Human development earlier was defined in material expressions only that was capable of delivering only material well-being which is seen and observed in contemporary times in the developed world. Due to the partial definition of human development the developed world has been able to achieve material development i.e. well-being for the material part of happiness.
Human development should be defined to include improvements in material as well as non-material welfare especially for persons with the lowest incomes, and the greater contribution of broad-based groups in their development and in making a right and the welfare-oriented decision about the direction, cost-effective and otherwise, in which they should move the welfare of such folks.
It is the process of expanding freedoms, choices (Streeten, 1994), capabilities, and prospects of people and improving their welfare which is why it is about the real freedom we enjoy to decide about our own being, our actions and living. In fact, capabilities lie at the heart of human development which are essential guidelines and tools for leading a happy and moral life.
Economic reforms refer to the changes and reforms of the country’s economic policies with the goal of making the economy much better on all fronts. As far as the economic reforms of the Indian economy are concerned, we normally refer to the reforms of 1991 which brought a trinity: Liberalization, Privatization, and Globalization.
The purpose was to make the economy more liberal, more market and service-oriented together with the expansion of the role of private investment and Foreign Direct Investment. Impact of economic reforms of 1991 on human development is worth investigating for the reason that it points towards the trickle-down effect of growth and development or real welfares reaching the grass-root level.
Human development is measured through three broad parameters of life expectancy, education, key social indicators, and per capita income, key economic indicator. Human development can be assessed through Human Development Reports on key socio-economic indicators relating to health, education, and economy.
A nippy fleeting look at the available relevant data on Human Development of different countries in different Human Development reports by as wide-ranging agencies as World Bank, UN, IMF, Asian Development Bank, various NGOs, both domestic and international, field-surveys by different research institutes, universities and commercial groups, conveys the inimitable statistic that over the last two decades the graph of human development in the developed part of the world has been increasing at an increasing rate.
Human development may not be analogous throughout the world, but it is obviously there with the introduction of economic reforms. Similarly, human development may not be akin throughout the country, but it is visibly there with the onset of economic reforms of 1991. In addition, the available statistics point out that the Indian economy is likely to accomplish higher points of human development even with comparatively lower levels of economic development as has been revealed by the Indian states of Kerala, Chandigarh, Goa, Lakshadweep, Delhi etc.
BIMARU is a short form of economically and socially backward Indian states of Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh that was coined by Ashish Bose in mid-1990. It points out the sickness in these states. Among the backward states, the graph of literacy rate for Bihar has shown an increasing trend with substantial progress in literacy rates which has improved from 47.5 as total literacy rate in 2001 to 63.82 in 2011.
The other BIMARU states have also marginally improved literacy in the past decade. But, as far as the health parameters are concerned, most of the backward states, including BIMARU states, display a dismal performance. Even among the well-off states, some states like Haryana point out a poor figure in terms of some health indicators like infant mortality rate. In order to achieve a good Human Development Index, it is very important to work efficaciously on educational, social, and health parameters for to be good at the merely educational front and neglecting other areas will just beat the bush and not achieve real goals of human development.
There is a bi-way causality between economic reforms andhuman development. Both affect each other and therefore are complementary.There is a significant positive relationship between economic reforms and humandevelopment. Better the economic reforms are, better will be the graph of humandevelopment and vice versa. We need to understand the fundamentals of economicreforms in order to understand the fundamentals of human development which aresine-qua-non for sustainable development of the economy.
Conclusion
Human development is beyond what is seen and observed and about much more than economic growth, which is a vent to amplify people’s income, offering capabilities, choices and opportunities for people and the things people have reason to value.
It is a means of mental and social development by way of growing and experiencing things in one’s life and learning new ideas and things (Srinivasan, 1994). For Romer (1992) it is ideas that are important for the growth of an economy. There are two approaches for economic development: by means of using ideas and by means of producing ideas. Similarly, human development should adopt two approaches for development that is human by heart and spirit: consuming human ideas and creating human ideas.
Binish Qadri is ICSSR Doctoral Fellow, Department of Economics, Central University of Kashmir, She is Guest Faculty, NIFT, Srinagar.