Human Development Report

Today human development is the core of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), which presents it into a new perspective of political and economic freedom and deepening of democracy at global level, which is economically productive and socially and environmentally sound. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), in its first Human Development Report, 1990 introduces the concept of Human Development Index (HDl). The HDI is the cumulative measurement of the (a) Longevity, (B) Knowledge, and (C) Decent standard of living.

Longevity is a choice to live a long and healthy life. It is measured in terms of life expectancy (years). Knowledge is a choice to acquire literacy/ information. It is measured by educational attainment percentage, which is a combined gross enrolment ratio in primary, secondary and tertiary levels.

Decent Standard of living is a choice to enjoy a quality and standard life. It is measured by national income or income per capita in Purchasing Power Parity in US dollar (PPP, US $).

The rank of, a country is determined by the overall achievements in these three basic dimensions of human development. HD ranks countries in relation to each other to tell them how far a country has traveled, and how far it has yet to travel the path of development. In this way HDI is indicative to the levels of human development and not the complete measurement of development.

SOME DATA REGARDING INDIA AND ITS NEIGHBOURS FOR 2004:

Notes:

• HDI stands for human development index. HDI ranks in above table are out 177 countries in all.
• Life expectancy at birth denotes, as the name suggests. Average expected length of life of a person at the time of birth.
• Gross Enrolment Ratio for three levels means enrolment ration for primary school, secondary school and higher education beyond secondary school.
• Per Capita Income is calculated in dollars for all countries so that it can be compared. It is also done in a way so that every dollar would buy the same amount of goods and services in any country.

On the basis of HDI, 177 countries of the world have been classified into high, medium and low human development categories. India is placed into the group of medium human development countries with 126th rank.

Life Expectancy in years = 64 years 

Combined gross enrolment ratio = 60 

GDP per capita US $ = 3139

HUMAN DEVELOPMENT AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT:

• Economic development is a broader concept. It is economic growth plus something more than economic growth. The basic ideas in economic development are rise in productivity decline in unemployment, poverty and inequality from high levels. Economic development alone cannot promote human development. Human development is the process of both quantitative change and qualitative growth.
• The concept of human development was taken into a broader sense. It touches social, economic, political and cultural aspects of human life with special emphasis on reduction in poverty and minimizing gap between rich and poor. There should not be unemployment problem in the economy. The concept of human development touches all aspects of human life.