Question

In what respects is the criterion used by the UNDP for measuring development different from the one used by the World Bank?

Answer 1

UNDP publishes a Human Development Report which compares countries not only based on per capita income but also the health status and educational levels of the people.

• As per the World Bank in its World Development Reports, the criterion used in classifying countries is the per capita income of a nation.
• Money alone cannot ensure that people get unadulterated medicines.
• Money alone cannot buy people a pollution-free environment.
• Income by itself is not a completely adequate indicator of material services and goods that citizens are able to use.
• Once it is realised that even though the level of income is important, yet it is an inadequate measure of the level of development, we begin to think of other criterion
• Along with income, education and health have come to be widely used as a measure of development.
• As per data for 2013 for India and its neighbouring countries, Sri Lanka performs best with a HDI rank of 73.
• As per data for 2013, HDI rank of India was 135, HDI rank of Myanmar was 150, HDI rank of Bangladesh was 142, HDI rank of Nepal was 145, HDI rank of Pakistan was 146.
• Comparing the data of India and its neighbours, the Literacy Rate for 15+ years population 2005-12, the best performer is Myanmar at 92.7, Sri Lanka is closely behind at 91.2. India lags far behind at 62.8. Pakistan has the lowest score of 54.9.
• As per Human Development Report 2014, the Life expectancy at birth in India was very low at 66.4.