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| We lag in health, education |
| BS Reporter / Feb 26, 2010, 00:02 IST |
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The financial year gone by saw the strengthening of several initiatives to help cushion the impact of global slowdown on the more vulnerable population.
The Economic Survey said the gap between the health and education indices of India and those in the developed world, and even with those in many developing countries, need bridging at a faster pace.
The financial year gone by saw the strengthening of several initiatives to help cushion the impact of global slowdown on the more vulnerable population. The government’s overall emphasis favouring higher allocations for social sector development continued.
The share of central government expenditure on social services, including rural development, in total expenditure (Plan and non-Plan) increased from 10.46 per cent in 2003-04 to 19.46 per cent in 2009-10 (Budget Estimates), it said.
While India’s human development index, a measure of its social indices, showed improvement in recent years, moving from 0.556 in 2000 to 0.612 in 2007, there is “no room for complacency”. For, India is still in the medium human development category, with countries like China, Sri Lanka and Indonesia doing better.
On life expectancy alone, India was way below both developed and some developing countries. Life expectancy at birth in India was 63.4 years in 2007 against 80.5 years in Norway, 81.4 years in Australia, 74 years in Sri Lanka and 72.9 years in China. On literacy rates, too, China and Indonesia fare much better. The adult literacy rate in 1999-2007 was 66 per cent in India against near-100 per cent in most developed nations, 93.3 per cent in China and 92 per cent in Indonesia.
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