Kerala The Best Place To Live In

Kerala offers the best quality of life to its people, according to select human development index (HDI) parameters for 10 major Indian states.

The ratings published in the Economic Survey 1997-98 have listed parameters like life expectancy (LE), literacy rate (LR), infant mortality rate (IMR) and birth rate (BR) as indicative of development.

The parameters are similar to those in the UN Human Development Report, 1994 that had listed India way down in HDI, even behind Pakistan and several other developing economies in Africa, South America and Asia with lesser gross domestic product than India.

Kerala recording 72 per thousand population in life expectancy, 89.81 per cent in literacy rate, 13 per thousand in IMR and 17 per thousand in birth rate is way ahead of Punjab, which comes next, with 66.4 in life expectancy, 58.51 per cent in literacy rate, 52 in IMR and 23 in birth rate.

 

Punjab, however, is below Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat in literacy, which have ratings between 61 and 62. In infant mortality rate, Punjab at 52 is a below Maharashtra at 48.

HDI indicators in Kerala are above the national average of 61.3 in life expectancy, 72 in infant mortality and 52 in adult literacy.

It compares well with the better Southeast Asian economies like Malaysia and South Korea in most HDI indicators.

The national average has been pulled down by states like Uttar Pradesh which recorded 55.9 in life expectancy, 41.6 per cent in literacy, 85 in IMR and a high 34 in crude death rate. Along with U P, Rajasthan, Assam, Bihar and Orissa figure in the bottom of the pool.

Gujarat which has attracted the maximum foreign investment in the country has a life expectancy rate of 60.1, a literacy rate of 61.29, IMR of 62 and a death rate of 25.5. Maharashtra, another favourite of investors has achieved a life expectancy of 64.2, literacy rate of 64.87, IMR of 48 and birth rate of 23.2.

The ten states were chosen on the basis of their population, which is above 10 million.

The Economic Survey has quoted sources like census figures and the Registrar General of India for its data.