Human Development Index:

• In 1990 Indian Economist Amartya Sen & Mahbubul Haq, a Pakistani Economist at the United Nations, introduced the Human Development Index (HDI).
• The HDI is a composite Index of life expectancy at birth, Adult literacy rate and standard of living measured as a logarithmic function of GDP, adjusted to Purchasing power parity.
• India climbed one spot to 132 out of 189 countries in the latest human development rankings released today by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Between 1990 and 2017, India’s HDI value incased from 0.427 to 0.640, an Increase of nearly 50 percent – and an indicator of the country’s remarkable achievement in lifting
• Millions of people out of poverty.
• Human Development Reports (HDRs) have been released since 1990 and have explored different themes through the human development approach.
• It’s published by the Human Development Report Office for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
• The HDI measures the average achievement of a country in three basic dimensions of human development — a long and healthy life, education, and a decent standard of living.
• It is calculated using four indicators — life expectancy at birth, mean years of schooling, expected years of schooling, and the Gross National Income (GNI) per capita.
• India ranked 132^nd among 191 countries and territories on the latest Human Development Index (HDI).
• HDI (India’s Value – 0.645)
• Switzerland (1, 0.962), Norway (2, 0.961), Iceland (3, 0.959), Denmark (6, 0.948), Sweden (7, 0.947), Ireland (8, 0.945), Germany (9, 0.942) and Netherlands (10, 0.941).

Asian Countries:

• Indian neighbours, Sri Lanka (73^rd), China (79^th), Bangladesh (129^th), and Bhutan (127^th) are ranked above India, while Pakistan (161^st), Nepal (143^rd), and Myanmar (149^th)
• Kerala stands first in Human Development Index among the states in India.
• Tamil Nadu -11^th position
• Least states – Bihar and Uttar Pradesh

Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index (IHDI)

• Human Development Index is Geometric Mean. Hence HDI masks internal inequalities.
• UNDP releases another Index which also accounts for inequalities.
• HDI (Inequality adjusted) = HDI -(minus) HDI (lost due to Inequality), i.e. Human Development which is lost because of inequalities present in the country gender is adjusted in this.

IHDI (2022) Ranking

• When there is perfect equality, the HDI and the Inequality Adjusted HDI (IHDI) are equal. However, as the difference between the two increases, it indicates greater levels of inequality within the country.
• Note: SDG Goal 10 calls for ‘reducing the Inequalities.’

Gender Development Index

• The Gender Development Index (GDI) is a separate measurement released by the UNDP to complement the Human Development Index (HDI) to address females’ development specifically.
• While the HDI does not provide specific information on female development, the GDI calculates the ratio of Female HDI to Male HDI.
• GDI = Female HDI/ Male HDI.
• If the Development Index for females exceeds that of males, the GDI can be greater than 1.

Gender Inequality Index

• The Gender Inequality Index (GII) has been calculated since 2010.
• Despite improvements in life expectancy and access to education for women, they still face specific forms of inequality, such as early pregnancies, lack of representation, and limited participation in economic activities.
• Therefore, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) introduced a specialized index to examine gender inequality.

Dimensions of Gender Inequality Index

• The calculations used for the Gender Inequality Index (GII) are represented on a scale of 0 to 1, with 0 indicating no inequality (i.e., women fare equally to men) and 1 representing complete inequality (i.e., significant disparities between women and men).

Global Multidimensional Poverty Index MPI 2022:

• The Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) 2022 was released by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI).

Health:

• Child mortality
• Nutrition

Education:

• Years of schooling
• School attendance

Standard of living:

• Cooking fuel
• Sanitation
• Drinking water
• Electricity
• Housing
• Assets
• India has by far the largest number of poor people worldwide at 22.8 crore, followed by Nigeria at 9.6 crore.
• Two-thirds of these people live in a household in which at least one person is deprived of nutrition.
• As many as 41.5 crore people moved out of poverty in India during the 15-year period between 2005-06 and 2019-21.
• India ranked 66 out of the 109 countries.

National Multidimensional Poverty Index by Niti Ayog:

• Based on the latest National Family Health Survey [NFHS-5 (2019-21)], this second edition of the National MPI represents India’s progress in reducing multidimensional poverty between the two surveys, NFHS-4 (2015-16) and NFHS-5 (2019-21).
• Indicators under NITI Aayog MPI:Under the three broad indicators of health, education and living standards, three dimensions are represented by 12 indicators such as nutrition, school attendance, years of schooling, drinking water, sanitation, housing, bank accounts among others.

Key highlights about the report:

• Decline in Multidimensional poor:India has registered a significant decline of 9.89 percentage points in the number of multidimensionally poor, from 24.85% in 2015-16 to 14.96% in 2019-2021. 
• About 13.5 crore people came out of multidimensional poverty during the period, assessed by identifying “acute deprivations in health, education and standard of living” using United Nations-approved parameters.
• Fastest decline in Rural areas:rural areas witnessed the fastest decline in poverty from 32.59% to 19.28%, primarily due to decrease in the number of multidimensionally poor in States such as Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, and Rajasthan. 
• States with Least multidimensional poor:Delhi, Kerala, Goa and Tamil Nadu have the least number of people facing multidimensional poverty along with the Union Territories. 
• States with highest multidimensional poor:Bihar, Jharkhand, Meghalaya, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh top the chart where the percentage of total population who are multidimensionally poor is high.
• Poverty in urban areas:Multidimensional poverty in urban areas during the same period saw a decrease from 8.65% to 5.27%. 
• State with largest decline:Uttar Pradesh registered the largest decline in the number of poor with 3.43 crore people escaping multidimensional poverty.
• MPI Value:Between 2015-16 and 2019-21, the MPI value has nearly halved from 0.117 to 0.066 and the intensity of poverty has reduced from 47% to 44%. 
• SDG Target:India is on the path of achieving the SDG Target 1.2 (of reducing multidimensional poverty by at least half) much ahead of the stipulated timeline of 2030.

Significant achievements: 

• Health:Schemes like Poshan Abhiyan and Anaemia Mukt Bharat have contributed to reduced deprivations in health.
• Sanitation:Initiatives such as Swachh Bharat Mission and Jal Jeevan Mission have improved sanitation across the country.
• Clean cooking fuel:The provision of subsidised cooking fuel through Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) has positively transformed lives, with a 14.6 percentage points improvement in cooking fuel deprivations.
• Banking:The percentage of people lacking access to banking reduced from 9.66 per cent to 3.69 per cent.
• Power supply:Deprivation went from 12 per cent to 3.27 per cent
• Other welfare measures:Initiatives like Saubhagya, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), and Samagra Shiksha have also played a major role in significantly reducing multidimensional poverty in the country.

Significance of national Multidimensional Poverty Index:

• Understanding poverty intricacies:India’s adoption of the national MPI marks a significant milestone in understanding the complexities of poverty and creating inclusive solutions. 
• Targeted intervention:By estimating the MPI at the district level, the country aims to prioritize reaching out to the most vulnerable communities through targeted efforts on specific indicators and dimensions. 
• Policy formulation:The results and findings of the index provide valuable insights for policymakers and the wider community, facilitating progress towards achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (Agenda 2030) and reducing multidimensional poverty.
• Least poverty – Kerala (0.7%) [1^st], Tamil Nadu (4.89%) [4^th].
• Highest poverty – Bihar

Global Gender Gap Index 2022:

• The World Economic Forum (WEF) ranked India at 135 out of 146 countries in its Global Gender Gap (GGG) Index for 2022.
• Parameters
• Economic Participation and Opportunity
• Educational Attainment
• Health and Survival
• Political Empowerment
• Although no country achieved full gender parity, the top 3 economies closed at least 80% of their gender gaps,
• Iceland (90.8%)
• Finland (86%),
• Norway (84.5%)

Gross National Happiness (GNH)

• The term Gross National Happiness was coined in 1972 during an interview by a British Journalist for the Financial Times at Bombay airport when the then king of Bhutan, Jigme Singye Wangchuck, said “Gross National Happiness is more important than Gross National Product.
• In 2011, The UN General Assembly passed Resolution “Happiness: towards a holistic approach to development” urging member nations to follow the example of Bhutan and measure happiness and well-being and calling happiness a “fundamental human goal.”

The four pillars of GNH’s are

• Sustainable and equitable socio-economic development
• Environmental conservation
• Preservation and promotion of culture
• Good governance.
• The nine domains of GNH are psychological well-being, health, time use, education, cultural Diversity and resilience, good governance, community vitality, ecological diversity and resilience, and living standards.

World Happiness Report:

• The World Happiness Report assesses countries based on the self-perceived happiness of their citizens. This distinguishes it from the Human Development Report (HDR), which examines three dimensions: health, knowledge, and standard of living.
• UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network released the World Happiness Report 2023 which ranks countries on happiness.
• Since its inception in 2012, the World Happiness Report operates on two main principles:
• Identifying critical factors that influence well-being and life assessment across different nations.
• Gauging happiness or life assessment through opinion surveys.
• Each variable is annually measured and assigned a weighted average score based on population, using a scale from 0 to 10. These scores are then tracked over time and compared with those of other countries.
• Typically, the report ranks around 150 countries by considering various factors, including:
• Actual social support
• GDP per capita
• Freedom of life choices
• Healthy life expectancy
• Perceptions of corruption
• Generosity
• First position -Finland
• India -126
• Afghanistan was ranked as the unhappiest nation.