Rajasthan: Human Development Index
The prime objective of any planning and policy is to enrich human development. It represents the process of expanding people’s choices to live long, healthy, and creative lives. It is argued that the long-term patterns of economic growth do not necessarily correlate with progress in human development, therefore, development needs to be seen broadly as enlarging people’s choices and reinforcing human capabilities and fostering access to meaningful opportunities for exercising choice. In other words, it is clear from the overwhelming acceptability that development should be viewed broadly rather than through a single indicator like per-capita income as it was measured earlier. The human development definition of poverty is much broader than the conventional definition of measuring poverty by using only a single indicator.
The idea of measuring achievements and deprivation through human development and human poverty indices was conceived and developed by Prof Mahbub-ul Haq and subsequently followed by United Nation Development Programmes and many independent researchers. Later on, new dimensions and methodologies have been developed and incorporated into the HDI framework to bring improvement in the process.
The Human Development Index (HDI) relies on a composite index of different dimensions of human life, with a focus on quantifiable elements such as longevity, knowledge, and a decent living standard. Human Development Index (HDI) and Human Poverty Index (HPI) are widely acceptable measures to keep track of the progress of ‘human well being’. When level of achievement is captured through HDI, the HPI captures the levels of deprivation. The Human Development Index (HDI) provides a composite major of mainly three dimensions: Living a long, healthy life (measured by life expectancy at birth) Access to knowledge (measured by adult literacy and combined enrolment ratio) Having a decent standard of living (measured
by purchasing power parity and income).
In Global Human Development Report-2015 “Work for Human Development”, India has ranked 130 among 188 countries across the world, with a medium level HDI of 0.609, five rank upper as compared to 2014.This Human Development Report explores how work can enhance human development, given that the world of work is changing fast that substantial Human Development challenges remain. As per this Report, from last decade, India has created numerous jobs and other activities due to the growth, especially in Information & Communication Technology sector,
Clean Energy Projects and MGNREGS.
The first Human Development Report of Rajasthan was launched in 2002. Its main theme was ‘Promoting sustainable livelihoods in an era of Globalisation’. It was focused on agriculture on the one hand and the sectoral imbalances on the other. Gender and health issues were identified to be of paramount importance. It prioritised the imperatives for fiscal reform, macroeconomic stabilisation and a strategy for sustainable human development. An Update on Human Development for the State was prepared in 2008. The preparation of “Human Development Report 2015” of State is in progress. The theme of ongoing report is ‘Equity and sustainability’.
Sector-wise State Scenario
The current status of various components of Human Development is discussed in subsequent sections:
EDUCATION
Education has a multiplier effect on other social sectors like health, women empowerment, employment, child development, labour etc. It is also of great instrument value in the process of economic growth and development. Education not only improves the quality of life of the people, but it also provides opportunities for progress. The current status of education is given in table.
Major Indicators of Education
S.No. Education Indicator (Current level) Rajasthan India
- Total Literacy Rate (Census 2011) 66.1 73.0
- Male Literacy Rate (Census 2011) 79.2 80.9
- Female Literacy Rate (Census -2011) 52.1 64.6
4 Gender Gap in Literacy (Censu s-2011 ) 27.1 16.3
- Average Annual Drop-out Rate at
Primary Level – 2014-15
(U-DISE 2015- 16)
5.02 4.13
- Net Enrolment Ratio at Primary Level
2015-16 (U-DISE 2015-16)
79.2 87.3
7.Gender Parity Index at Primary Level
2015-16 (U-DISE 2015-16)
0.98 1.03
As per the Census 2011, Rajasthan has recorded a literacy rate of 66.1 per cent compared to 60.4 per cent in 2001, as registered a net increase of 5.7 per cent points during 2001-2011. The figures for male and female literacy rates are 79.2 and 52.1 per cent, respectively in 2011. As a result, the gender gap between literacy rates in the State has decreased by 4.7 per cent during 2001 to 2011, whereas the national level gap has decreased by 5.3 per cent. Average annual drop-out rate at primary level has decreased from 8.4 per cent in 2013-14 to 5.02 in 2014-15 in the State, whereas in India; this rate has decreased from 4.3 to 4.1 during this period.
The Net Enrolment Ratio (NER) of Rajasthan at primary level has increased from 77.8 to 79.2 over the period 2014-15 to 2015-16, whereas, at national level NER has slightly decreased from 87.4 to 87.3 during this period.
Gender Parity Index for Rajasthan in primary education was 0.98, whereas; it was 1.03 for India in 2015-16.
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