India Still Ranks 131 in Human Development Index: UN Report

The UN ‘Human Development Report 2016′, released on Tuesday by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), placed India at 131 rank out of 188 countries in the global index.

The low rank for India shows how our liberalization has failed to uplift the condition of one third of the population. On health front, the overall life expectancy at birth grew by more than 10 years from the 1990 level, but on women’s empowerment, it remains the most basic challenge to deal with.

Since development is a multidimensional achievement, merely creating wealth in the country will not trickle down to a widespread wealth among the poeple. Basic conditions of housing, water, education, health and justice should be focused equaly to gain a better rank in the Human development Index and India is far away from achieving it.

As Selim Jahan, lead author of the report, said, “In order to advance, we need to examine more closely not just what has been achieved, but also who has been excluded and why.”

The index takes into account the period under both BJP, Congress and again BJP rule at the Centre from 1990 to 2015, in fact one-and-a-half year Modi’s rule as well. So, no political party can pass the buck on the other but retrospect the implications of such a low ranking, which has the potential to unleash both social unrest and political uprising in the future unless addressed immediately.

“Leaving no one behind needs to become the way we operate as a global community. In order to overcome the barriers that hamper both human development and progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals, inclusiveness must guide policy choices,” said Swedish PM Stefan Löfven.

UNDP Administrator Helen Clark said, “The world has come a long way in rolling back extreme poverty, in improving access to education, health and sanitation, and in expanding possibilities for women and girls. But those gains are a prelude to the next, possibly tougher challenge, to ensure the benefits of global progress reach everyone.”

Selim Jahan said there is a systemic discrimination against women, indigenous peoples and ethnic minorities, among others. The report notes that disadvantages disproportionately affect some groups.

India Unhappy? So is it, Says UN Report

 

Money is not the sole reason to be happy but India cannot bask upon its social cohesiveness and
political leadership as the World Happiness Report 2017 has put it in 122nd rank, behind
Pakistan and Nepal. It has also jumped from 118 last year to 122 this year.

The report, released on Monday at the United Nations, ranked 155 countries and Pakistan was
surprsingly at 80th position, Bhutan at 97, Nepal at 99, Bangladesh at 110 and sri Lanka at
120th position.

The top ten nations are of course the Scandinavian countries followed by Canada, New Zealand and
Australia. Here is the list of top 10 Happiness Nations:

HAPPIEST COUNTRIES
1. Norway 7.54
2. Denmark 7.42
3. Iceland 7.5
4. Switzerland 7.49
5. Finland 7.47
6. Netherlands 7.38
7. Canada 7.32
8. New Zealand 7.321
9. Australia 7.28
10. Sweden 7.28

Here is the list of least happiness countries:

146. Yemen 3.59
147. South Sudan 3.59
148. Liberia 3.53
149. Guinea 3.51
150. Togo 3.49
151. Rwanda 3.47
152. Syria 3.46
153. Tanzania 3.35
154. Burundi 2.91
155. Central African Republic 2.69

Norway is the top most this year surpassing Denmark that topped it last year. The trend to study
happiness began in 2013 when the US National Academy of Sciences issued a report recommended
questions on happiness. The United States is ranked 14.

However, the report has brought to light the misery of people behind mental illness which has a
lot to do with happiness and not merely money. “Differences in mental health, physical health
and personal relationships (is) the biggest single source of misery is mental illness,” the
report said.“Income differences matter more in poorer countries, but even their mental illness
is a major source of misery,” it said.

“What works in the Nordic countries is a sense of community and understanding in the common
good,” said Meik Wiking, CEO of the Happiness Research Institute in Copenhagen, who wasn’t part
of the global scientific study that came out with the rankings.

The rankings are based on GDP per person, healthy life expectancy, social support, their freedom to make their own life choices, their sense of corruption in society and generosity.

India Moves up 2 Points in Transparency Index 2016

India has moved up slightly in the graft watchdog Transparency International‘s corruption perception index for 2016 by two points with a score of 40 out of 100, compared to 38 last year.

“India s ongoing poor performance with a score of 40 reiterates the state s inability to effectively deal with petty corruption as well as large-scale corruption scandals. The impact of corruption on poverty, illiteracy and police brutality shows that not only the economy is growing but also inequality,” the Trasnparency International said on India.

New Zealand and Denmark have jointly topped the list, said the Berlin-based Transparency International using the World Bank data, the World Economic Forum and other institutions to rank 176 countries on the level of corruption in public sector.

The score 100 means no corruption and zero signifies highly corrupt. India, China and Brazil with a score of 40 each figured in the 10 key economies in the mid-range.

Somalia was ranked the most corrupt country while Syria, South Sudan, North Korea, Afghanistan, and Iraq also ranked in the bottom. However, no country scored a perfect 100 in the Corruption Perceptions Index 2016.