Context:
United Nations Development Programme Releases Human Development Report, 2025
Key Highlights of India’s Human Development Report 2025:
- HDI Rank: India advanced 3 spots to rank 130 out of 193 nations.
- Medium HDI Category: With an HDI value of 0.685, India remains in the medium human development bracket.
- HDI Components: The index measures life expectancy, education, and standard of living.
- Life Expectancy: Reached 72 years in 2023, the highest recorded so far.
- Education: The average years of schooling increased to 13 (up from 8.2 years in 1990).
- Challenges –
- National Income Disparity: India’s GNI per capita rank is 7 positions lower than its HDI rank.
- Gender Inequality: Ranked 102nd on the Gender Inequality Index (GII), signaling issues in reproductive health, political representation, and workforce participation.
- Global Trends in Human Development –
- Slow Progress: Human development improvements worldwide have slowed to the weakest pace since 1990.
- Rising Inequality: The gap between low and very high HDI countries has widened for the fourth consecutive year.
Source: HT
Previous Year Question
The Multi-dimensional Poverty Index developed by Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative with UNDP support covers which of the following?
1. Deprivation of education, health, assets and services at household level
2. Purchasing power parity at national level
3. Extent of budget deficit and GDP growth rate at national level
Select the correct answer using the codes given below:
[UPSC Civil Service Exam – 2012 Prelims]
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 1 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
Answer: (a)
Explanation: Purchasing power parity at national level and the extent of budget deficit and GDP growth rate at national level are not covered under Multi-dimensional Poverty Index