India ranked 127 in human development
India continues to lag behind in quality of life, with its Human Development Index (HDI) remaining static at a low 127.
India may be at the forefront in terms of economic growth, but it continues to lag behind in quality of life, with its Human Development Index (HDI) remaining static at a low 127.
The United Nations' Human Development Report (HDR) 2005, released, however, praised neighbouring Bangladesh for the rapid human development it has achieved despite its moderate growth.
In the ranking done annually by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), India has made progress on the HDI value, which has gone up from .595 in last year's report to .602 this year, but it is again ranked at 127 amongst 177 countries.
The HDR notes that while India has moved into the premier league of world economic growth, the pick-up in growth has not translated into a commensurate decline in poverty.
On the Human Poverty Index (HPI-1), India's rank is a modest 58 amongst 103 developing countries.
"More worrying, improvements in child and infant mortality are slowing and India is now off track for these MDG (Millennium Development Goal) targets," states the report launched by Maxine Olson, UNDP Resident Representative and UN Resident Coordinator.
The HDI combines measures of life expectancy, school enrolment, literacy and income to allow a broader view of a country's development than does income alone.
While India's GDP ranking is 118, the per capita GDP stands at $2,892.