(a) whether as per the Legatum Prosperity Index 2009, India is 45th prosperous country in the world, beating China which stood at 75th;
(b) if so, the details thereof; and
(c) the plan of the Government to capitalize on such positive report and move ahead on some of the indicators like health, education, etc. which show that India is still behind China?
MINISTER OF THE STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE), IN THE MINISTRY OF COAL STATISTICS & PROGRAMME IMPLEMENTATION
(SHRI SRIPRAKASH JAISWAL)
(a) Yes, Sir.
(b) The London based Legatum Institute constructed the “Legatum Prosperity Index†using 79
different variables organized into 9 sub-indices. These sub-indices relate to economic
fundamentals; entrepreneurship and innovation; democratic institutions; education; health;
safety and security; governance; personal freedom and social capital. All the sub-indices
have equal weightage and the overall index has been worked out by averaging the 9 sub-indices
scores. The overall index and its sub-indices have been worked out for 104 countries of the
world. Based on the scores of the overall index, the countries have been ranked. However,
ranking of the countries has also been made with respect to 9 sub-indices. The table below
gives the comparative rankings of India and China with respect to these 9 sub-indices:
Sub-Indices Country Ranking India China Economic Fundamentals 43 29 Entrepreneurship and Innovation 55 38 Democratic Institutions 36 100 Education 86 64 Health 88 53 Safety and Security 87 65 Governance 41 93 Personal Freedom 47 91 Social Capital 5 70 Overall Ranking 45 75