In the context of Human Resource Development, the prevailing education system in India suffers from many shortcomings, some of which are highlighted below.

THERE IS no link, whatsoever, between the producers and users of manpower with the result that institutions of learning, essentially at the secondary, technical, and higher levels, are not exactly aware of the end result and use of their manpower output. There has to be a complete synchronisation and rapport between the two sets: the producers and the users, as happens in most of the countries, including the developing ones. There is no focus on the quality of education in terms of the depth and dimensions of teaching and in terms of syllabi, though technical education does have some quality control. There are rarely any revisions and up gradation of courses either in the light of the changes occurring in the given discipline, or in terms of the country’s manpower requirements.

Higher education is basically financed by the Government and that too without any reference to quality and output. It lacks philanthropic support either from the Non Government Organisations or from the corporate world. In this era of reforms, the time is not far when higher education, funded entirely by the Government, will be tossed into suddenly free and competitive market with sharply reduced government funding. It will then be termed as India’s higher education open market, the initial impact of which will be largely negative. It is anticipated that many institutions at that time will get disintegrated, strangled by the loss of resources, an overwhelming demand for resources that they would fail to provide, and the receivables they would not be able to recover.

SECTION II: HUMAN DEVELOPMENT INDEX

The process of economic development is highly complex, and is influenced by a variety of economic factors (such as capital formation, marketable surplus, foreign trade, economic system) and non-economic factors (like, human resources, technical know-how, political set-up, social fabric). There are, therefore, many direct and indirect measures of economic development. The most important measure is Gross National Product, which is conventionally used in almost all the countries. but due to various bottlenecks the benefits of growth, somehow, fail to trickle down to the masses, and hence, in many cases higher growth does not reflect correspondingly satisfactory economic development.

As a result, economists have come out with a number of other comprehensive measures like, Physical Quality of Life Index (PQLI), Human Development Index (HDI), to assess the level of economic development. These measures are basically linked with human development, which is defined by the Human Development Report of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) as a process of widening people’s choices as well as raising the level of well-being achieved. We must remember that the defining difference between the economic growth and the human development schools is that the first focuses exclusively on the expansion of only one choice- income- while the second embraces the enlargement of all human choices- whether economic, social, cultural, or political.

The rationale for Human Development is very well provided by saying that human development is the end, while economic growth is only the means to this end; leads to higher productivity of labour force through education, health, and nutrition; provides incentives like, higher income, better standard of living, and reduction in infant mortality rates, to lower down the family size; adds to physical environment through decline in activities like, deforestation and soil erosion, that are linked with high poverty levels; and adds to social and political stability, effective democracy, and better civil society. Human Development Index was first introduced by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

In 1990, and ever since then it has been enlarged and refined in terms of the changing world scenario in all the spheres that matter in the given context. Many new indices such as Gender-Related Development Index (GDI), Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM), and Human Poverty Index (HPI) have been formulated. As we have said earlier, this Paper focuses only on Human Development Index (HDI). This concept is much wider, comprehensive and multi-dimensional, and portrays simultaneously the aggregated reflections of various segments of the economy.

In fact, Human Development Index goes beyond a measure like, Gross National Product (GNP), and measures not only income, but many other parameters like, education, health, and nutrition; draws the attention of the policy makers towards the ultimate end of development, rather than its means; clearly depicts the economic and social scenario of a country in the sense that a higher Human Development Index is more authentic than a measure like Gross National Product, the higher level of which can sometimes reflect income disparities; is much more suitable, authentic, and appropriate for inter-country comparisons; and can be disaggregated by gender, ethnic and tribal groups, backward areas, and by many other standards.

The criteria that have been used to evolve the concept of Human Development Index are very well described when we say that Human Development Index includes many more human choices (relating to long and healthy life, acquisition of knowledge, quality of life, pollution-free environment, gainful employment, peaceful community life, and so on) than only income (as in the case of Gross National Product);is simple and manageable in terms of the limited number of variables and proxy variables used in its computation; is based on a composite index rather than many indices.

(This initially posed the problem of a common denominator, which was sorted out by introducing a scale between 0 and 1, indicating the actual progress in each indicator as relative distance from a desirable goal); and covers both economic and social choices (on the basis that both move hand in hand) by incorporating appropriate indicators. The available data on HDI as provided by the various Human Development Reports of the UNDP shows that over the years India has actually registered a marginal improvement in Human Development Index.

But, is that satisfying looking at the widespread deprivation and hardship, starvation deaths in the midst of plenty, unsafe environment, deteriorating public culture, limited and ineffective health facilities, poor infrastructure, deteriorating performances on a number of critical social indices like, the infant mortality rates, and safety hazards. The reason is that our political process has largely failed to deliver the basic social needs. We have, therefore, to shed our complacency, and we have to recognise the current euphoria about economic liberalisation. Market forces, no matter how efficiently they work, cannot alone tackle the issues involved. The State has to perform its basic role in the areas of social and human development.