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Human Capital Index 2018
Why in the news ?
- The World Bank released its first report on Human Capital Index (HCI), which placed India at the 115th position.
- India is placed lower than Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Bangladesh.
More in the news
- The report ranked 157 economies on parameters like child mortality, health and education.
- Singapore topped the poll after it was highly rated for its universal healthcare system, education exams results and life expectancy figures.
- It is followed by South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong and Finland.
- The World Bank gave India a score of 0.44 of the total 1.0, lower than the average for its income-level countries.
- In simple terms, it shows that the children born in India today will be 44 per cent as productive when they grow up as they could be if they enjoyed complete education and full health.
- Girls fared slightly better at 0.45 than boys, who scored 0.43.
- The government, however, expressed reservation over the report questioning its utility.
Government's Stand
- Reacting strongly to these observations, the finance ministry said the HCI score for India did not reflect the key initiatives that were being taken for developing human capital in the country.
- It named programmes to counter the World Bank's findings. such as :1) Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan,2) Ayushman Bharat Programme,3) Swachh Bharat Mission,4) Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, and5) Pradhan Mantri Jandhan Yojana.
- It also said Aadhaar identification system had enabled India to make direct cash transfer of about $ 64 billion to citizens, improving governance and social protection.
- The ministry said these initiatives were transforming human capital in India at a rapid pace and very comprehensively touching upon the lives of millions of people living in rural and tribal areas.
Human Capital Index(HCI)
- Human Capital Index(HCI) seeks to measure how well governments enable their people to reach their full potential.
- The index quantifies the contribution of health and education to the productivity of the next generation of workers.
- The HCI is part of the World Development Report (WDR) launched by World Bank.
Source
Indian Express, Business Standard.