HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

FODDER MATERIAL

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Contents
1 Meaning of Human Development ..........................................................................................................2
2 Approaches to Human Development .....................................................................................................3
2.1 Equity ..............................................................................................................................................4
2.2 Efficiency and Productivity..............................................................................................................4
2.3 Participation and Empowerment ....................................................................................................4
2.4 Sustainability ...................................................................................................................................5
2.5 Capability Approach to Human Development ................................................................................5
3 Measurement and Indices of Human Development ..............................................................................6
4 The Dimensions of Human Development ..............................................................................................6
4.1 Education: Human Capital and Human Capability ..........................................................................6
4.2 Health and Human Development ...................................................................................................8
4.3 Gender and Human Development ..................................................................................................9
5 Human Development: Policy Perspectives ..........................................................................................12
6 Status of Human Development in India ...............................................................................................13
7 Reasons for Low Human Development in India ...................................................................................15
8 How to Ensure Human Development in India? ....................................................................................16
8.1 Social Protection ...........................................................................................................................17
8.2 School Education ...........................................................................................................................17
8.3 Higher Education ...........................................................................................................................19
8.4 Skill Development .........................................................................................................................20
8.5 Healthcare .....................................................................................................................................20

1 Meaning of Human Development

Human development aims to enrich people’s lives by widening their choices. Through investing in people,
in terms of education, health, safety, and so on, this discipline attempts to build human capability.
Capability is basically what people are actually able to do and to be. Equality, sustainability, productivity,
and empowerment are the four pillars of human development. This approach emphasizes the belief that
though economic growth is essential, its quality and distribution determine the extent to which it
enriches people’s lives in a sustainable manner. The attempt is to create an environment in which people
can enjoy long, healthy, and creative lives. The idea of human development is also linked with the
concepts of rights, liberty and justice.

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Seeing humans as ends of development process was not the sole purview of human development
paradigm. The UN Declaration on Human Rights (1948) put forward that all humans should be free and
equal in dignity and rights, such as the right to work, the right to education, the right to health, the right
to vote, the right to non discrimination, the right to decent standard of living etc. It was written in the
hope that the atrocities committed during the Second World War would never be repeated again. There
are significant connections between human rights approach and that of human development and
capability. According to the Human Development Report (2000), “Human Rights and Human
Development share a common vision and a common purpose – to secure freedom, well being and
dignity of all people everywhere”. A human right is claimed to be a fundamental benefit that should be
enjoyed universally by all people everywhere on the basis of equality and non-discrimination.

The evolution of the concept of human development can be traced to the writings of renowned thinkers
and philosophers of ancient times. Aristotle, the great philosopher reflected in his writing that “wealth is
not the good that we are seeking for; it is merely for the sake of something else”. Another great
philosopher, Immanuel Kant argues that human beings are ends in themselves, rather than the means
to other ends. Adam Smith, Robert Malthus, Karl Marx, John Stuart Mill, and many other modern
economists have also come forward with the similar idea of treating human beings as the real end of all
activities. However the undeniable reality is that human beings are the beneficiaries of progress, and, at
the same time, they are directly or indirectly, the primary means of production. Thus, human beings are
the means through which a productive progress is brought about.

Human Development has been accepted in development economics literature as

• An expansion of human capabilities

• A widening of choices
• An enhancement of freedoms
• A fulfillment of human rights

2 Approaches to Human Development

The human development approach is inherently multidimensional. The central goal of human
development is to enable people to become direct agents in their own lives. People are not passive
objects of social welfare provisions but are active subjects with the power to determine how they choose
to live. They should be empowered so that they can define their respective priorities, as well as choose
the best means to achieve them. Thus, agency and expansion of freedom go hand in hand. In order to
be agents of their own lives, people need the freedom to be educated, to speak in public without fear, or
have freedom of expression and association.

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The four main pillars of human development are

• equity
• efficiency and productivity
• participation and empowerment
• sustainability

2.1 Equity
The principle of equity encompasses the ideal of equality whereby all human beings should have equal
rights and entitlements to human, social, economic, and cultural development, and an equal voice in
civic and political life. It also recognizes that those who have unequal opportunities due to various
disadvantages may require preferential treatment, or affirmative action. For example, the utility derived
from same levels of income or investment will vary for different individuals, depending upon their
personal attributes, initial endowments or conversion factors, which facilitate transformation of inputs
into outcomes. Since the opportunities available to different sections of society vary, ensuring that the
sections deprived of basic opportunities such as health and education are provided access to these
benefits, is the goal of equality. Thus, equity aims at equality, not only of economic resources, but of
education, health, employment opportunities, democratic participation, etc, too. Realization of the goal
of equal opportunities leads to equity outcomes.

2.2 Efficiency and Productivity

Efficiency is defined as the least costly method of reaching goals through the optimal use of human,
material, and institutional resources to maximize opportunities for individuals and communities,
thereby enhancing productivity. Efficient use of scarce national resources leads, for instance, to the
building of infrastructure like roads and dams, which in turn lead to better outcomes for human beings.
Productivity can be enhanced through efficient use of resources. It also requires investment in people
and enabling macroeconomic environment for them to achieve their maximum potential. For human
development, people must be enabled to increase their productivity and to participate fully in the process
of maximizing opportunities so that they become effective agents of growth.

2.3 Participation and Empowerment

Participation and engagement in social and political life is an important aspect of human development.
People’s participation is crucial in community programmes and government interventions. Mobilization
of grassroots support through decentralization in planning will increase people’s participation in
decision making because it brings government closer to people. Participation also enables people to seek
answers from authorities and can go a long way in improving the quality of social service delivery. It
pressurizes local authorities to take swift remedial action in situations where gaps or shortfalls are

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identified in the functioning of institutions. Empowerment can occur through enhanced participation and
involvement. For instance, reservations of women in various elected bodies are made to empower them
through such participation. Involvement of parents, guardians and/or communities in village education
committees is another example.

2.4 Sustainability
Human development questions the long-term sustainability of economic growth and aims to ensure that
resources are utilized in a manner that meets present day human needs while preserving the
environment, so that the needs of future generations can also be met with. Hence, use of resources
without degrading the environment is essential to ensure that the improvements made are not
temporary in nature and have the potential for future growth as well. For instance, if the development
process does not create institutions that are supportive of people’s rights, it cannot be sustainable in the
long run.

2.5 Capability Approach to Human Development

The human development approach has been profoundly inspired by Amartya Sen’s pioneering works in
welfare economics, social choice, poverty, and famine and development economics. While Sen’s works
cover an extremely wide range of topics, his ‘capability approach’ has led to a critical evolution in the
field of economics, and in social sciences in general. The roots of the capability approach go back to
Aristotle, Adam Smith, and Karl Marx. Aristotle made extensive use of his own analysis of human beings
and linked it with his examination of the functions of man. Adam Smith and Karl Marx discussed the
importance of ‘functionings’ and ‘capability’ as determinants of wellbeing.

If life is a set of doings and beings that are valuable, the exercise of assessing the quality of life takes
the form of evaluating these functionings and the capability to function.

But, what actually are ‘capability’ and ‘functioning’?

According to Amartya Sen, “Capability is a vector of functionings, reflecting the person’s freedom to lead
one type of life or another….to choose from possible livings”. In other words, capabilities are the
substantive freedoms he, or she, enjoys to lead the kind of life he, or she, has reason to value. Just as a
person with a pocket full of coins can buy many different things, a person with many capabilities can
enjoy many different activities, and pursue different life paths.

Functionings are valuable activities and states that constitute people’s well being such as healthy body,
being safe, being educated, and so on. Functioning is, thus, an achievement of a person: what he or she
manages to do, or, to be. For example, when people’s basic need for food is met, they enjoy the
functioning of being well nourished.

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Apart from capability and functioning, the third core concept of the capability approach is “agency”. It
refers to a person’s ability to pursue and realize goals he, or she, has reason to value.

However, Martha Nussbaum argues that Sen’s ‘Capability Approach’ is incomplete. Since what people
consider to be valuable and relevant can often be the product of structures of inequality and
discrimination, and because not all human freedoms are equally valuable – for example, the freedom to
pollute is not of equal value to the freedom to care for the environment - she argues that one needs to
overcome these limitations, and to go beyond this ambiguity, so that equal freedom for all can be
respected. In this context she has proposed a list of ten central human capabilities which constitute the
evaluative space for public policy.

The capability approach advocates the removal of obstacles in people’s lives, increasing their freedom
to achieve the functioning that they value. It recommends progressive social policies which would foster
the development of human capabilities, such as improved health, knowledge, skills and also ensure
equitable access to human opportunities.

3 Measurement and Indices of Human Development

(This has already been covered in Chapter on MEASUREMENT OF GROWTH: NATIONAL INCOME & PER
CAPITA INCOME)

4 The Dimensions of Human Development

After studying the meaning and measurement of Human Development, it is important now to study
various dimensions of human development. This section covers dimensions of human development.
Broadly, the main dimensions are: (i) education; (ii) health; and (iii) gender.

4.1 Education: Human Capital and Human Capability

Comparing human capital, as given by Gary S. Becker, Theodore Schultz, with the capability approach,
Sen argues that education as a human capital concentrates on the agency of human beings, through skill
and knowledge as well as effort, in augmenting production possibilities.

The capability approach to education focuses on the ability of human beings to lead lives they have
reason to value, and to enhance the substantive choices they have. Both approaches are connected
because they both are concerned with the role of human beings, and in particular, with the actual abilities
that they achieve and acquire. Consider the following example: if education makes a person more
efficient in commodity production, then there is clearly an enhancement of human capital. This can add

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to the value of production in the economy, and to the income of the person who has been educated.
But, even with the same level of income, a person may benefit from education in reading, communicating,
arguing, being able to choose in a more informed way, being taken seriously by others, and so on.

The benefits of education, thus, exceed its role as human capital in commodity production. The broader
human capability perspective would add these roles. Thus, the human capital perspective fits into the
broader human capability perspective, which covers the direct, as well as indirect, consequences of
human abilities.

Amartya Sen has identified three distinct ways to link the importance of education to the expansion of
valuable capabilities.

First, education fulfills an instrumental social role. For example, literacy fosters public debate and
dialogue about social and political arrangements.

Second, education also has an instrumental process role in facilitating our capacity to participate in the
decision making process in the household, and at the community, or national level.

Finally, education has an empowering and distributive role in facilitating the ability of disadvantaged,
marginalized, and excluded groups to organize themselves politically, since, without education, these
groups would be unable to gain access to centers of power, and affect redistribution of resources.

Overall, education has an interpersonal impact because people are able to use the benefits of education
to help others as well as themselves, and can contribute to democratic freedoms, and to the overall
good of society as a whole. International declarations such as the Millennium Development Goals,
Education for All, and the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development, attempt to look at education
beyond simple human capital concerns. The human development perspective, thus, considers the
purpose of education to be much wider than simply developing skills that will enhance economic
growth. Education nurtures the processes of critical reflection and connection with others that are
intrinsically ethical.

Education brings empowerment, and it is central to human growth. Not only does it open the minds of
people and further their horizons, it also opens the way for people to acquire other valuable capabilities.
The human development reports take into account the central importance of education by incorporating
an education indicator – literacy rates – into the first Human Development Index, later versions include
education indicators based on enrollment rates.

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4.2 Health and Human Development
The conventional approach argues that health, through its contribution to the quality of human capital,
has a strong, and significant effect on economic growth. This approach puts economic growth as an end,
and health as a means to achieving this end. The reverse is also argued, where wealth is seen as a
necessary input for the achievement of health outcomes. However, these approaches lead to the critical
question of whether economic growth is necessary for improving health.

Amartya Sen, by quoting the examples of pre-reform China, Sri Lanka, and Kerala (India), describes that
improvement in health (without economic growth) can be attained by prioritizing social services
especially health care, and basic education. He says that “health is among the most important conditions
of human life, and a critically significant constituent of human capabilities which we have reason to value.
In addition to its intrinsic value, health is instrumental to economic growth, educational achievements
and cognitive development, employment opportunities, income earning potential as well as for dignity,
safety, security and empowerment”.

Considerable empirical evidence supports the capability approach in substantiating the importance of
conversion factors in translating health inputs to valued health outputs. One clear example of a
conversion factor in health is education. Numerous studies have demonstrated that educated individuals
tend to have lower mortality and morbidity than less educated counterparts. In addition, children of
educated mothers fare better in terms of health than those with less education. Yet another conversion
factor is the authority an individual has within their household, or community, to assess or convert, a
particular resource into a value added health outcome. For example, the unequal rights to property,
unequal access to economic assets, restrictions on physical mobility, especially in the case of women,
hamper their health situation. Thus, conversion factors include a number of external conditions, the
natural and manmade environment in which we operate, the formal and informal rules and regulations
to which we subscribe, social and family dynamics that determine our daily lives, and so on.

A basic principle of public health is that all people have a right to health. Differences in the incidence and
prevalence of health conditions and health status between groups are commonly referred to as health
disparities. Most health disparities affect groups that are marginalized because of socioeconomic status,
race or ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, disability, geographic location, or some combination of
these. People in these groups not only experience worse health, they also tend to have less access to the
‘social determinants’ or conditions (e.g., healthy food, good housing, good education, safe
neighborhoods, freedom from racism, and other forms of discrimination) that support a healthy life.
Health disparities are referred to as health inequities when they are the result of the systematic and
unjust distribution of these critical conditions. According to WHO, health equity, is experienced when

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everyone has the opportunity to “attain their full health potential” and no one is “disadvantaged from
achieving this potential because of their social position or other socially determined circumstance.”

Health is, thus, a fundamental capability which is instrumental in the achievement of other capabilities.

The unfair distribution of health capabilities may affect social justice in several ways. For example, high
maternal undernutrition, leads to intra-uterine growth retardation, which leads to a high prevalence of
low birth weight babies. This phenomenon contributes to a high prevalence of child undernutrition and
adult ailments. Thus, women’s deprivation in terms of nutrition and health attainment has serious
repercussions for society as a whole.

Deprivation in health can cause deprivation in a number of other dimensions such as education,
employment, and participation in social spheres. When people are ill or malnourished, their overall
capabilities are greatly reduced. Lack of good health can, therefore, be at the heart of interlocking
deprivations. The 2005 WHO Report finds a close link between chronic diseases and poverty. Poor health
is not just suffering from illness. For those living in poverty, it pushes individuals and households towards
losses in productivity, incomes, assets, and education further entrenching the cycle of poverty. Health
deprivations, thus, reinforce deprivations in other dimensions, which in turn reinforce deprivations in
health.

4.3 Gender and Human Development

In no society do women enjoy the same opportunities as men. A widespread pattern of inequality persists
among men and women in their access to education, health, and nutrition, and even more, in their
participation in the economic and political spheres.

Amartya Sen has identified seven different types of gender inequalities presently existing in this world.

1) Mortality inequality: In some regions in the world, inequality between women and men directly
involves matters of life and death, and takes the brutal form of unusually high mortality rates of
women, and a consequent preponderance of men in the total population, as opposed to the
preponderance of women found in societies with little, or no gender bias in health care and nutrition.
Mortality inequality has been observed extensively in North Africa, and in Asia, including China, and
South Asia.
2) Natality inequality: Given the preference for boys over girls that many male dominated societies have,
gender inequality can manifest itself in the form of the parents wanting the newborn to be a boy
rather than a girl. There was a time when this could be no more than a wish, but with the availability
of modern medical techniques to determine the gender of the foetus, sex-selective abortion has
become common in many countries. It is particularly prevalent in East Asia, in China and South Korea

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 in particular, but also in Singapore and Taiwan, and it is beginning to emerge as a statistically
significant phenomenon in India and South Asia as well. This is high tech sexism. Sen coined the term,
‘missing women’, to describe the phenomena of sex ratio imbalances. Sex ratios were viewed as a
composite indicator of the status of women in any society by the Committee on the Status of Women
in India (CSWI) in its report, “Towards Equality”, in 1974.
3) Basic facility inequality: Even when demographic characteristics do not show much or any anti-female
bias, there are other ways in which women can have less than a fair deal. Afghanistan may be the only
country in the world where the government is keen on actively excluding girls from schooling (it
combines this with other features of massive gender inequality), but there are many countries in Asia,
Africa, and in Latin America, where girls have far less opportunity for schooling than boys. There are
other deficiencies in basic facilities available to women, varying from encouragement to cultivate
one’s natural talents, to fair participation in the social functions of their communities.
4) Special opportunity inequality: Even when there is relatively little difference in basic facilities,
including schooling, the opportunities for higher education may be far fewer for young women than
for young men. Indeed, gender bias in higher education and professional training is observed even in
some of the richest countries in the world, in Europe, and North America.
5) Professional inequality: In terms of employment, as well as in promotions at work, women often face
greater handicaps than men. A country like Japan may be egalitarian in matters of demography, or
basic facilities, and even, largely, in higher education, and yet, progress to elevated levels of
employment and occupation seems to be much more problematic for women than for men.
6) Ownership inequality: In many societies, the ownership of property can also be very unequal. Even
basic assets, such as homes and land, may be asymmetrically shared. The absence of claims to
property can not only reduce the voice of women, but also make it harder for women to enter and
flourish in commercial, economic, and even some social activities. This type of inequality exists in most
parts of the world, with local variations. For example, even though traditional property rights have
favoured men in most of India, in the state of Kerala, there has been, for a long time, matrilineal
inheritance for an influential part of the community, namely the Nairs.
7) Household inequality: Often enough, there are basic inequalities in gender relations within the family,
or the household, which can take many different forms. Even in cases in which there are no overt signs
of anti-female bias in, say, survival, or son-preference, or education, or even in promotion to higher
executive positions, the family arrangements can be quite unequal in terms of sharing the burden of
housework and child care. For example, it is common in many societies to take it for granted that while
men will work outside the home, their women could work too, if, and only if, they combine work with
various inescapable, and unequally shared household duties.

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This unequal status leaves considerable disparities between how much women contribute to human
development, and how they share its benefits.

The human development approach challenges the development models which measure benefits in purely
economic terms, and which are based on the old trickle down theory. According to the trickle down
theory, the benefits that are fed into the top of social structures, or community organizations, trickle
down to everyone in the community. But, as the relationships within the community and the household
are not egalitarian, but are governed by power and status, we cannot assume community development
will benefit all the people within the community. Within the household, women do not have equal rights
with men, and the benefits at the household level are seldom shared equally between males and females.
However, the lower status of women in many of the countries is linked to women’s inadequate command
over assets, which translates into systematically lower access to community governance, health and
education facilities, as well as less than optimal participation in economic decision-making. The exclusion
of women from the sphere of public decision-making, weak intra-household bargaining power, and a lack
of the kind of kin support that men have within their villages after marriage are also other factors which
contribute to women’s low status in the society. In a household, it is inevitable that both men and women
have to make decisions in the various domains of economic activities within which labour, and resource
allocations are made. A person’s bargaining strength within the family depends on his, or her, ownership
of, and control over assets, access to employment, and other means of earning an income, support from
NGOs, support from the state, social perceptions about needs, contributions, and other determinants of
deservedness, as well as social norms. The dominance of patriarchal relations in the market sphere, which
extend to credit access, can also adversely affect the efforts of women to improve their relative bargaining
strength

The human development approach is sensitive to aspects of discrimination that are particularly important
in women’s lives, but are unrelated to income and economic growth, such as lack of autonomy in decisions
about their lives and the ability to influence decision-making within the family, community, and nation.
The human development approach also has the scope to delve into complex issues, such as the unequal
sharing of unpaid work that constrain women’s life choices. Given the constraints on women’s agency in
almost all societies by political institutions such as male-dominated political parties, social institutions
such as the family, and social norms such as women’s responsibilities for care work, these issues and their
underlying causes clearly must be tackled. Gender analysis has kept the approach vibrant, contributing
particularly to the development of its agency aspects.

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5 Human Development: Policy Perspectives
The human development approach is a ’robust paradigm’ that can be used over time and across
countries as development challenges and priorities shift. In the context of the current challenges that face
most countries today, five elements of a general human development agenda are proposed (Fukuda
Parr, 2003). They constitute what might be called a ‘New York Consensus’, as these points are reflected
in many UN agreements

1) Priority to ‘‘social development’’ with the goals of expanding education and health opportunities.

2) Economic growth that generates resources for human development in its many dimensions.

3) Political and social reforms for democratic governance that secure human rights, so that people can
live in freedom and dignity, with greater collective agency, participation, and autonomy.

4) Equity in the above three elements with a concern for all individuals, with special attention to the
downtrodden and the poor whose interests are often neglected in public policy, as well as the removal
of discrimination against women.

5) Policy and institutional reforms at the global level that create an economic environment more
conducive for poor countries to access global markets, technology, and information.

This five-point agenda contains a mix of old and new priorities.

Social development continues to be important, given that illiteracy is still high, and basic health and
survival is far from guaranteed in most developing countries.

Economic growth also continues to receive attention, since low growth in developing countries is a
major obstacle to human development: over sixty countries ended the decade of 1990 – 2000 poorer
than at its beginning.

At the same time, the human development approach has seen a notable evolution. In the early 1990s,
the HDRs emphasized public expenditure allocations in health and education. Today, priorities in those
areas are on service quality, efficiency, and equity of delivery (for which governance reforms are often a
precondition), as well as on the level of resources. In education, today’s competitive global markets
require higher levels than basic primary schooling. Institutional reforms that enable the poor to monitor
the use of local development funds also play a significant role in ensuring the equitable and efficient
delivery of basic services. Most importantly, the HDRs have placed an increasing focus on social and
political institutions that would empower the poor, and disadvantaged groups (such as women), so that
they have more voice in public policy-making, and can fight for their interests. Another critical question,

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now, is how global institutions can be restructured, or created to function on democratic principles
mandating the inclusion and participation of all countries, and of all people. For example, what the state
could do to expand capabilities in education and health constituted an important pillar of a human
development strategy, for both the intrinsic and the instrumental values of education and health.

The changes in the human development approach over time highlight its openness to accommodating
new concerns, and taking up new policy challenges. The HDRs have reflected these changing
circumstances, and they have shifted emphasis in the policy priorities of the human development agenda
from public investments to incentives, from economic measures to democratic politics, from education
and health to political and civil liberties, and from economic and social policies to participatory political
institutions. They also recognize that people’s capabilities to undertake collective action in today’s era of
rapid globalization will play an increasingly important role in shaping the course of development. It is not
surprising that, in 1990, advocacy for human development focused on shifts in planning priorities, and on
state action.

6 Status of Human Development in India

India’s rank in the Human Development Index (HDI) improved to 129 in 2018 from 130 in 2017, out of a
total of 189 countries. The value of HDI for India reached to 0.647 in 2018.

Sri Lanka (71) and China (85) were higher up the rank scale. Bhutan (134), Bangladesh (135), Myanmar
(145), Nepal (147), Pakistan (152) and Afghanistan (170) were ranked lower on the list.

The Human Development Report published by the United Nations Development Programme
estimates the HDI in terms of three basic parameters: to live a long and healthy life, to be educated
and knowledgeable, and to enjoy a decent economic standard of living.
With 1.34 per cent average annual HDI growth, India is among the fastest improving countries, and
ahead of China (0.95), South Africa (0.78), Russian Fedreation (0.69) and Brazil (0.59).

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Average annual HDI growth rate during 2010-2018 (per cent)

Between 1990 and 2018, India’s HDI value increased from 0.431 to 0.647, an increase of 50.0 percent.

Between 1990 and 2018, India’s 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. India’s GNI per capita
increased by about 262.9 percent between 1990 and 2018.

Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index indicates percentage loss in HDI due to inequality.
India’s position worsened by one position to 130 (as compared to the HDI Index 2019- 129) with a score
of 0.477. Although, the IHDI score has improved from 0.468 in 2018.

Gender Development Index measures disparities on the HDI by gender. India is only marginally better
than the South Asian average on the Gender Development Index (0.829 vs 0.828).

Gender Inequality Index presents a composite measure of gender inequality using three dimensions: 1.
Reproductive health 2. Empowerment 3. Labour market. In GII, India is at 122 out of 162 countries.
Neighbours China (39), Sri Lanka (86), Bhutan (99), Myanmar (106) were placed above India.

Multidimensional Poverty Index captures the multiple deprivations that people in developing countries
face in their health, education and standard of living. India accounts for 28% of the 1.3 billion
multidimensional poor.

The Subnational Human Development Index (SHDI) for different States for the period 1990 and 2017,
released by UNDP show that all States have shown significant improvement in levels of human
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development. The minimum SHDI for year 2017 is more than maximum SHDI for year 1990 across all
States

The 2017 HDI scores indicate that the States like Kerala, Goa, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab occupy the
top four positions while the States like Bihar, UP and MP are at the bottom of the rankings. The States
which were the worst-performing ones in HDI during 1990s are presently doing well in the social
parameters. The region-wise trend of HDI scores suggests that most Southern and Northern States have
performed much better as compared to their Eastern counterparts who have registered poor
performance in SHDIs.

7 Reasons for Low Human Development in India

For India, development is a mixed bag of opportunities as well as neglect and deprivations. There are
several socio-political, economic and historical reasons for such a state of affairs.

There are a few areas like the metropolitan centres and other developed enclaves that have all the
modern facilities available to a small section of its population. At the other extreme of it, there are large
rural areas and the slums in the urban areas that do not have basic amenities like potable water,
education and health infrastructure available to majority of this population.

The situation is more alarming if one looks at the distribution of the development opportunities among
different sections of our society. It is a well-established fact that majority of the scheduled castes,
scheduled tribes, landless agricultural labourers, poor farmers and slums dwellers, etc. are the most
marginalised lot.

A large segment of female population is the worst sufferers among all. It is also equally true that the
relative as well as absolute conditions of the majority of these marginalised sections have worsened
with the development happening over the years. Consequently, vast majority of people are compelled to
live under abject poverty and subhuman conditions. In a hugely patriarchal country like India, one cannot
expect India to score high on gender equality. India Gender Development Index is not surprisingly lower
than the average. High maternal mortality ratio, low income per capita for females and low labour force
participation rate are witnessed in India.

Kerala is able to record the highest value in the HDI largely due to its impressive performance in achieving
near hundred per cent literacy. In a different scenario the states like Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha,
Assam and Uttar Pradesh have very low literacy. States showing higher total literacy rates have less gaps
between the male and female literacy rates.

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Apart from the educational attainment, the levels of economic development too play significant impacts
on HDI. Economically developed states like Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Punjab and Haryana have
higher value of HDI as compared to states like Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, etc.

Regional distortions and social disparities which developed during the colonial period continue to play
an important role in the Indian economy, polity and society.

Based on the pre-tax income share of the top 10 per cent, income inequality in India has risen from 31
per cent in 1980 to 55 per cent in 2016. In India the income growth of the bottom 40 per cent between
2000 and 2018 (58 per cent) was significantly below the average income growth for the entire population
(122 per cent). Such income inequalities amplify failings on other HDI indices of human development.
Intergenerational income mobility is lower in countries with high income inequality: it manifests at birth,
and determines access to quality healthcare, education, and opportunities. The cumulative impact of this
spills over across generations. The loss in human development due to regional inequality is expressed by
the difference between the HDI and inequality adjusted HDI or IHDI. As inequality increases, loss to
human development also increases.

India has shown an improvement in overall life expectancy by 10.4 years between 1990 and 2015 and
there has been a modest gain in infant and under 5 mortality rate. But when the public health expenditure
is as low at 1.4 per cent of the GDP, it is difficult to achieve the goal towards universal healthcare.

The Government of India has made concerted efforts to institutionalise the balanced development with
its main focus on social distributive justice through planned development. It has made significant
achievements in most of the fields but, these are still below the desired level.

8 How to Ensure Human Development in India?

To sustain the momentum in growth of human development and to further accelerate it, the role of
public sector in delivery of social services such as education and health is critical.

Some observations from UNDP’s Human Development Report (2016):

• The report does offer kudos to the Indian government’s reservation policy for increasing social
inclusion. It says that though the programme has not remedied caste based exclusion, it has had
positive effects. In 1965, Dalits held fewer than 2 per cent senior service positions but the share went
up to 11 per cent by 2011.

• The report notes that India’s social audits, in which mechanisms and implementation problems of
social programmes are gathered and then presented for discussion in a public meeting, are helping in
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 bringing about transparency. These have become popular thanks to the work of the Indian grassroots
group Mazdoor Kisaan Shakti Sangathana.

• The report praises NREG for creating work that can reduce poverty and also build physical assets and
infrastructure to protect the poor against shocks.

• It also praises India’s rights based approach to development since 2005 in which progressive acts for
the right to socio economic entitlement, including information, work, education, forest
conservation, food and public service were introduced. These are designed to introduce innovative
governance mechanisms that seek to enhance transparency, responsiveness and accountability of
the state.

8.1 Social Protection

1. Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana, 2015: Accident insurance scheme, offers a one-year
accidental death and disability cover. Annual premium is Rs 12. Available to people in the age group
18 to 70 years.
2. Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana, 2015: Government-backed life insurance scheme. Annual
premium is Rs 330. Available to people between 18 and 50 years of age.
3. Atal Pension Yojana, 2015: Pension scheme targeted at the unorganized sector.
4. Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, 2016: A Crop Insurance Scheme. Replaces the existing two
schemes National Agricultural Insurance Scheme as well as the Modified NAIS.
5. Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana, 2018: Pension Scheme exclusively for the senior citizens aged
60 years and above.
6. Atal Bimit Vyakti Kalyan Yojana, 2018: For Insured Persons (IP) covered under the Employees’ State
Insurance Act, 1948. Relief payable in cash in case of unemployment and while they search for new
engagement.
7. Pradhan Mantri Rojgar Protsahan Yojana: 12 per cent of employer contribution to EPFO of the new
employees’ drawing salary upto Rs 15000 pm is given by government for the initial three years.
8. PM Shram-Yogi Mandhan Yojana, 2019: Offers every individual with a regular pension after they
attain 60 years. Beneficiaries in unorganized sector workers.
9. PM-KISAN, 2019: Offers income support of Rs 6000/- per annum in three equal instalments to all
eligible farmers irrespective of land holdings.

8.2 School Education

1. Samagra Shiksha: A comprehensive programme subsuming Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), Rashtriya
Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) and Teacher Education (TE). For first time, it also includes

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 provisions for support at pre-school level, library grants and grants for sports and physical equipment.
The vision of the Scheme is to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education from pre-school to
senior secondary stage in accordance with the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) for Education
(SDG-4).
2. Swayam platform offers 10 courses of Diploma in Elementary Education ([Link]) and more than 13
lakh unqualified teachers have enrolled for this diploma.
3. UDISE+, an updated online real time version of UDISE (Unified District Information on School
Education) has been launched with three additional features – GIS mapping, data verification through
third-party mobile application and data analytics.
4. PGI, Ministry of Human Resource Development has launched a 70-point Performance Grading Index
(PGI) to assess areas of deficiency in each state’s school education system so that targeted
interventions can be made at every level from pedagogy to teacher training.
5. ICT driven initiatives: Shaala Sidhi (to enable all schools to self-evaluate their performance), e-
Pathshala (providing digital resources such as textbooks, audio, video, periodicals etc.) and Saransh
(an initiative of CBSE for schools to conduct self-review exercises).
6. To further focus on quality education, the Central RTE Rules have been amended to include reference
on class-wise and subject-wise Learning Outcomes. The Learning Outcomes for each class in
Languages (Hindi, English and Urdu), Mathematics, Environmental Studies, Science and Social Science
up to the elementary stage have, accordingly, been finalized and shared with all States/UTs. These
would serve as a guidelines for States and UTs to ensure that all children acquire appropriate learning
level. The RTE Act, 2009 was amended in 2017 to ensure that all teachers acquire the minimum
qualifications prescribed under the Act by 31st March, 2019 to reinforce the Government’s emphasis
on improvement of quality of elementary education.
7. The Navodaya Vidyalaya Scheme provides for opening of one Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya (JNV) in
each district of the country to bring out the best of rural talent. Its significance lies in the selection of
talented rural children as the target group and aims to provide them quality education comparable to
the best in a residential school system.
8. A National Mission called NISHTHA – National Initiative for School Heads’ and Teachers’ Holistic
Advancement under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Samagra Shiksha in 2019-20 is being
launched to improve learning outcomes at the elementary level. The Integrated Teacher Training
Programme envisages to build the capacities of around 42 lakh teachers and head of schools, faculty
members of SCERTs, DIETs, Block Resource Coordinators, and Cluster Resource Coordinators. The aim
of this training is to motivate and equip teachers to encourage and foster critical thinking in students,
handle diverse situations and act as first level counsellors.

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9. Promoting joyful learning through cultural activities including art, music, dance and theatre is playing
a very critical role in a student’s life and school activities. The National Curriculum Framework
emphasized the importance of such activities and how they helped to enhance learning.
10. Pradhan Mantri Innovative Learning Program (DHRUV) was launched to identify and encourage
talented students to enrich their skills and knowledge.
11. To broadbase technology aided teaching and learning, States and UTs are being actively involved to
contribute and use the Digital Infrastructure for Knowledge Sharing (DIKSHA) platform. Steps are also
being taken to improve the quality and diversify the nature of e-content on DIKSHA. Other e-content
sites like e-pathsala, National Repository of Open Educational Resources (NROER) are also being
integrated with DIKSHA to ensure easy access.

8.3 Higher Education

1. The government launched Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya National Mission on Teachers and
Teaching (PMMMNMTT) which aims at building a strong professional cadre of teachers by setting
performance standards and creating top class institutional facilities for innovative teaching and
professional development of teachers in higher education. Teachers of existing Central, State
Universities/Educational Institutions including private institutions can participate in capacity building
programmes as well as induction training.
2. Higher Education Financing Agency (HEFA) was established to provide sustainable financial model for
higher education institutions, Kendriya Vidyalayas, Navodaya Vidyalayas, AIIMS and other educational
institutions of the Ministry of Health with the objective to fund projects to the tune of Rs 1 lakh crore
by 2022.
3. National Educational Alliance for Technology (NEAT) announced a PPP Scheme for using technology
for better learning outcomes in Higher Education. The objective is to use Artificial Intelligence to make
learning more personalised and customised as per the requirements of the learner. This requires
development of technologies in Adaptive Learning to address the diversity of learners. EdTech
companies would be responsible for developing solutions and manage registration of learners through
the NEAT portal.
4. The Department of Higher Education, in the Ministry of Human Resource Development has finalized
and released a five-year vision plan named Education Quality Upgradation and Inclusion Programme
(EQUIP). EQUIP is a vision plan aiming at ushering transformation in India’s higher education system
by implementing strategic interventions in the sector over the next five years (2019-2024).
5. SWAYAM 2.0 was launched to offer online degree programmes with enhanced features and facilities
by top ranking universities. ‘Deeksharambh’ a guide to student induction programme and
‘PARAMARSH’ scheme is to mentor institutions seeking National Assessment and Accreditation
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 Council accreditation are some of the other major schemes of Department of Higher Education
launched in 2019.

8.4 Skill Development

1. Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) (1.0), 2015: Mobilize youth to take up industry
relevant skill training. Targets to train 1 crore youth by 2020. Recognizes and certifies prior learning.
2. Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (2.0), 2016-20: PMKVY version 2 has mandatory provisions for
placement tracking.
3. Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendra, 2015: Aspirational Model Training Centers to be opened in every
district.
4. National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme, 2016: To promote apprenticeship. Consists of Basic
Training and On-the-Job Training/ Practical Training at workplace.
5. SANKALP, 2017: Creating convergence among all skill training activities, improving quality of skill
development programmes, Creating industry led and demand driven skill training capacity.
6. STRIVE, 2017: Creating awareness through industry clusters, integrating and enhancing delivery
quality of ITIs.

8.5 Healthcare
1. The introduction of National Health Policy, 2017 for universal access to good quality health care
services, and subsequent launch of Ayushman Bharat, with its two components: 1) Health & Wellness
Centres to provide comprehensive primary health care, and 2) Pradhan Mantri Jan ArogyaYojana
(PMJAY) to provide health cover to 10.74 crore poor & vulnerable families upto Rs 5 lakh per family
per year for secondary & tertiary hospitalization, speaks about Government’s efforts for a healthy
India.
2. To promote preventive healthcare, one and half lakh Ayushman Bharat- Health & Wellness Centres
(AB-HWCs) are proposed to be set up by 2022.
3. Under Mission Indradhanush, 3.39 crore children and 87.18 lakh pregnant women in 680 districts
across the country (including Gram Swaraj Abhiyan [GSA] & extended GSA) have been vaccinated.
New vaccines such as Measles-Rubella (MR), Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine (PCV), Rotavirus
Vaccine (RVV) and Inactivated Polio Vaccine (IPV) have been introduced.
4. Recognizing the need for addressing the social determinants of health, the government has adopted
a multi-sectoral approach and is increasingly synergizing its efforts with other Mission Mode initiatives
of the Government such as Eat Right & Eat Safe, Fit India, Anaemia Mukt Bharat, Poshan Abhiyan
and Swacch Bharat Abhiyaan etc.

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5. Recognising the threat of nicotine addiction among youth and children through gateway products such
as e-cigarettes, the government recently banned all commercial operations in e-cigarettes. Large
pictorial warnings and quitline number on tobacco packs and the resulting increased call volumes
from 20,000 to 2.50 lakh calls per month at the quitline services, indicate that government’s efforts to
reduce tobacco use are starting to bear fruit.
6. Under Free Drugs Service initiative, substantial funds have been given to States for provision of free
drugs. All States/UTs have notified policy to provide essential drugs free in health facilities.
7. Free Diagnostics Service initiative was launched to address the high OoPE on diagnostics and improve
quality of healthcare services.
8. Pradhan Mantri Bharatiya Jan Aushadi Pariyojana (PMBJP) and Pradhan Mantri National Dialysis
Programme (PMNDP) are some of the new initiatives that address the issue of high OoPE on account
of drugs and hospital care.
9. The doctor-population ratio in India is 1:1456 (population estimated to be 1.35 billion) against the
WHO recommendation of 1:1000. To address the shortage of doctors, the government has embarked
on an ambitious programme for upgradation of district hospitals into medical colleges.
10. The norms for graduate and post graduate seats in medical colleges have also been revised. The
maximum intake capacity at MBBS level has been increased from 150 to 250, the norms for setting
up of Medical colleges in terms of requirement of land, faculty, staff bed strength etc have been
rationalized. The Government operates Centrally Sponsored Scheme–establishment of New Medical
Colleges attached with existing District/Referral Hospitals’ with fund sharing between Centre and
States. As a result, the number MBBS and PG seats have increased by 27,235 and 15,000 respectively.
These efforts would go a long way in addressing the shortage of doctors.
11. The Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY) was launched to augment the tertiary
healthcare capacity in clinical care, medical education and research in underserved areas of the
country, under which AIIMS like institutions are built and Government Medical Colleges are upgraded
by setting-up Super Speciality Blocks.
12. National Medical Commission Act, 2019 was promulgated to enable constitution of National Medical
Commission.
13. Government of India supports States in Health Systems Strengthening under the umbrella programme
of National Health Mission (NHM). This has resulted in striking improvements in health infrastructure
of public health facilities in States also.

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