INEQUALITY ADJUSTED HUMAN

DEVELOPMENT INDEX : STATES IN INDIA

AUTHOR : M.H SURYANARAYANA, ANKUSH AGARWAL AND K.SEETA

PRABHU

YEAR : 2020-2023
 NAME : SATAKSHI NANDY

CU ROLL NUMBER : 203223-11-0039

CU REGISTRATION NUMBER: 223-1211-0320-20

COLLEGE ROLL NUMBER: ECOA20F275

UNDP AS PER HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT (HDR) HAS TWO
MAJOR INDEX TO MEASURE HUMAN DEVELOPMENT.
HUMAN DEVELOPMENT INDEX (HDI)
The Human Development Index (HDI) is a
statistic composite index of life expectancy,
education (mean years of schooling
completed and expected years of schooling
upon entering the education system), and per
capita income indicators, which is used to
rank countries into four tiers of human
development.
INEQUALITY ADJUSTED HUMAN
DEVELOPMENT INDEX (IHDI)
The Inequality-adjusted HDI (IHDI) was introduced
by the UNDP in 2010 to measure human
development by accommodating inequality. IHDI is
the HDI adjusted for inequalities in the distribution
of achievements in each of the three dimensions of
the HDI (health, education and income). The IHDI
will be equal to the HDI value when there is no
inequality, but falls below the HDI value as
inequality rises.
 AIM OF THE ARTICLE
• The article aims to understand the variation in HDI and IHDI among various states of India ( Intra-
specific variation) as well as comparing HDI and IHDI of India with other countries (inter- specific
variation).
• The author proposed to measure HDI and IHDI on the basis if three major dimension –
I. Inequality in Income
II. Inequality in Education
III. Inequality in Health
• The article seeks to quantify the extent of loss of Human development due to inequality across its
dimension in different states as well as country as a whole.
• The article aims to use comprehensive framework to address various issues related to Human
development, inequity and inequality ever since UNDP introduced the concept of Human development
index in 1990.
• The Article seeks to overcome the state specific development inequality by studying the three dimensions
carefully and suggest some recovery and curative policies to reduce the inequality in HDI and IHDI of
the various states of India and improve the HDI and IHDI rank of India in the world ranking table.
 METHODOLOGY
 The three major dimensions used in the study of HDI and IHDI are income inequality, educational
inequality and health inequality.
 Data on Life expectancy is used as the measure for “ Inequality in Health”.
 Data on mean years of schooling and expected years of schooling is used as a measure for “Inequality
in Education”.
 Data on Per capita Income (PPP$) is used as measure for “Inequality in Income”.
 The sub-indices are calculated using the framework :
Ix = ( Actual Value – Min. value) / ( Max. value – Min. Value)
 Aggregate of sub- indices gives HDI : HDI = ³√ Ilife * Ieducation * Iincome
 The inequality adjusted estimates of the three dimensions are measured using : I 1 = ( I – Ax ) * Ix , where Ax is
the Atkinson inequality measure of the dimension.
 IHDI is obtained by the formula : IHDI = ³√ I1life * I1education * I1income
 DATA SOURCES

• INCOME
Per Capita Income estimates for states are obtained using the NSS (National Sample Survey)
estimates of Per capita personal consumption expenditure for the year 2004/2005 for studying both
the HDI and IHDI.
• EDUCATION
The mean Years of Schooling of the adult population ( aged 25years and above ) are estimated using
the NSS data on ‘ educational status and training of India’ for the year 2004/2005 to study both HDI
and IHDI.
• HEALTH
The estimates of life expectancy of 16 major states are obtained from the SRS ( sample Registration
System) from 2002- 2006 are used. The SRS data of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, and Uttar Pradesh are
not adequately provided in the SRS, so related data are used for studying both the HDI and IHDI.
 OBSERVATIONS

The observations within India are made on the following categories :

I. INCOME DIMENSION
II. EDUCATION DIMENSION
III. HEALTH DIMENTION
IV. HDI READINGS
V. IHDI READINGS

The international comparisons were also made on the following categories :

VI. HDI
VII.IHDI
VIII.LOSS DUE TO INEQUALITY
INCOME DIMENSION : The monetary dimension of Human well being.
Average income dimension of India without
inequality is 0.465 and considering the
inequality it is 0.389.
The average loss due to Income inequality is
around 16%.

Bihar has the lowest loss due to

Income inequality which is 8.50%.

Maharashtra has the highest loss due

to Income inequality which is
18.69%.
EDUCATION DIMENSION : Qualitative dimension of Human well being
The average education index of India
without inequality is 0.400 and including
the aspect of Inequality it is 0.229.
The average loss due to educational
inequality is 42.80%.

The loss due to educational inequality is

highest in Uttar Pradesh which is around
46.48%.

The loss due to inequality in education

is lowest in Kerala which is around
23.25%.
HEALTH DIMENSION : It is a measure of social well being of a Human being.
The average Health index of India without loss
due to inequality is 0.688 and upon including the
effect of health inequality it is 0.452.
The loss due to Health inequality is around
34.264%.

The loss due to health inequality is highest in

Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh which is
around 42.9%.

Kerela emerges out as an outlier because the loss

due to Health inequality is minimum here and it is
about 10.5%.
 INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE

• India with an HDI value of 0.504, falls in the category of countries with “ Medium
Human Development” because it falls short to the world average HDI index, which is
0.624 ( as per UNDP 2010).
• The loss due to inequality in the three major dimensions is around 32% in India which is
much higher than observed on an average in the world ( around 22%). This is a serious
cause for concern.
• Punjab, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujrat and
Uttarakhand are the major states in the ‘medium HDI’ category and all the other states of
India fall under the ‘Low HDI’ category.
• India’s rank on the HDI list of the world is 120th which clearly shows that the inequality
in distribution of Human development is distinctly pronounced in India in comparison
with the world scenario and it needs serious policy transformation for its improvement.
 CRITICAL REMARKS
• The article was efficient in thoroughly pointing out the HDI and IHDI of Indian States and comparing
India’s HDI and IHDI with the average of the world but –

 Health dimension is measured by life expectancy which is not very sensitive to difference in
health status and use of indicators reflecting morbidity and child mortality could have been used to
yield better insight to inequalities in this dimension.
 The specific profitable policies to be adopted by the government in the educational sector and
health sector to improve HDI and IHDI are not stated by the authors.
 Other subsidiary influencing factor like population and infrastructural investments which have a
significant impact on the HDI and IHDI values are not mentioned.
 The schemes adopted after the year 2010 to improve HDI and IHDI are not stated in this article.
The performance of the schemes and planning programs adopted by the government would help
the reader to understand the progress made by the nation.
 CONCLUSIVE REMARKS

The study provides estimates of HDI and IHDI for Indian states. The twin estimates permits
quantification of the potential lost due to inequality in the three dimensions of Human
development.
The author s provide an explanation for uneven human development attainments across Indian
states. The study shows that potential lost due inequalities in education is highest among all the
three dimensions. The article suggested that focus should be given in areas and social groups that
continue to have constraints in access to basic education..
There are staggering cases of inequalities in access to health facilities and which shows variation
with respect to income and social groups.
The article’s findings are helpful to strategize and promote policies of Human development to
reduce inequalities in major dimensions affecting HDI and IHDI and support the economic
Growth of the Nation.
THANK YOU