Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'India’s low rank in Human Development Index' that was published in Newsband

India’s low rank in Human Development Index

India ranks 131 among 188 countries on the UNDP’s Human Development Index for 2015.  Few argue that the rise in incomes came with a more open economy but that has not improved the quality of life for many Indians but raised overall life expectancy at birth by more than 10 years from the 1990 level,

Progress has also been made in raising awareness about issues affecting women’s empowerment, such as public safety, acid attacks, discrimination in inheritance rights and lack of equal employment opportunity. Policy reforms have been instituted in some of these areas. The percentage of women in the workforce is the lowest in India among the BRICS countries, and the national record on the population that lives in severe multidimensional poverty is also the worst in the bloc.

Universalisation of education and healthcare could have pulled deprived sections out of the poverty trap. Public education of high standards should be made accessible to all. There should be higher budgetary outlay for health care.

Sustaining and improving the quality of life will depend on policies crafted. It isn't just that India has "slipped down" to a low HDI rank. Rather, our country has been driven down to the 131st place because of a strategic policy of large scale privatisation of the national economy. The result so far has been: the richest 1 per cent super patriots (that includes 16 billionaires) have claim to nearly 60 per cent of the country's wealth, whereas the bottom 50 per cent own just 2 per cent of this wealth (Global Risk Report-2017).

When voters prefer to vote in corrupt candidates and you have an equally corrupt bureaucracy, any real improvements in HDI are unlikley. Whether any significant progress in HDI is achievable, given the nature of India's politicians and voters alike is debatable. Rich are still becoming super rich and many politicians are becoming professionals in getting what they actually want. Growth comes only when tax is utilized not for giving freebies but to enable and encourage people to be independent.

India's low HDI indicates the major loopholes and the lacuna present in various programmes run by government. Any programme without accountability, efficiency in a time bound result will not yield good outcome. Low rank is reminder to government that there is strong need of combined effort of various concerned agency to work on war level to reach the real segment of society. Here, Information technology can play a crucial role in plugging the discrepancies, and channelising its various programme in right direction. Private player can play a big role, in capacity building, with better regulation and incentives from government.

With close to hundred billionaire in Forbes' list, India may be proud of 'individual records' but the social indicators are appalling. The lack of medical care, malnutrition and inadequate housing are still high. Hence, its human development is low and cause of concern.

Corruption is the main reason why the BRICS countries fare significantly poorer than their Western counterparts. Economic parameters have to be robust but they alone won't take a country forward. Crucial areas such as primary education and healthcare are still out of reach for most Indians. The power sector has huge problems. The list of problems is long. Our superpower dreams will never become a reality unless we tackle corruption head-on.