Punjab tops Human Development Index report, Balochistan lowest

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan National Human Development Index (HDI) report released by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) shows Punjab ahead of all other provinces.

Overall, the report categorises Pakistan at a medium level of human development. Punjab province was allotted the highest HDI points for Pakistan – 0.732, followed by Sindh (0.640), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) at 0.628 and Balochistan (0.421). Immunisation rate stands at 89 per cent for Punjab, 78 per ecnt for KP, 73 per cent for Sindh and 51 per cent for Balochistan. 90 per cent females and 89 per cent males in Punjab are immunised while for KP the figure stands at 79.5 and 77 per cent respectively. For Sindh, the immunisation rate is 72 per cent for females and 74 per cent for males while for Balochistan, the figure is 52 and 50 per cent respectively.

Six districts in the country have been categorised as highly developed, four of which are in Punjab. For the category of high medium-human development, Punjab has the largest share at 19 districts. 78.3 per cent of people in Punjab express satisfaction with health services, 73.2 per cent in Sindh, 72.7 per cent in KP and 65.8 per cent in Balochistan.

With regards to education, average schooling years in Punjab stand at 10.1 years, 9.7 years in KP, 8.3 years in KP and 7.4 years in Balochistan. Balochistan also has the lowest levels of living standards at 33.9 per cent. Punjab, Sindh and KP have 83 per cent, 67.6 per cent and 67.1 per cent respectively. Punjab is consequently considered as High Medium Human Developed, Sindh and KP as Medium Human Developed and Balochistan as Low Human Developed. In addition, Punjab has a youth literacy rate of 73.6 per cent, 67.7 per cent in Sindh, 63.5 per cent in KP and 50 per cent in Balochistan.

However, gender seems to play an important role in youth literacy, with considerable levels of disparity found across the country. Male literacy levels in Punjab is at 71 per cent but 55 per cent for females. The figure for Sindh is 70 per cent and 49 per cent for males and females respectively. For KP males have a 71 per cent literacy level but 35 per cent for females. Finally, Balochistan has 61 per cent for males but 25 per cent for females.

With regards to Youth Development, Punjab again stands at the top with 0.57 points, followed by Sindh at 0.538 points, KP at 0.394 and Balochistan at 0.373.

For poverty and unemployment, Balochistan is the poorest with 0.394 points, followed by KP at 0.25 points, Sindh at 0.231 points and Punjab being the least poor at 0.152 points. Likewise, unemployment rate in Punjab is 5.2 per cent, 7.9 per cent for KP, 4.8 per cent for Sindh and 3.9 per cent for Balochistan.