Human development in India: rank, regional variation and the Kerala model

Detail

1. Key terms used in this section

• HDI (Human Development Index): a UNDP score from 0 to 1. It joins three things: a long and healthy life (life expectancy at birth), knowledge (mean and expected years of schooling) and a decent standard of living (GNI per capita in PPP dollars).
• IHDI (Inequality-adjusted HDI): the HDI after it is "discounted" for unequal sharing of health, schooling and income inside a country. The gap between HDI and IHDI, shown in per cent, is the loss due to inequality.
• GDI (Gender Development Index): the female HDI divided by the male HDI. A value of 1 means equality.
• GII (Gender Inequality Index): measures the harm caused by gender gaps in reproductive health, empowerment (seats in parliament, secondary education) and the labour market. 0 means no inequality; higher is worse.
• MPI (Multidimensional Poverty Index): counts people who are poor in many ways at once (health, education, standard of living), not just by income.
• Female labour-force participation rate (FLFPR): the share of working-age women who are working or looking for work.

2. India's place in the world (HDR 2025)

• Rank and value: India ranks 130 of 193 countries in the Human Development Report 2025 (data year 2023) [2].
• HDI rose from 0.676 (2022) to 0.685 (2023) [2].
• Rank improved from 133 (2022) to 130 (2023) [2].

• Category: medium human development [2].

• What drove the rise: mainly more mean years of schooling and higher national income per head (GNI per capita) [2].

• Health gains:
• Life expectancy at birth rose from 58.6 years (1990) to 72.0 years (2023) [2].

• This is India's highest since the index began. It shows recovery from the COVID-19 dip [2].

• Weak points:

• Inequality: inequality cuts India's HDI by 30.7% (HDR 2025). This is one of the largest losses in the region [2].
• Gender gaps: female labour-force participation and women's political representation lag behind (shown in the GDI and GII) [2].
• Hopeful step: the constitutional amendment that reserves one-third of legislative seats for women could bring big change [2].

3. Multidimensional poverty: the fall between NFHS-4 and NFHS-5

• Source: NITI Aayog, National MPI: A Progress Review 2023. It uses NFHS-4 (2015-16) and NFHS-5 (2019-21) [3][4].
• National fall: the MPI headcount fell from 24.85% (2015-16) to 14.96% (2019-21). About 13.5 crore people left multidimensional poverty [3].
• Rural vs urban:

Area	2015-16	2019-21
Rural	32.59%	19.28%
Urban	8.65%	5.27%
[3]

• Where the fall was fastest: Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Rajasthan (fastest drop in the share of poor people) [3].
• In numbers of people who left poverty: UP 3.43 crore > Bihar 2.25 crore > MP 1.36 crore [3].

• Bihar had the highest MPI in NFHS-4 and saw the largest fall in headcount ratio [4].

• Longer view: a NITI Aayog discussion paper (January 2024) estimates that 24.82 crore Indians left multidimensional poverty over the nine years from 2013-14 to 2022-23 [5].

• Spatial point: the poorest states improved fastest, but they started very far behind. So the north-south gap has narrowed but not closed.

4. Regional gradient inside India

• Pattern: human development is higher in the south and west and lower in the north and east (central Gangetic plain and the eastern plateau).
• Evidence base:
• National Human Development Report 2001: Planning Commission. It was the first all-India state HDI ranking.
• India Human Development Report 2011: Institute of Applied Manpower Research (IAMR), Planning Commission.
• Subnational HDI estimates, for example by Global Data Lab.

Group	States	Common features
High HD	Kerala, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Tamil Nadu	high literacy, low infant mortality, better sex ratio (Kerala, TN), strong public services; Punjab and Goa also have high income
Low HD	Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh	high fertility, low female literacy, high infant and maternal mortality, large rural poor and tribal populations

• Why the gradient:
• History: land reform and social reform movements were stronger in the south (Kerala, Tamil Nadu). Feudal landholding lasted longer in the Gangetic plain.
• Demography: the north-central states have high fertility. More children mean less spending per child on health and schooling.
• Women's agency: southern states have higher female literacy and later marriage. This lowers infant mortality.

• Governance: southern states built strong public health centres and schools early.

• Exception to note: Himachal Pradesh is a hill state in the north, yet it ranks high. It invested heavily in schooling, roads and women's participation.

5. Map exercise

• Step 1: shade a map of Indian states by HDI or MPI (dark = low HD or high poverty).
• Step 2: put beside it maps of per capita income, literacy and sex ratio (Census 2011; see india-population).
• What you will see:
• Low HDI and high MPI overlap in a block of Bihar–UP–Jharkhand–MP–Odisha.
• Income alone does not explain HD. Kerala has only middle-level income but tops HDI, literacy and sex ratio.
• Haryana and Punjab have high income but a poor sex ratio. Income and gender equality do not always move together.

6. The Kerala model of development

• Definition: the Kerala model is the pattern where a state reaches high literacy, long life expectancy and low infant mortality, close to rich countries, at a modest income per head.
• Origin of the term: a 1975 study by the Centre for Development Studies (CDS), Thiruvananthapuram, with the United Nations, called Poverty, Unemployment and Development Policy, first highlighted it.
• Location anchor: Kerala is a narrow strip on India's south-west (Malabar) coast, about 8°N–12.8°N. It lies between the Arabian Sea to the west and the Western Ghats to the east.
• Lesson: it supports the Haq–Sen idea that public action can raise human development before incomes rise.

Causes (cause → process → result)

• Land reform

• land given to tenants → less dependence on landlords → poor households gained security and bargaining power.

• Public health and schooling

• dense network of government schools and primary health centres → literacy spread to villages → infant mortality fell.

• Women's education and agency

• educated mothers → later marriage, fewer births, better child care → low infant mortality, high female life expectancy, sex ratio above 1,000.

• Social reform movements

• caste reform movements (for example, led by Sree Narayana Guru) and missionary schools → lower castes demanded schools and temple entry → education spread widely.

• Decentralised planning: People's Plan Campaign (1996)

• a large share of state plan funds handed to panchayats and municipalities → villages planned their own roads, health and water → services matched local needs.

• Gulf remittances (later)

• many workers migrated to West Asia from the 1970s → money sent home → higher consumption, housing and private schooling.

Limits

Limit	What it means
Slow industrial growth	few large factories; the economy rests on services and remittances
Educated unemployment	many graduates, too few matching jobs → out-migration
High consumer prices	the state imports much of its food and goods from other states
Remittance dependence	Gulf job losses (oil price falls, COVID-19) hit household incomes
Rapid ageing	low fertility + long life → large elderly share, care burden
Non-communicable diseases	diabetes, heart disease and hypertension rise as people live longer

7. Global comparisons

Pattern	Examples	Why
High HD at modest income	Sri Lanka, Costa Rica, Cuba, Kerala (India)	early public spending on health and schooling, women's literacy
High income, weaker social outcomes	some Gulf states	oil wealth came fast; women's empowerment and inequality indicators lag behind income

• Rule to remember: income rank and HDI rank can differ. A country whose HDI rank is better than its GNI-per-capita rank is turning income into well-being well.
• Policy detail: see the economy subject (poverty-inequality, development-and-hdi).

Prelims Hooks

• HDR 2025: India is 130 of 193, HDI 0.685 (2023), in the medium human development category [2].
• India's life expectancy rose from 58.6 years (1990) to 72.0 years (2023) [2].
• Inequality cuts India's HDI by 30.7%. This is the loss measured by the IHDI, not the GII [2].
• National MPI: 24.85% (NFHS-4, 2015-16) → 14.96% (NFHS-5, 2019-21). About 13.5 crore people left multidimensional poverty [3].
• Most people out of MPI poverty (2015-16 to 2019-21): UP > Bihar > MP [3].
• The first National Human Development Report (2001) was made by the Planning Commission. The India Human Development Report 2011 was made by IAMR.
• The "Kerala model" was first highlighted by the Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram (1975), with the UN.
• People's Plan Campaign (decentralised planning): Kerala, 1996.
• "High HD at modest income" cases: Sri Lanka, Costa Rica, Cuba. Do not confuse them with Gulf states (high income, weaker social outcomes).
• Trap: GDI is a ratio (female HDI ÷ male HDI). GII measures a loss (0 = equal). A higher GII is worse.

Mains Points

• North-south and east-west gradient (GS-I):
• The south and west (Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Goa) plus Himachal Pradesh and Punjab lead.
• The Bihar–UP–Jharkhand–Odisha–MP belt lags.

• Reasons: history of land and social reform, fertility levels, women's literacy and state capacity. The fastest MPI fall in these poorer states (2015-16 to 2019-21) shows the gap is narrowing [3][4].

• India's HD paradox: big gains in life expectancy (58.6 → 72.0 years, 1990–2023) and schooling. But the 30.7% inequality loss and low female labour-force participation hold the HDI back [2]. Policy focus: jobs for women, care services, and reaching marginal groups.

• Kerala model as proof of the capability approach: public action (land reform, schools, health, decentralisation) gave rich-country social outcomes at modest income. Its limits (educated unemployment, remittance dependence, ageing, NCDs) show that HD must later be backed by productive jobs and growth.
• Map-based answer: overlap maps of HDI or MPI with literacy and sex ratio. This shows that income ≠ human development (Kerala vs Punjab/Haryana), which is useful in GS-I answers on regional disparity.