Some years ago, the NITI Aayog said it would prepare a ‘single, informative dashboard for all the 29 (later 32) global indices’ on which India was ranked. This monitoring exercise was ‘not just to improve rankings but to improve systems and drive reforms to attract investments and to shape India’s perception globally’.

This did not happen, for whatever reason, but that should not stop us from doing it ourselves. For one of my books, I looked at more than four dozen global indicators to compare where India stood now compared to 2014. I periodically revisit the data and it is instructive to know what the position is. Let’s have a look.

On the Human Development Index, India’s rank in 2014 was 130, which remains unchanged. The UN report says 'inequality reduces India’s HDI by 30.7%, one of the highest losses in the region. While health and education inequality have improved, income and gender disparities remain significant. Female labour force participation and political representation lag'.

The Civicus monitor demoted India’s civic space from ‘Obstructed’ to ‘Repressed’. It said 'there are a total of 49 countries in the world with this rating (of Repressed). This rating is typically given to countries where civic space is heavily contested by power holders, who impose a combination of legal and practical constraints on the full enjoyment of fundamental rights'.

The Lowy Institute Asia Power Index measures hard power. India’s score fell from........

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