Getting India's growth priority right

To catch up with peers, not only in size but also in per capita income, India must focus on health and education

Historically, economic growth or income alone was considered the primary measure of human development. Over the years, however, health and education gradually emerged as key elements of human development, alongside income. A major thrust to the broader concept of human development was provided in 1990 when the United Nations Development Programme began to release country-wise data on the human development index (HDI) as a summary measure of a nation’s average achievements in three key dimensions of human development: Income, health and education. 

It is significant that research in the global context clearly establishes that income and non-income components of human