Spatial Scenario of Literate Life Expectancy at Birth in India

Abstract

Measuring human quality of life is a challenging academic work. Human development index substantially captures the overall country level status on human welfare. However this index has some drawbacks. W. Lutz thus composed a simple index in 1995 combining life expectance and literacy, called Literate Life expectance (LLE). LLE can be calculated for subpopulations depending on availability of data. This paper captures LLE of major states of India and its gender difference at rural and urban level. We have tried to highlight the social development scenario of India and its major states by using this pure social indicator that intentionally does not use any economic measurement. The state scenario comprehensively depicts gender differentials in social development and it calls for implementing development measures more seriously in states like Haryana Bihar, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh in order to reduce the gender gap. Being highly correlated with human development index, Literate Life Expectancy index proved to be a very clear and simple comprehensive measure of social development for different sub populations.