Context: Economic Advisory Council to Prime Minister (EAC-PM) will release the Social Progress Index (SPI) for states and districts of India on December 20, 2022.

Key findings of the Social Progress Index(SPI)

• States ranking: Puducherry, Lakshadweep and Goa have emerged as best-performing among all States and Union Territories in the index while Jharkhand and Bihar as worst.

• District wise: Aizawl (Mizoram), Solan (Himachal Pradesh) and Shimla (Himachal Pradesh) have emerged as the top 3 best-performing districts.

• Aspirational District Programme(ADP): Around 27 out of 112 districts under the ADP have scored above the national average on the SPI.

About Social Progress Index (SPI)

• SPI is a comprehensive tool intended to be a holistic measure of the Social Progress made by the country at the national and sub-national levels.

• Aim: To provide a systematic account of the social progress made at all levels in the country.

• It sheds light on the achievements of the districts that have performed well on the index and the role of the states in achieving social progress.

• Analysis of the Aspirational Districts of India, leading to a broader understanding of the social progress at the grassroots level.

SPI assesses the performance of states and districts on three dimensions of social progress:

• The dimension of Basic Human Need: It assesses the performance of states and districts in terms of Nutrition and Basic Medical Care, Water and Sanitation, Personal Safety and Shelter.

• The dimension of Foundations of Wellbeing: It evaluates the progress made by the country across the components of Access to Basic Knowledge, Access to Information and Communication, Health and Wellness, and Environmental Quality.

• The dimension of Opportunity: It focuses on aspects of Personal Rights, Personal Freedom and Choice, Inclusiveness, and Access to Advanced Education.

• It has been prepared by Institute for Competitiveness, headed by Dr Amit Kapoor and the Social Progress Imperative, headed by Michael Green and was mandated by Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister of India.

Need for SPI

• GDP is not a holistic measure of a nation’s development: It would be incorrect to state that the economic progress is completely divorced from progress made in areas mentioned above.

• Social outcomes of developmental economics: The primary goal of the SPI is to provide a rigorous tool to benchmark progress and stimulate progress within countries.

• No single holistic parameter available: Several indicators, like GHI and HDI, go beyond GDP, but none captures social progress as finely as SPI.

• Doing away with biased reports: India does not display a respectable position in the index, as even the small neighbours like Nepal have a better rank. India is also the lowest rank holder in BRICS.

Significance of SPI

• Social progress of citizens is key to sustaining economic growth in the long run.

• It will act as a critical enabler and tool for policymakers in the coming years for achieving sustained socio-economic growth.

• Index complements the conventional measures of economic growth and development.

• It will aid policy makers in decision making.

Social Progress Index 2022: Global scale

• Index is published by the Social Progress Imperative, a US-based non-profit.

• It is one of the world’s largest curated collections of social and environmental data and is the first holistic measure of a country’s social performance that is independent of economic factors

• It uses its 12 components and 60 indicators to measure the social performance of 169 countries fully and an additional 27 countries partially.

• India ranked 110 out of 169 in Social Progress Index 2022.

Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM)

• It is an independent body constituted to give advice on economic and related issues to the Government of India, specifically to the Prime Minister.

• Objective: Analyzing any issue, economic or otherwise, referred to it by the Prime Minister and advising him thereon, addressing issues of macroeconomic importance and presenting views thereon to the Prime Minister.