Health, education must

This refers to “Positive signals, but” (September 17). The editorial is a commentary on the lack of effort from successive governments on two out of the three factors that add up to the human development index (HDI) — life expectancy and years of schooling. This is unfortunate for a country which aspires to be a superpower and which seeks — and often gets — a place on the global high table.

As pointed out, health and education need massive investments as these are the primary building blocks of any society; and no amount of work on per capita income (the third factor contributing to the index) can ever make up when the population is not educated or healthy. Our score of 0.640 must embarrass us and force us to introspect, especially when our neighbour China is way ahead with an index score of 0.752.

If China has left us so far behind, it is not entirely due to their per capita income which is almost two and a half times ours. Our pathetic performance on the health care and education front also contributes strongly to the composition of the HDI. Conversely, if China is doing so well on the economic front, credit should go to its emphasis on health care and education as unless these two factors are addressed first, a country would never achieve fast economic growth. Let's hope the prime minister's new initiative on health care helps in bridging the gap.

Krishan Kalra Gurugram