(a) whether the Government has taken note of the findings of the 2010 Human
Development Report (HDR) which ranks India at 119th of the 169 countries reported on
Human Development Index;
(b) if so, the reaction of the Government in this regard;
(c) the salient features of the HDR, 2010 with respect to India;
(d) the details of India`s position in various indicators vis-a-vis other South Asian countries; and
(e) the measures proposed to be taken by the Government in this regard?
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF PLANNING, PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS, PERSONNEL PUBLIC
GRIEVANCES & PENSION(SHRI V. NARAYANASAMY)
(a) to (e): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.
STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (e) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 314
REGARDING “HUMAN DEVELOPMENT INDEX†BY SHRI GURUDAS DASGUPTA AND SHRI RUDRA MADHAB RAY DUE
FOR ANSWER ON 1st DECEMBER, 2010
(a) to (e): The Government is aware of the Human Development Report 2010 (HDR) released by the
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) recently. The HDR which ranks the countries by the
level of their human development measured by Human Development Index (HDI) is being published
annually since 1990. The HDI is based on three indicators, namely Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
per capita (in Purchasing Power Parity in US $), life expectancy at birth and education as
measured by adult literacy rate and gross enrolment ratio (combined for primary, secondary
and tertiary education). As per the “The Human Development Report, 2010â€, India has been
placed at 119th rank in HDI as compared to 134th rank in 2009. It has been clarified in the
report that International Data Agencies continuously improve their data series and update
the historical data, therefore, year to year changes in the HDI values and rankings across
editions of the Human Development Report often reflect changes. The HDR 2010 reveals that
India has registered a consistent improvement in HDI value which increased from 0.482 in
2005 to 0.519 in 2010. It is also reported that India has registered highest ever average
annual HDI growth rate of 1.66 percent during the decade 2000-2010.
The HDR 2010 has also introduced a new measure of poverty named Multidimensional Poverty
Index (MPI). This index replaces the Human Poverty Index (HPI) that was being reported in
the earlier HDRs since 1997. The MPI covers multidimensional deprivation suffered by the
poor broadly under heath, education and standard of living irrespective of income or
consumption expenditure levels which is different from the official poverty lines. Based
on these parameters Headcount Ratio of MPI for India has been estimated at 55.4 percent.
The comparative statement containing details of India’s position under various indicators
as compared to other South Asian Countries is at Annexure-I.
The Eleventh Five Year Plan adopted the strategy of promoting inclusive growth. The objective
is to achieve high growth rate with generation of more employment opportunities and
strengthening of social infrastructure such as public health and education. Further,
the implementation of flagship programmes like Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment
Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), Sarva Sikhsha Abhiyaan (SSA), Rural Drinking Water Supply and Total Sanitation Campaign, etc. along with maintaining
a high economic growth rate is expected to further improve India’s ranking in HDI.