Human Resources, Poverty & Hunger Issues: Human development indices

Human development: beyond income

Human development means widening people’s choices: a long and healthy life, knowledge and a decent standard of living. The UNDP Human Development Index (HDI) combines life expectancy, years of schooling and income per person.

UNDP HDR 2025; GHI 2025; NITI Aayog National MPI 2023.

Mains 2019 asked: despite consistent experience of high growth, India still goes with the lowest indicators of human development; examine the issues that make balanced and inclusive development elusive. Issues: low public spending on health and education, poor learning levels, low female work participation, regional gaps and informal jobs. Prelims 2018 asked how human capital formation is better explained: as a process of increasing the knowledge, skill levels and capacities of the people and the accumulation of intangible wealth, answer (c).

How the indices are built

Index methodology notes.

Prelims 2012 asked what the Multi-dimensional Poverty Index developed by Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative with UNDP support covers: deprivations in education, health, assets and services at household level, answer (a). It does not use national purchasing power or budget data.

Prelims 2026 checked statements about the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI). It uses the Alkire-Foster method (right), and NITI Aayog’s version has twelve indicators (right). Maternal health and bank account are NITI Aayog’s additions, not part of the UNDP MPI, so statement 3 is wrong. Answer (a), provisional.

Prelims 2016 asked which indicators IFPRI used to compute the Global Hunger Index: undernourishment, child stunting and child mortality were all among them, answer (c). The government says three of the four indicators measure child health, not hunger, and calls the index flawed.