One of the most shocking declines have been in the Global Gender Gap report prepared by World Economic Forum which benchmarks countries on their progress towards gender parity in four dimensions: Economic Participation and Opportunity, Educational Attainment, Health and Survival and Political Empowerment. The 2020 report was the 14th edition in which India slipped to the 112th spot from its 108th position in 2018. The Index covered 153 countries. Nepal was at 110th position with gain of 4 places, Pakistan at 151st rank, falling 3 places, and Bangladesh at 50th rank falling 2 places from previous report. Top position was taken by Iceland and last was Yemen. This year India fell 28 steps and ranked at 140 registering a severe decline. India is doing better than Pakistan but much worse than Bangladesh in this Index.The Human Freedom Index co‐published by the Cato Institute and the Fraser Institute is yet another significant Index in which India registered serious decline. It evaluates criteria such as personal, civil, and economic freedom, dignity of individuals and is defined as negative liberty or the absence of coercive constraint. In 2019 India ranked 94th. The 2020 report placed India at the 111th, a fall of 17 places. In the 2021 report, India fell 5 more spots and is now at 119th position, registering a total decline of 22 places in 3 years.In the Press Freedom Index, India registered a shocking 60 places decline since this report was first published in 2002. The index evaluates criteria such as pluralism, media independence, media environment and self-censorship, legislative framework, transparency, and the quality of the infrastructure that supports the production of news and information. In the 2020 report India ranked 142 among 180 countries falling 2 places from 2019. There is no change since last report.Remarkably, India is still among the world’s top 10 countries in the Global Right To Information Rating despite a fall of 4 places in the latest report published in 2018. This Index was created by created by Access Info Europe (AIE) and the Centre for Law and Democracy (CLD) in 2011 when India made a debut at the second position. From being the second best, India slipped four positions in seven years, to settle at number at 6 in the 2018 report.Another significant Index respected widely is the Human Development Index created by UNDP 30 years ago as a new way to conceive and measure progress. Key dimensions of human developments considered by the report are, a long and healthy life, being knowledgeable and have a decent standard of living. In the latest available report India ranked at 131 falling 2 places from 129 in the previous report. Between 1990 to 2010 India had a sharp rise in the index, but the curve has been more or less flat since last 10 years. India, along with Pakistan and Bangladesh fall in the mid-development slab, with India doing slightly better however Bangladesh showing faster growth. Pakistan is at 153rd and Bangladesh at 133th position out of 189 countries.
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