“Opportunities look better in the other city”, “how’s things would have been if I was in the other part of the country”.

Questions like these arise in our minds to make us reevaluate whether we live in the best atmosphere possible or have better opportunities to explore.

Similar questions at the national level & governance made it crucial to assess how well the country provides for its people's essential needs. Getting insight about this could be possible by measuring basic lifestyle & infrastructure facilities like access to nutrition and primary medical care, availability of safe drinking water, adequate housing with essential utilities, and if society is safe and secure. Hence the concept of developing a Social Progress Index Report was conceptualized with the belief that by looking at non-economic indicators, we can get a better sense of how a society is faring independent of economic measures.

What is Social Progress Index?

SPI is a report released by Economic Advisory Council-Prime Minister (EAC-PM) along with the Institute for Competitiveness and Social Progress Imperative.

The SPI provides a "comprehensive measure of social progress based" on social and environmental indicators that can complement the Gross domestic product (GDP) as a measure of well-being. Each year, the research collects data based on 89 indicators to assess the progress of each state and 49 indicators at the district level. These indicators were included under categories - Nutrition and Basic Medical Care, Access to Basic Knowledge, Personal Rights Water and Sanitation, Access to Information & Communication, Personal Freedom & Choice, Shelter, Health & Wellness, Access to advanced Education, Personal Safety, and Environmental Quality.

Based on the SPI scores, states and districts have been ranked under six tiers of social progress, which are Very High Social Progress, High Social Progress, Upper Middle Social Progress, Lower Middle Social Progress, Low Social Progress and Very Low Social Progress.

Social Progress Index : Global Report

The Social Progress Index was launched in April 2013 at the 10th annual Skoll World Forum held at the University of Oxford. It is published annually by a non-profit entity called Social Progress Imperative, which is based out of the United States of America (USA). The mission is to improve the lives of people across the globe, with particular emphasis on the least well-off people, by providing a robust, innovative and holistic measurement tool.

At the global level, leading the ranking of 2022 Social Progress Index was Norway, with a total index score of 90.74. Two other Nordic countries, Denmark and Finland, are second and third in the ranking. The Social Progress Index 2022 report shows that India is currently ranked 110th (among 169 countries) in the world on the Social Progress Index, scoring 60.19/100, in the fourth tier of performance. India’s aggregate Social Progress Index score in 2022 is slightly lower than the world average of 65.24.

Social Progress Index 2022 India

As per India's Social Progress Index 2022, Most of the Union territories, including Puducherry, Lakshadweep, Chandigarh, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu, and Andaman and Nicobar Islands, have ranked top. While Puducherry topped the chart with 65.99 for its remarkable performance across components like personal freedom and choice, shelter, and water and sanitation; Lakshadweep and Goa followed close with scores of 65.89 and 65.53, respectively. Jharkhand and Bihar ranked the lowest on the list. Jammu and Kashmir took a significant jump, bagging the tenth spot.

In terms of Basic Human Needs, Goa, Puducherry, Lakshadweep, and Chandigarh emerged as the top four states with the best performance in Water and Sanitation and Shelter. Mizoram, Himachal Pradesh, Ladakh, and Goa were considered as the best-performing states for the Foundations of Wellbeing. Delhi has topped the list for Access to Information and Communication with a score of 71.30. For Health and Wellness, Rajasthan has the highest component score of 73.74. Northeastern states namely Mizoram, Nagaland, and Meghalaya, excelled in terms of Environmental Quality. Tamil Nadu, on the other hand, achieved the highest component score of 72.00 for the Opportunity dimension.

Key Takeaways

The SPI has been developed to bridge the gap between traditional economic indicators and social progress indicators. It is sure to work as an essential aspect of fulfilling human rights. It also enables citizens residing globally to track their countries' progress in achieving social progress. The data can be further used to create an environment of competitiveness among regions to provide a better environment for its residents. Also, it narrows down the areas which have shown improvement and highlight those that require attention.        

References

- https://www.gktoday.in/topic/social-progress-index-20/

- https://www.adda247.com/upsc-exam/social-progress-index-spi-2022-upsc/

- https://pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=1885039

- https://currentaffairs.adda247.com/social-progress-index-spi-for-states-and-districts-being-released/

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_Progress_Index