Conventional indicators such as per capita income or real state domestic product (RSDP) -- the aggregate output of goods produced within the state at constant prices -- have no definite correlation with human development, according to N K Singh, director of the Delhi-based Foundation for Organisational Research and Education (FORE). Although Kerala and Uttar Pradesh (up) have similar RSDPs and similar population densities, a recent fore study concludes that Kerala lies at the top of the human development index at 0.76, while up is last at 0.08.
"The human development index gives weightage to factors such as education, women's development, people's participation in development and the degree of freedom in the electoral process," says Singh. The study revealed that the states at both ends of the ladder felt that the Centre's role in their development was highly inadequate. The states were dissatisfied with the allocation of revenues for developmental expenditure.
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