Answer the following questions in about 150 words each : (e) Write down the major limitations of HDI developed by the UNDP.

Major Limitations of the Human Development Index (HDI)

• Inequality Blindness: The HDI presents national averages, effectively masking significant disparities within a country. A high average HDI can obscure large inequalities in income, education, and health outcomes between different regions, social groups, genders, or ethnicities. For instance, a nation might have a high GNI per capita, but this wealth could be concentrated among a small elite, leaving the majority in poverty.
• Limited Scope and Missing Dimensions: The HDI does not account for several crucial aspects of human well-being and development. It omits factors like political freedoms, human rights, gender equality (though separate indices like GII exist), environmental sustainability, cultural diversity, social justice, and personal security. A country with a high HDI might still suffer from severe environmental degradation or lack of political liberties.
• Qualitative Aspects Ignored: While HDI measures quantitative indicators like years of schooling, it fails to assess the quality of education or healthcare services. For example, a country might have high enrollment rates, but the actual learning outcomes or the quality of medical care could be poor.
• Data Reliability and Availability: The accuracy of HDI calculations heavily depends on the quality, consistency, and availability of reliable data from member countries. In many developing nations, statistical systems may be weak, leading to inconsistent or inaccurate data, which can compromise the index's integrity and comparability.
• Subjectivity of Weighting: The HDI assigns equal weight to its three dimensions (health, education, and income). Critics argue that this equal weighting can be arbitrary, as the relative importance of these dimensions might vary across different societies, cultural contexts, or stages of development.
• High Correlation Between Components: The components of the HDI are often highly correlated. For example, higher education levels generally lead to higher GNI per capita. Including these correlated values can sometimes be misleading and may not add distinct value to the overall assessment of development.
• Numerical Limitations and Diminishing Returns: The indicators used in HDI are capped at certain maximum values (e.g., life expectancy at 85 years). This means that highly developed countries with already high scores have little room for improvement, even if their human development continues to progress significantly beyond these thresholds.