Mumbai (AsiaNews) - India is ranked 135th out of 187 countries in terms of human development, this according to the 2014 Human Development Report released today in Tokyo (Japan) by the United Nations Development Programme.
The report divides countries into four tiers of human development: very high (1-49), high (50-102), medium (103-144) and low (145-187).
Contacted by AsiaNews, Capuchin Fr Nithya OFM explains India's middle position "to the long road that India still needs to do to eradicate hunger and extreme poverty."
The report is based on the Human Development Index (HDI), a composite statistic of life expectancy, education, and income.
Between 1980 and 2013, India's HDI value improved from 0.369 to 0.586. However, it remains the "worst" country among the BRICS. Brazil, Russia and China are ranked among high growth countries. Even South Africa, which is in the middle, outranks India at 118th.
"In a country where one in three people live below the poverty line," Fr Nithya told AsiaNews, "the slogan used by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, 'With all, development for all' (Sabka Saath Sabka vikas), mocks the poor and the marginalised."
This slogan, the clergyman explained, "may sound promising, but in a country where there is an embarrassing disparity between billionaires on one side and people who are struggling to survive on the other, you have to take extraordinary measures to help the neediest."
"India cannot forget Gandhi's teachings," he noted. The Mahatma "said that we cannot reach the welfare of all unless we start with the least, the lost and the last. Otherwise, in the name of development, health care and investment will continue to pour only into the pockets of the rich. "