The latest Human Development Index (HDI) report, by the United Nations Development Programme, has once again brought home some sobering news. India continues to be ranked 131 out of 188 nations on HDI. This is the same rank that India had in 2015. And while India is placed better than many of its neighbours such as Pakistan (147), Nepal (144) and Bangladesh (139), it is cold comfort since it not only falls far behind its BRICS partners — China (90), Brazil (79), Russia (49) and South Africa (119) — but also Sri Lanka (73) and Maldives (105).
This comparison gets