Question

Describe the role of HDI in the development of a country.

Answer 1

The Human Development Index (HDI) is a statistic (composite index) of life expectancy, education, and per capita income indicators, which are used to rank countries into four tiers of human development. A country scores higher HDI when the lifespan is higher, the education level is higher, and the GDP per capita is higher. The HDI was developed by a Pakistani economist Mahbub ul Haq which was further used to measure the country's development by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).[2][3]

The 2010 Human Development Report introduced an Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index (IHDI). While the simple HDI remains useful, it stated that "the IHDI is the actual level of human development (accounting for inequality)", and "the HDI can be viewed as an index of 'potential' human development (or the maximum IHDI that could be achieved if there were no inequality)". The index has several limits not considering several parmeters such as the net wealth per capita or the relative quality of goods in a country. This situation tends to low in ranking the most advanced countries, such as the G7 members and others.

The index is based on the human development approach, developed by Ul Haq, often framed in terms of whether people are able to "be" and "do" desirable things in life. Examples include—Being: well fed, sheltered, healthy; Doings: work, education, voting, participating in community life. The freedom of choice is central—someone choosing to be hungry (as during a religious fast) is quite different to someone who is hungry because they cannot afford to buy food.[4]

Answer 2

The role of HDI in the development of a country has been described in the following points:

• The HDI clarifies the lacunae present in the fields of health, education, and employment (income) and highlights the areas of potential development.
• HDI gives out a picture of the state and the standard of people's livings.
• It helps the government determine its position and the success rate of its past development policies.
• HDI provides the necessary data to the administration which helps it to curtail, modify, or change its administrative decisions.

• It also helps the government devise how much funds or revenue is to be sought and spent, what steps are to be taken, what changes need to be done in the system of implementation of schemes and policies, etc., in order to improve its rank in the human development index.