Kudos for India in Human Development Report

By Soma Basu

NEW DELHI, JUNE 29. The national launch of UNDP's ``Human Development Report (HDR) - 2000'' here today had many applauds for India. The country has been ranked 128th among 174 countries in the Human Development Index, which is based on a combined measure of longevity, educational attainment and ability to buy basic good and services. In other words, India has ``moved up four notches'' giving enough reason for satisfaction.

Throughout the report - the 11th in an annual series and the first one of the new millennium - India hogs a lot of space, having been cited in the positive as a ``powerful example of the possibilities for the creative use of human rights instruments in social transformation.''

``Human Rights and Human Development'' being this year's theme, Nobel laureate, Prof. Amartya Sen, sets the stage for the global report by penning the opening chapter.

But what is disappointing is the real reason for India's improvement in ranking. As before, the report ranks 174 countries and territories according to their level of human development. And India has moved from 132nd position to 128th position because of its ``improved per capita income,'' rather than a significant increase in its literacy rate or a decent standard of living.

Yet, the much-awaited global report recognises India's progress with human rights in areas such as participation of women in local politics, creative use of Public Interest Litigations (PIL), the effectiveness of its vibrant civil society and mobilisation of its democratic institutions and the Press.

Though the report demands ``eradication of poverty not just as a development goal, but as a central challenge of the 21st Century for human rights,'' it overlooks the simple fact that improvement in the country's per capita income may have actually deepened the divide between the haves and the have-nots. Notwithstanding the aberration, India was congratulated for ``making consistent gains on the ranking and improving its all-round record of human development'' at a function marking the release of the report jointly by the Deputy Chairperson of the Rajya Sabha, Dr. Najma Heptulla, the former Chief Justice of India, Mr. Justice M. N. Venkatachalaiah, and the UNDP Resident Representative in India, Dr. Brenda Gael McSweeney.

As far as the HDI ranking in the SAARC region is concerned, India is behind Sri Lanka (at 84th position) and the Maldives (89), but ahead of Bangladesh (146th), Bhutan (142nd), Nepal (144th) and Pakistan (135th).

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