledge, skills, and health that people
accumulate over their lives, enabling them to realize their potential as productive
members of society.
 Parameters Used in HCI: The HCI 2020 includes health and education data of
children for 174 countries up to March 2020. Thus providing a pre-pandemic baseline.
 It covers 98% of the world’s population.
 Outcome: The HCI 2020 shows that pre-pandemic, most countries had made steady
progress in building human capital of children, with the biggest strides made in low-
income countries.
 However, despite this progress, a child born in a typical country could expect to achieve just
56% of their potential human capital, relative to a benchmark of complete education and full
health.

9.  Pandemic Effect: The pandemic puts at risk the decade’s progress in building
human capital, including the improvements in health, survival rates, school
enrollment, and reduced stunting.
 More than 1 billion children have been out of school and could lose out, on average, half
a year of schooling.
 It has created significant disruptions to essential health services for women and
children, with many children missing out on crucial vaccinations.
 It has increased income inequality, its economic impact has been particularly deep for
women and for the most disadvantaged families, leaving many vulnerable to food
insecurity and poverty.

10.  Last year India was ranked 115 out of 157 countries. This year India finds itself at 116th from
among 174 countries. However, India’s score increased to 0.49 in 2020 from 0.44 in 2018.
 Recent Initiatives by India to Strengthen Human Capital:
 Ayushman Bharat Yojana
 National Education Policy
 Atmanirbhar Bharat Yojana
 TULIP: The Urban Learning Internship Program
 Samagra Shiksha
 Other Reports Published by World Bank:
 Global Economic Prospects
 Ease of Doing Business
 World Development Report

11.  The HCI provides a basis on which the government of India can prioritize and a
dimension to support human capital.
 The World Bank is working with India on supporting livelihood for the poor. Given
the progress that has been made in recent times, it seems more significant for now
due to Covid-19.
 Protecting and investing in people is vital as countries work to lay the foundation
for sustainable, inclusive recoveries and future growth.