Letter to BS: India's low score on Human Capital Index not an outlier

Apropos the column, “Don’t ignore” (October 19), notwithstanding some predictable inaccuracies in the World Bank’s new Human Capital Index (HCI), the reaction of the government is not understandable. Admittedly, the HCI would have used the metrics of the industrial era and perhaps not factored in the status of our human capital for the digital age. It is also possible that the HCI does not reflect our recent initiatives like Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan and Ayushman Bharat. Despite the gaps, there is absolutely no justification for the government to be so indifferent to the findings and to the humiliating 0.44 score given to India. The score is deplorable for a country that has aspirations of being a super power.

You are right in pointing out that business-as-usual will cost India 56 per cent of its income in the long run. Parameters of the index — child survival, school enrolment, quality of learning in schools, healthy and safe environment for growth and adult survival — are all fundamental building blocs of a society and we will ignore them only at our own peril. We don’t need the World Bank to tell us we are lagging. The new initiatives are great but even these do not cover all areas. To be ranked lower than the average for the region is pathetic, and needs immediate attention of the authorities — and the civil society — who must look at concerted corrective actions on a mission mode. 

Krishan Kalra, Gurugram

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