Question

Kerala, with lower per capita income has a better human development ranking than Haryana. Hence, per capita income is not a useful criterion at all and should not be used to compare states. Do you agree? Discuss.

Answer 1

No, I disagree with the statement that per capita income is not a useful metric that should not be used to compare states. Furthermore, per capita income is just one of the metrics used to compare states. Kerala, despite its low per capita income, ranked higher in human development than Haryana due to better access to basic health and educational facilities.

Human development rankings are based on a combination of factors such as health, education, and income. This is not to say that per capita income is useless. Rather, per capita income is a significant development determinant and should not be ignored.

The per capita income as a criterion for comparing states and evaluating progress had certain limits to overcome when the determination of the Human Development Index is computed using this criterion, together with certain other development criteria like health, education, etc.