Beyond HDI: A Framework for Characterising Human Development with Application to India

In this article, we develop a framework for characterising human development in the three-dimensional space of individual capacity, individual knowledge and individual standard of living. The framework is based on the profiling of human development in the three-dimensional space and the inequality or the disparity in progress in the three core dimensions of human development. The framework can be used to understand the dynamics of human development. It can also be used for setting priorities for investment in human development to maximise the impact of the investment on human progress. The application of the framework to India highlights the variation in the dynamics of human development within India, across states/Union Territories and across districts in terms of both human development profile and inequality in human progress across three core dimensions of human development. The variation in the dynamics of human development within the country calls for a decentralised approach to planning and programming human development activities and for prioritising investment in human development.