Development Indicators – HDI, PQLI, GNH, GNHI

Human Development Index (HDI)

• HDI was developed by the Pakistani Economist Mahbub-ul-Haq and the Indian Economist Amartya Kumar Sen in 1990.
• It was published by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
• HDI is based on the following three indicators

1. Longevity is measured by life expectancy at birth,
2. Educational attainments.
3. Standard of living, measured by real GDP per capita (PPP$)

• Biswajeet Guha has stated that the calculation of HDI neglected many important aspects of human development.
• He has created four indices of HDI as HDI1, HDI2, HDI3, and HDI4.

India Human Development Index 2021- 2022

• Rank – 132/191
• Category- Medium human development
• HDI Value – 0.633
• Life expectancy at birth (SDG- 3) – 67.2 years

Physical Quality of Life Index

• Morris D Morris developed the Physical Quality of Life Index (PQLI)
• The PQLI is a measure to calculate the quality of life (wellbeing of country)
• For this, he included three indicators such as life expectancy, infant mortality rate and literacy rate.
• A scale of each indicator ranges from the number 1 to 100.
• Number 1 represents the worst performance by any country. 100 is the best performance.
• The main difference between the two is the inclusion of income in HDI and exclusion of income from PQLI.
• HDI represents both physical and financial attributes of development and PQLI has only the physical aspects of life.

Gross National Happiness (GNH)

• The term “Gross National Happiness” was coined by the fourth king of Bhutan, Jigme Singye Wangchuck, in 1972.
• It is an indicator of progress, which measures sustainable development, environmental conservation, promotion of culture and good governance.

Gross National Happiness Index (GNHI)

• It includes an index which is used to measure the collective happiness and well-being of a population.
• Gross National Happiness is instituted as the goal of the government of Bhutan in the Constitution of Bhutan, enacted on 18 July 2008.

The four pillars of GNH’s are

1. Sustainable and equitable socio – economic development.
2. Environmental conservation
3. Preservation and promotion of culture, and
4. Good governance

• The nine domains of GNH are psychological well-being, health, time use, education, cultural diversity and resilience, good governance, community vitality, ecological diversity and resilience, and living standards.