CHAPTER 3

Population and
emerging issues
of development

- Asst Prof Nazneen Shaikh

 POPULATION EXPLOSION IN THE WORLD AND IN INDIA
AND ARISING CONCERNS
What is Population Explosion?
• A fast increase in the creation of species (group of living organisms) is called as Population
Explosion.
• Human Population has increased in recent centuries due medical advancements and improved
agricultural productivity.
• As the population numbers are increasing in the world, the resources are becoming scarce and
therefore the onus of controlling population has emerges as a major step for mankind. Countries like
China have effectively introduced the one child model and reduced their population, while most
developing countries like India are struggling with the population.
• Population growth and development are linked in complex ways. Economic development generates
resources and revenue which is used to improve education and health. These improvements, along
with related social changes can moderate and reduce both fertility and mortality rates. On the
contrary, high rates of population growth put excess pressure on the existing resources hindering the
economic and social development and in turn education and health.
• Population is the most integral part of environment and needs to be studied in detail as it has the
capacity to alter all other components of environment.
• Population explosion occurred when World War II ended, and the human population increased
dramatically due to an accelerated birth rise, a rise in life expectancy and decline in infant deaths.
• The Human Population is expected to increase by 1 billion people in the next decade.
• It took the entire history of humankind for the population to reach 1 billion around the year 1810.
• Just 120 years later, this doubled the population to 2 billion people by 1930; 4 billion in 1975 (45
years)
• The number of people in the world has risen from 4.4 billion people in 1980 to 6.2 billion today.
• And it is estimated that the population could double again to nearly 11 billion in less than 40 years.
• This means that more people are now being added each day than at any other time in human history.
• So according to a report by the United Nations Population Fund, total population is likely to reach 10
billion by 2025 and grow to 14 billion by the end of next century unless birth control use increases
dramatically around the world within the next two decades.
The Causes for the growth of population and also for population explosion are:
1. Poverty- Has been the most important cause of population growth. Poor people have more children to help
them support their families with working hands. Lack of advancement in medicine and other social benefits
have made them suffer in the developmental system of the country.
2. Illiteracy- Education is a key enabler to help handle population increases. Lack of awareness, poor
adaptability to the development goals make them susceptible to being excluded from the development indices.
3. Infant Mortality- Poor medical facilities result in high infant mortality and the people tend to have more
children as the survival rates of the infants are low.
4. Social Customs- Social customs like early marriage, poor position of women in society, preference for the
male child, selected female infanticide in some states are reasons for the explosion of population in the world.
5. Migration and Immigration- Just like there is natural increase of population by birth, there is a greater
amount of increase in population that happens through migration of people from one country, state, region to
another.
6. Medical Facilities- Improved medical facilities have resulted in falling death rate which have increased the
longevity of the people, life expectancy and reduced infant deaths too. This has lead to an increase in
population.
• During the Industrial Revolution, a period of history in Europe and North America where there were
great advances in science and technology, the success in reducing death rates was attributable to
several factors:
• Increases in food production and distribution due to advancement in technology.
• Improvement in public health (water and sanitation)
• Advancement in medical technology (vaccines and antibiotics), which could cure many diseases which
resulted in large number of deaths,
• Progress in education and Improvement in standard of living within many developing nations.
These attributes are important for children's lives to protect them from diseases like measles or the flu.
Today people are able to fight these diseases that once killed them due to advancement in technologies.
Also because of technology, people could produce and distribute more and different kinds of food, these
discoveries and inventions spread throughout the world, lowering death rates and improving the quality
of life and increasing the life expectancy of most people. Thus, the combination of a continuing high
birth rate and a low death rate is creating a rapid population increase in many countries in Asia, Latin
America and Africa and people generally lived longer.
 DEMOGRAPHIC TRANSITION THEORY
All countries in the world are in different stages of development.
These stages are determined by the selected criteria that have been made by social scientists to
stage the economic development of the country. One of the most popular model is the
Demographic Transition Model.
This model was propounded by W.S. Thompson (1929) and Frank W. Notestein (1945) who
observed changes in birth and death rates in industrialized societies over the previous 200 years.
It is based on the fertility and mortality trends in Europe, America and Australia.
It analyzed the birth rate and the death rate of all countries and arrived at a conclusion as to
which stage the economy is.
Most developed countries have completed the demographic transition and have low birth rates;
most developing countries are in the process of this transition.
It shows the transition of an economy from an agrarian to urban modern society.
Exceptions are given to poor countries, mainly in sub-saharan Africa and some Middle Eastern
countries, which are poor or are affected by government policy.
 DEMOGRAPHIC TRANSITION THEORY

• Stage I is characterised by high birth rate, death rate and low rate of population growth.
• Stage II is characterised by high and stationary birth rate, rapidly declining death rate and
very rapid increase in population.
• Stage III is characterised by a falling birth rate, low and stationary death rate and rapidly
rising population.
• Stage IV is characterised by low birth rate and low death rate with stationary population at a
low level.
• Stage V is characterised by death rates overtakes birth rates resulting in population decline.
Stage 1: High Population Growth Potential (Birth and Death rates both are HIGH)
This is generally a pre-industrial society in which both birth and death rates are quite high. Birth rates
and death rates are effectively in balance. The lack of food availability as well as adequate medical
care or effective sanitation and hygiene means the population does not grow very much due to
disease and starvation.
The majority of people are concentrated in rural regions, primarily focusing on agriculture. This
agricultural focus means that having more children is an economic benefit as well as a status symbol,
further contributing to high birth rates and efforts to have larger families. The poor experience the
highest mortality rates of any demographic, but life expectancies are short overall due to diseases and
epidemics and poor hygiene and sanitation.
Due to their greater dependency on nature and variation in food productions and incidences of
famines and droughts, they faced huge mortality rates.
Population growth is typically very slow in this stage as the society is constrained by the available
food supply; any fluctuations in birth rates are soon matched by death rates.
Thus, high birth rates and death rates remain approximately equal over time so that a static
equilibrium with zero population growth prevails.
Stage 2: Population Explosion (High Birth rates, Falling Death rates)
This is the point at which the country begins to experience social and economic development. With
more productive agriculture (and thus more food supply), better medical care, and more effective
sanitation and hygiene, death rates fall quickly and life spans are longer.
There is great mobility of labour. Education expands. Income also increases. People get more and
better quality of food products. Medical and health facilities are expanded.
The birth rate, however, does not fall at the same time (it does not increase, but rather remains high).
Birth rates far outpace death rates with the result that the population grows rapidly.
It is typically a feature of Developing Countries like INDIA.
In Europe, the death rate decline started in the late 18th Century in north Western Europe and spread
to the south and east over approximately next 100 years.
It produces an imbalance, and the countries in this stage experience a large upsurge in population.
Stage 2: Population Explosion (High Birth rates,
Falling Death rates)
During the stage economic development is speeded
up due to individual and government efforts.
Increased use of better technology, mechanization
and urbanisation takes place. But there is no
substantial change in the men, attitude of the people
and hence birth rate stays high i.e., economic
development has not yet started affecting the birth
rate.
Due to the widening gap between the birth and death
rates, population grows at an exceptionally high rate
and that is why it has been called the population
explosion stage. This is an “Expanding” stage in
population development where population grows at
an increasing rate, as shown in figure, with the
decline in death rate and no change in birth rate.
Stage 3: Population Stage (Birth Rate Declines)
At this stage, birth rates decline. This can be attributed to a wide array of social factors, including:
• Access to birth control measures and preference for smaller families
• Better accessibility to education facilities
• Changes in social trends and status of women in the society.
• Lower infant mortality
• Higher wages
• Fewer families participating in agriculture (meaning less need for large families to work on farms)
The result of this decline in birth rates, as the death rate continues to decline with further
improvements in health and sanitation, is that population growth starts to decline as compared to the
second stage. As an example, Mexico began to arrive at stage three at the beginning of the 21st
century. Additionally, China used its One-Child Policy to attempt to move toward the third and fourth
stages more quickly than the country might otherwise have done.
Stage 4: Stationary Population (Both Birth and Death rates are low)
Birth rate and death rate are both at a low level and they are again near balance.
Birth rate is approximately equal to death rate and there is little growth in population.
It becomes more or less stationary at a low level.
The population growth is small and fertility continues to fall. Birth rates may drop to well below
replacement level as has happened in countries like Germany, Italy and Japan, leading to shrinking
population, a threat to many industries that relies on population growth.
families are having an average of fewer than two children each. At this time, we would expect that
the generation born during the second stage of demographic transition is aging. Meanwhile, the
potentially shrinking working population must support these elderly members of society.
Reasons for rapidly shrinking population:
Changes in personal lifestyle; more women in the workforce, therefore late marriages and less
couples are having kids; Death rates consistently were low due to increase in lifestyle diseases due to
low exercise levels and high obesity and an aging population in developed countries.
Stage 5: Further Changes in Birth Rates (Death rates overtake Birth rates)
• This stage is a bit more uncertain.
• At this stage, some demographers say that fertility rates will experience shifts to either above or below
replacement levels. While some experts argue that fertility levels will increase, others state the opposite.
• This depends on the society, too: while populations in China and Australia are expected to fall due to
lower birth rates, those in the U.S., India, and Mexico are expected to increase. Additional stages have
also been proposed—this is a contested area and theorists have quite a bit more work to do to come to
some kind of consensus within the field of demography.
• This stage has only been recently identified and there are only a few countries which falls into this
category, where death rate overtakes birth rates resulting in population decline.
• The reason for low birth rate includes: A rise in individualism, greater financial independence of women,
and an increase in non-traditional lifestyles.
As of year 2013, India is in later half of third stage demographic transition with 1.23 billion population. It is
nearly 40 years behind in demographic transition process compared to EU countries, Japan, etc.
Causes of Population Growth in India
According to the Indian Census, 2011, the population of India was 1,210,193,422. Indiai the second most populous
country second only to China. Several studies have projected that India will be the world's most populous country
by the year 2025. It is estimated that the population of India will stabilise only by [Link] of the most important
causes of population growth in India are as follows:
• Widening gap between the Birth Rates and Death Rates: While the birth rate in India, which was 42 per
thousand in 1951-61, decreased to 24.8 thousand in 2011, the country has seen its decadal death rate decline to 8.5
in 2001-2011 from 42.6 in 1901-1911. Since the death rate has also gone down sharply the birth rates are still much
higher than the death rates the population has tended to grow very fast in India.
• Early Marriages: Even though legally the marriageable age of a female child is 18 years, large number of girls are
married off at an earlier age. This prolongs the fertility age(child bearing age) resulting in more child births.
Marriage at unripe age also leads to higher mortality rate of infants.
• Lack of education: The failure of family planning is directly related to large-scale illiteracy that also contributes to
early age of marriage, low status of women, high child-mortality rate etc mentioned above. Illiteracy and ignorance
of the uneducated families makes them least aware of the various ways to control population, usage of
contraceptives and birth control measures. Education makes a person liberal, broad-minded, open to new ideas, and
rational. If both men and women are educated, they will easily understand the logic of planning their family.
• Religious reasons: The people who are conservative and orthodox are opposed to the use of family planning
measures. Women in such families are not allowed to take part in family planning because they are not supposed to
go against the wishes of God. There are also women who argue that children are born with God's will and women
are destined to give birth to children
• Poverty: Poverty is another reason for the increase in population in our country. Many poor parents have a notion
that more the number of children in the family the more the working hands to increase their incomes. Emerging
Issues of Development.
• Problem of Illegal migration: Last but not the least, we cannot ignore the fact that illegal migration is
continuously taking place from Bangladesh, Nepal leading to increased population density.

The following factors influence density of population distribution:

• Geographical factors
• Economic factors
• Historical and Social factors.
GEOGRAPHICAL FACTORS
1. Climate is a dominant factor influencing population density. It exerts itself through temperature and rainfall
conditions viz.
a) Areas of extreme climate make human life difficult and population density remains low i.e. 2 persons per sq.
km.
Polar areas like Alaska, and Greenland where temperatures remain low all the year, ground and subsoil freeze in
the winter. Being very cold they have a very short growing season which makes agriculture impossible. Hunting
and fishing are the only occupations that can be practised; they can support a small number of people.
Hot deserts like Sahara, Thar and Kalahari have extremely hot and dry climate. Neither vegetation nor crops can
grow. Shortage of natural vegetation restricts grazing of animals to nomadic herding with tribals moving from
place to place in search of water. Only 'Oasis' attract some human settlements.
Equatorial lands like Congo basin in Africa and Amazon lowlands in South America are too wet due to heavy
rainfall all year. They also remain very hot all year, being near equator. They are densely forested due to high
temperature and rainfall. Agriculture is extremely difficult. Primitive tribes engage in shifting or "slash and burn"
agriculture, besides fishing and hunting. These occupations can support low densities of population.
b) Areas of moderate climate found in the temperate latitudes have a long growing season, so that agriculture is
well developed. More than one crop is grown in a year through multiple cropping and crop rotation. Cool
temperate climate, Mediterranean climate and monsoon climate support high densities of 300 to 400 persons/sq.
km. due to intensive agriculture made possible by favourable temperature and rainfall conditions.
2. Relief and Altitude also determine population densities. Mountainous areas are at a greater altitude
and have cold climate with rugged relief with a thin soil cover. There is a lack of level land for
farming. Thus Himalayan region, Alps, Roc Andes mountains remain thinly populated. Low lying
plains, West European plain and Ganga plain provide level and fertile land for agricultural
development. Intensive agriculture not only provides quantities of food but also raw materials for
industries. Plains are more densely populated.
[Link] wealth also has immense power to attract population because it supports industrialization.
Areas with coal, petroleum, and other minerals attract densities viz. Damodar valley, Rhur basin in
India and Germany respectively oil wealth in the Middle East countries is an ideal example to show
that mine can attract population even in areas of extreme desert climate.
2. ECONOMIC FACTORS
i) Agricultural development in the Nile valley of Egypt, Ganga plain of India, Ch plain and S. E. Asian
island is responsible for high densities up to 200 persons p sq. km. These areas have fertile soils,
enough water, flat and level land, besid suitable climate conditions for intensive agriculture.
ii) Industrial development in N. W. European countries like UK, France, W. Germa and N. American
countries like USA is responsible for high densities. There concentration of employment opportunities
in industries which attract people: move in from other areas, and results in high densities.
iii) Urban areas are also very densely populated while rural areas have low densitie Big cities like London,
New York, Tokyo, Mumbai and Calcutta have very hig densities because they provide opportunities for
higher wages, educational a entertainment facilities. Skilled and qualified people prefer to settle in
cities, eve unskilled workers are driven to cities due to limited opportunities in [Link])
iv) Livestock rearing in the temperate grassland areas of temperate latitudes i.e. Prairie in N. America,
'Steppes' in Russia and 'Pampas' in Argentina, 'Downs' of Austral and New Zealand support moderate
densities of population. Production of cereal viz. wheat under extensive farming is also responsible for
moderate densities.
2. HISTORICAL AND SOCIAL FACTORS:
A long history of civilisation or early beginning of settlement also contributes t high population
densities. Due to early start and long history of civilisation population continues to grow and densities
become high with time, e.g. Nile valley and Indus valley, where as southern continents like Australia
which were occupied much later have lower population densities.
Social customs of large families and early marriages in Asian countries of China, Japan and India
contributes to high densities. Sweden, Finland and Switzerland have low densities due to practice of
small families and late marriages.
MEASURES TAKEN TO
CONTROL POPULATION
GROWTH IN INDIA
• Population of India is quite large and rapidly increasing.
• One per cent growth rate means an addition of 1 crore people every year.
• Effective population control measures are the need of the hour.
• We know that birth rate is mainly responsible for rapid population growth. Hence measures
which can reduce the birth rate should be adopted.
• These measures can be classified into 3 heads.
SOCIAL MEASURES
ECONOMIC MEASURES
OTHER MEASURES
• Social Measures - Population explosion is a social problem and it is deeply rooted in the society. So
efforts must be done to remove the social pressures in the country.
1. Minimum age of Marriage: Fertility depends on the age of marriage. The minimum age of
marriage should be strictly enforced. In India minimum age for marriage is 21 years for men and 18
years for women have been fixed by law. This law should be firmly implemented and people should
also be made aware of this through publicity.
2. Raising the Status of Women: There is still discrimination to the women. They are often confined
to the house. They are still confined to rearing and bearing of children. So women should be given
opportunities to develop socially and economically. Free education should be given to them.
3. Spread of Education: The spread of education changes the outlook of people. Educated men
prefer to delay marriage and adopt small family norms. Educated women are health conscious and
avoid frequent pregnancies and thus help in lowering birth rate.
4. Social Security: More people should be covered under-social security schemes. So that they do not
depend upon others in the event of old age, sickness, unemployment etc. with these facilities they
will have lesser desire for more children
Economic Measures –
1. Development of Agriculture and Industry: If agriculture and industry are properly
developed, large number of people will get employment. When their income is increased
they would improve their standard of living and adopt small family norms.
2. Standard of Living: Improved standard of living acts as a deterrent to large family norm.
In order to maintain their higher standard of living people prefer to have a small family.
According to A.K. Das Gupta those who earn less than Rs. 100 per month have on the
average a reproduction rate of 3.4 children and those who earn more than Rs. 300 per
month have a reproduction rate of 2.8 children.
3. Urbanisation: It is on record that people in urban areas have low birth rate than those
living in rural areas. Urbanisation should therefore be encouraged.
OTHER MEASURES;
1. Late Marriage: As far as possible, marriage should be solemnized at the age of 30 years. This will
reduce the period of reproduction among the females bringing down the birth rate.
2. Family Planning: This method implies family by choice and not by chance. By applying
preventive measures, people can regulate birth rate. This method is being used extensively; success
of this method depends on the availability of cheap contraceptive devices for birth control.
3. Publicity: The communication media like T.V., radio and newspaper are good means to propagate
the benefits of the planned family to the uneducated and illiterate people, especially in the rural and
backward areas of country.
4. Incentives: The govt. can give various types of incentives to the people to adopt birth control
measures. Monetary incentives and other facilities like leave and promotion can be extended to the
working class which adopts small family norms.
5. Employment of Women: Another method to check the population is to provide employment to
women. As a result their number in teaching, medical and banking etc. will increase rapidly. Due to
job pressure and promotion they will delay having children.
Population Policy of India
First Five-year plan
• India established the first state-funded family planning programme among
developing nations in 1951.
• This was the first of its kind among developing countries. It advocated the adoption
of natural family planning methods.
Second Five-Year Plan
• Family planning clinics now number much more.
• However, because these clinics were primarily located in metropolitan areas, they
did not produce sufficient results.
Third Five-Year Plan
• The copper-T method was used.
• The family planning department was established as a separate division in this plan.
Fourth Five-Year Plan
• The use of both traditional and contemporary birth control methods was promoted under this plan.
Fifth Five-Year Plan
• In 1976, the national population policy was announced. It had the following features:
• The minimum legal age of marriage for girls and boys was raised to 18 and 21, respectively, as a part
of this programme.
• Increasing female literacy rates.
• Use all available media to make family welfare programmes more well-known.
• Forced sterilization was allowed but later prohibited.
Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth Plans
• In order to regulate the population, long-term demographic goals were identified under these plans.
Ninth Five-Year Plan
• To develop a national population policy, the government organized an expert panel in 1993, with MS
Swaminathan as its chairman.
• The family welfare programme was re-designated as the family planning programme in 1997.
Aim of National Population Policy 2000
The aim of the national population policy can be divided into temporary, midterm, and long
term goals. A detailed description of the aims of the new population policy of India is listed
below:
• Temporary goal: The provision of contraceptives was listed as a temporary objective. It also
involves the hiring of healthcare practitioners and the creation of a framework for health
protection.
• Midterm goal: By 2010, the total fertility rate TSR, which was the replacement level, needed
to be lowered to 2.1.
• Long-term goal: The long-term objective is to balance the population by 2045.
Our population needs to be regulated at a level that promotes and protects economic, social,
and environmental growth and safety.
• National Population Policy 2000
• The National Population Policy 2000 (NPP 2000) reinforces the government's commitment to
allowing residents to make voluntary, informed decisions and give their consent when using
reproductive health care services.
• The National Population Policy 2000 provides a national strategy for pursuing objectives and
emphasizing solutions over the coming decade.
• It is based on the fact that the government, business, and the voluntary non-government
sector collaborate in order to increase engagement and exposure to a comprehensive package
of reproductive and pediatric health services while simultaneously promoting issues of child
survival, maternal health, and contraception.
National Population Policy 2000
1. Address the unmet needs for basic reproductive and child health services, supplies and
infrastructure.
2. Make school education up to age 14 free and compulsory and reduce dropouts at primary and
secondary school levels to below 20 per cent for both boys and girls.
3. Reduce infant mortality rate to below 30 per live births
4. Reduce maternal mortality rate to below 100 per 1,00,000 live births.
5. Achieve universal immunization of children against all vaccine preventable diseases.
6. Promote delayed marriage for girls, not earlier than age 18 and preferably after 20 years of age.
7. Achieve 80 per cent institutional deliveries and 100 per cent deliveries by trained persons.
8. Achieve universal access to information/counselling, and services for fertility regulation and
contraception with a wide basket of choices.
9. Achieve 100 per cent registration of births, deaths, marriages and pregnancies.
10. Contain the spread of AIDS and promote greater integration between the management of
reproductive tract infections (RTIs) and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and the National
Aids Control Organisation.
11. Prevent and control communicable diseases.
12. Integrate Indian System of Medicine (ISM) in the provision of reproductive and child health
services.
13. Promote vigorously the small family norm to achieve replacement level of TFR.
14. Bring about convergence in implementation of related social sector programmes so that welfare
becomes a people-centred programme.
Environment
&
Human Health
The environment is the surroundings in which a living being takes birth and evolves according to changes that happen
from time to time. It is said that the environmental challenges, changes, and makes human beings adapt to the state
of the environment they live in. Thus, Environment visibly affects the humans living on it in many direct or indirect
ways.
Environment and human health:
• Living entities depend upon their environment for energy requirements.
• Some of these requirements are pure water, clean air, unadulterated and nutritious food, a disease-free
community to live in, etc.
• These factors are known to add to the longevity of human history.
• It is also a known fact that sanitation, agriculture, treated water, and personal and community hygiene have an
impact on human health.
• One cannot overlook the fact that apart from supporting and nurturing human life, it can also cause diseases.
• One of the most common causes of death rate is the lack of necessities.
• Environmental risks can increase the chances of contracting heart diseases, cancers, and various other illnesses.
• Untreated drinking water, poor hygiene, and improper sanitation cause infectious diseases such as cholera,
diarrhea, dengue, etc.
• The most obvious impacts that we have seen are from deteriorating water quality, air pollution, and unsanitary
conditions. Radiation poisoning too has deadly consequences for human health.
• Pesticides and other chemicals used in food production don’t disappear when they hit the store shelves: they go
directly into the food we eat. Not only do these modern additives degrade the soil quality of our farmland and
harm the pollinators that help grow our food, but they can also lead to cancer and antibiotic resistance in the
people who eat them..
• The human body is mostly water up to 70% water, in fact. Add that to the reality that only 2.5% of the water on
the planet is drinkable and it becomes clear why protecting our water supply is so important. Although the Clean
Water and Safe Drinking Water Acts are meant to keep toxins out of our water, many still slip by both our policy
safeguards and our physical filtration systems. Fracking for natural gas, which has contaminated groundwater,
has led to health problems in communities where those resources are being extracted. Polluted runoff from cities
and farms flows into the rivers we draw much of our drinking water from and ends up in our bodies.
• Motor vehicle and industrial emissions impact human health too, as these sources contain dangerous pollutants
like mercury and sulfur dioxide. The American Lung Association found that too many Americans live in areas
that have unhealthy levels of air pollution and are at risk of illnesses like lung and heart disease, cancer, and
asthma. Rising global temperatures from climate change worsen pollution. Indoor air can be dangerous as well,
given the presence of chemicals from building materials, household products, and mold.
• We can limit our exposure to toxins as much as possible on the individual level by eating
organic food, avoiding places and times of heavy air pollution, and getting our water tested
for dangerous metals and chemicals. But more importantly, we need advocates who will
stop pollution at its source.
• The problem is that because the relationship between health and environment is complex,
we aren’t motivated to make major changes; we’re waiting for irrefutable evidence. By the
time we do get it, it might be too late.
• The environment has a great impact on human health.
• It is very much essential to keep our environment healthy to protect our lives from different
environmental hazards.
 HUMAN
DEVELOPMENT
INDEX
• Human Development Index or HDI (1990) integrates the significant social and economic aspects of a country to
assess the overall development of a country. HDI generally uses the three dimensions of the development of a country's
population that include their education, their standard of living, and the health of the people based on which country’s
development is assessed.
• Human Development Index or HDI is a statistical measure developed by Mahbub Ul Haq, a Pakistani economist. It was
later adopted by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for measuring the development of countries.
• UNDP releases a yearly report by assessing the countries of the world on the parameters mentioned above. It is regarded
as one of the best indicators of the development of a nation as it consists of all the important indicators necessary to
determine economic development.
• Components of Human Development Index
• The following are the components of Human Development Index.
• 1. Health: The first component of HDI is health and for determining a long and healthy life, life expectancy is the most
important parameter.
• 2. Education: The development of a nation can be indicated by another important component which is education.
Education can be measured in two stages, which can be as expected years of schooling that is based on entry level
schooling age and mean years of schooling (total schooling age) for the adult population.
• 3. Income: The third parameter that is considered for determining a good standard of living is income and it is
determined by the gross national income per capita.
• India’s rank on the Human Development Index has slipped from 130 in 2020 to 132 in 2021, in line with a
global fall in HDI scores in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, shows the Human Development Report 2021-
22.
Indian Scenario:
• India ranked 132nd among 191 countries and territories on the 2021 Human Development Index (HDI).
The decline in the country’s performance from its previous level was on account of a fall in life expectancy.
• India’s latest HDI value of 0.633 places the country in the medium human development category, lower than
its value of 0.645 in the 2020 report.
• The report attributes the drop in HDI from 0.645 in 2019 to 0.633 in 2021 to India’s falling life expectancy —
from 69.7 years to 67.2 years during the survey period.
• India’s expected years of schooling stand at 9 years, down from 12.2 years in the 2020 report, although the
mean years of schooling is up at 6.7 years from 6.5 years in the 2020 report.
• Although India retained its 132nd position in the Gender Development Index, the female life
expectancy dropped from 71 years in the 2020 report to 68.8 years in the 2021 report.
• The mean years of schooling for females declined from 12.6 to 11.9 years in the corresponding period.
• India scored 0.123 in the Multi-Dimensional Poverty Index (MPI) with a headcount ratio of 27.9 per cent,
with 8.8 per cent population reeling under severe multidimensional poverty.
• Over the last decade, India has lifted a staggering 271 million out of multidimensional poverty, the report noted.
• Among India’s neighbors, Sri Lanka (73rd), China (79th), Bangladesh (129th), and Bhutan (127th) are ranked
above India, while Pakistan (161st ), Nepal (143rd ), and Myanmar (149th) are worse off.
• The report said around 90 per cent of countries registered a decline in their HDI value in 2020 or in 2021.
• The Human Development Report published by United Nations Development Programme (1996) clarified
that the main objective of development is to increase the choices of people by providing education, health,
better nutrition, employment opportunities and social security.
• In any country like our own the problem of human development has remained manifold. It is related to overall
agricultural and industrial development.
• It includes the development of urban areas and rural areas, so also the tribal areas it is concerned with social
problems in which different societies have remained backward on account of various socio-cultural factors.
• Historical and political problems also play important role in making India a country of contrast.
• The economic and regional disparities in India are so sharp that the social scientist interested in human welfare
of our country have to show a constant concern and want the government in different decades since
independence, how the disparities are spreading at all levels.
Status of States:
• State such as Kerala and Tamil Nadu and at the top positions.
• These states are followed by Punjab, Maharashtra, West Bengal and Karnataka
• The third category is associated with Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Haryana.
• The 4th category is quite wide and associated with states, many at times rightly described as “BIMARU” states.
These includes Bihar Madhya Pradesh Rajasthan Uttar Pradesh and Assam these states have not yet shown good
progress as far as human development is concerned. The quality of human life is low and hence require some
more remedial measures​
 WORLD
HAPPINESS
INDEX
• The World Happiness Index is a measure of happiness published as a report by the United Nations Sustainable
Development Solutions Network.
• In July 2011, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution inviting member countries to measure the happiness of
their people and to use this to help guide their public policies.
• On April 2, 2012, this was followed by the first UN High Level Meeting on “Happiness and Well-Being: Defining a
New Economic Paradigm,” which was chaired by Prime Minister Jigme Thinley of Bhutan, the first and so far only
country to have officially adopted gross national happiness instead of Gross Domestic Product as their main
development indicator.
• The first World Happiness Report was released on April 1, 2012 as a foundational text for the meeting.
• It drew international attention as the world’s first global happiness survey. The report outlined the state of world
happiness, causes of happiness and misery, and policy implications highlighted by case studies.
• In September 2013 the Second World happiness report offered the first annual follow up and reports are now
issued every year. Each annual report is available to the public on the world happiness report website.
• In the report leading experts in several fields of economics, psychology, survey analysis, National Statistics and more,
describes how measurements of well-being can be used effectively to assess the progress of nations.
• Each report is organized by chapters that dwelve deeper into issues relating to happiness, mental illness, objective
benefits of happiness, importance of ethics, policy implications and links with the OECD’s approach to measuring
subjective well-being and human development report.
• Data is collected from people in over 150 countries each variable measured reveals a populated weighted
average score on a scale running from zero to 10 that is tracked over time and compared against other countries.
• These variables currently include real GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy freedom to make
life choices, generosity, and perceptions of corruption.
• Each country is also compared against a hypothetical notion call dystopia. Dystopia represents the lowest
national averages for each key variable and is, along with a residual error, used as regression benchmark.
• The world happiness reports 2016 which ranks 156 countries, by their happiness levels was released in Rome in
advance of UN World Happiness Day, March 20, 2016. For the first time the world happiness report gives a
special role to measurement and consequences of inequality in the distribution of wellbeing among countries
and regions.
• Denmark (7.526) ranked first followed by Switzerland ranked Second on the list followed by Iceland(3),
Norway (4) and Finland (5). India was ranked 118th in the list with a score of 4.404, down one slot from last
year on the Index.
• The report said India was among the group of 10 countries witnessing the biggest happiness declines alongwith
Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Yemen, and Botswana. India comes below Somalia (76), China (83), Pakistan
(92), Iran (105), Palestinian Territories (108) and Bangladesh (110).
 Thank You

Reach me on naazsheikh18@[Link]
For any further assistance.