India drops one spot to 132 in Human Development Index for 2021

India ranked 132nd among 191 countries in the 2021 Human Development Index – one spot below its position in 2020, according to the latest report of United Nations Development Programme published on Thursday.

According to the report, India continued to remain in the category of countries with “medium human development”. The category has 43 nations, mostly from Asia, Africa and South America.

The Human Development – a measure of a nation’s health, education, and average income – has declined for two years in a row – 2020 and 2021, reversing five years of progress, said the report.

India’s Human Development Index, or HDI, dropped to 0.633 in 2021 from 0.642 in 2020. Since 1990, India’s Human Development Index had improved every year, before it went stagnant in 2019. In 2020, the index fell by 0.003 point, while it registered a sharper decline of 0.009 point in 2021.

Among India’s neighbours, Sri Lanka (73rd), China (79th), Bangladesh (129th) and Bhutan (127th) are ranked above India, while Pakistan (161st), Nepal (143rd) and Myanmar (149th) are worse off.

Switzerland remained at the top spot, followed by Norway and Iceland. South Sudan, Chad and Niger were three countries at the bottom of the list, said the report.

The report said: “Between 1990 and 2021, India’s life expectancy at birth changed by 8.6 years, mean years of schooling changed by 3.9 years and expected years of schooling changed by 3.9 years,” the report noted. “India’s GNI per capita changed by about 268.1 percent between 1990 and 2021,” claimed the report.

The report noted that men from ethnic minorities in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh were the worst affected in terms of mental distress.

In terms of access to education and discrimination based on income, the report said that students with high economic status in Delhi understood of the government policy to reserve 20% seats in elite schools for children belonging to low income households.

Over the last decade, India has lifted a staggering 271 million out of multidimensional poverty. The country is improving access to clean water, sanitation, and affordable clean energy.

For the first time, Human Development has declined for two years in a row, with 90 percent of countries registering a decline in their HDI value in 2020 or 2021. “The last two years have had a devastating impact on billions of people worldwide when crises like COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine hit back-to-back and interacted with sweeping social and economic shifts and dangerous planetary changes,” noted the report.

The report recommends implementing policies that focus on 3 Is– investment — from renewable energy to preparedness for pandemics and insurance—including social protection— to prepare our societies for the ups and downs of an uncertain world. While innovation in its many forms—technological, economic, cultural —can also build capacities to respond to whatever challenges come next.

-INDIA NEWS STREAM