Social Progress Index – 2017

In October, 2017, the Social Progress Index 2017 for the States of India was released by Social Progress Imperative and Institute of Competitiveness. The key findings of this report are uploaded in this 120 page document. Here are some relevant questions and answers for your examinations.

What are Social Progress and Social Progress Index?

Measuring social progress through social progress index is one of the numerous efforts being made to measure the national performance and well being by going beyond economic data such as GDP. As per this concept, the Social progress is the capacity of society to (1) meet basic human needs (2) allow citizens and communities to sustain quality of their life (3) create opportunities for individuals to reach their full potential.

Thus, there are three dimensions of the social progress Index viz. Basic Human Needs, Foundations of well being, and Opportunity. Each dimension has some components and each component has some indicators, which aggregately make a social progress index as show below:

The index has four tiers of social progress as shown below:

What are key findings of the Social Progress Index Report 2017?

The report has analyzed the social progress of 28 Indian states and one UT (Delhi) for the period 2005-2016 applying the Social Progress Index framework. The key observations are as follows:

• Overall India scores 54.90 on Social Progress Index while there is wide variation among states.
• Only one state, Kerala outperforms its economic peers – its social progress scores are higher than expected. The model of Kerala is always exemplified as evidence that investing more in social infrastructure can boost the productivity of people and thereby growth.
• Fifteen states, a mix of all income groups, underperform relative to their peers.
• Social progress on the country level is improving as “in 2016, the social progress scores are 57.03, registering an increase of approximately 8 points since 2005.
• Average performance is better on components of Basic Human Needs and worse on components of Opportunity reflecting that creating a society with equal opportunity for all still remains an elusive goal for most of the states.
• All states have improved since 2005, which is encouraging.
• The group of states that have registered the highest improvement are the states which were in the Very Low Social Progress tier in 2005 (Tripura, Meghalaya, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, and Bihar).

Which states are at the top and bottom of the index?

Kerala tops the SPI, with a score of 68.09, followed by Himachal Pradesh (65.39), Tamil Nadu (65.34), Uttarakhand (64.23), Goa (63.39), Mizoram (62.89), Sikkim (62.72) and Punjab (62.18).

Bihar is at the bottom of the list with a score of 44.89, followed by Jharkhand (47.80), Assam (48.53), Uttar Pradesh (50.96), Odisha (51.64), Rajasthan (52.31) and Tripura (53.22).

What the report speaks on Tamil Nadu?

The report has hailed Tamil Nadu model as one of the most balanced development models in the country. The state has not only shown advancements in economic growth over the years but the social indicators have also improved. The policies in the state have focused on almost all the areas ranging from healthcare, education, economy. These correct policy choices clubbed with successful implementation have led to these results. Tamil Naidu’s outstanding performance can be attributed to the public services that are provided by the state. The universal nature of the public systems helps in better social outcomes than most of other regions. The appropriate policies focusing with the right amount of expenditure in priority areas along with  strong implementation of the schemes has led Tamil Nadu on this path of inclusive development.

What the report speaks of Kerala?

The model of Kerala has always been held up as evidence that investing more in social infrastructure can boost the productivity of people and thereby growth, which shows up in the results as well. The model of development can be termed as a “human development-led” growth which has taken place due to systematic state investments in social sectors like education and health over a long period of time.

Among north east states, only Mizoram is among the states with very high social progress. What are the reasons for the same as per the report?

North East is seen as a special territory even after six decades of independence, due to the security concerns it faces. Consequently, the economic growth trajectory of this region has been different than the rest of the country. Despite being rich in natural resources, economic growth has been slow. Amidst all these issues Mizoram has managed to provide its citizens with living standards comparable to those of high-income states. The findings indicate the strength of social capital that will “mirror the track record of individual states on various counts which is likely to emerge as a tool for accountability in governance and politics” and is “a holistic and robust measurement framework for national, social & environmental performance that can be used by leaders in government, business and civil society at the country level as a tool to benchmark success, improve policy, and catalyse action.”