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Hdi to Measure Development

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Submitted By ask4avinash
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Table of Contents

1. Introduction 2

2. Growth and Development 2

3. Human Development Index 3

3.1 Historical Background of Human Development Measurement 4

3.2 Definition of Human Development and HDI 5

3.3 HDI Calculation 6

3.4 HDI Interpretation and Application 7

3.5 Limitations 8

3.6 Criticism 9

4. Conclusion 10

Appendix-I (Acronyms and abbreviations) 10

References 11

1. Introduction

Over the last two decades economic growth has got a lot more attention among policymakers, corporate, economists, and academics in India and across the world. Since 1991, when India implemented liberalization, privatization, and globalization policies, GDP growth rate has become a buzz word. It has got disproportionate amount of attention from policymakers and economists. It has been used excessively to measure the success or failure of any policy. But after two decades it has become clearly visible that GDP growth rate alone cannot measure the development of a nation. The difference between growth and development too has become clearer.

In spite of fast paced economic growth for last 10-20 years, a large part of our population remains illiterate. A large part of our population does not have the access to safe drinking water and proper medical care. Highest number of malnourished children belongs to our nation. These are some of the bitter realities which GDP growth based measurement never reflects. All these facts suggest the need of a more holistic approach to measure the development and growth.

Human Development Index (HDI) is the best available choice to measure the development. It measures the development on the basis of income, education, and life expectancy at birth. It encompasses many aspects of development rather than just income and hence offers better insight to the development. This report proposes to use Human

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