According to a study by the best known medical journal, The Lancet, India ranks 158th in the world on the Human Capital index of 195 countries in the world, regarding education and healthcare.
The World Bank conducted the study to track and motivate investments in health and education sector.
Other Asian countries have fared better than India. While China bagged the 44th rank, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Nepal and Maldives have ranked at 102nd, 133rd, 156th and 116th position respectively.
However, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan were ranked at 164th, 161st and 188th position respectively.
As per the report in The Lancet, India has improved from the year 1990 when it was on 162nd and now it is on 158th.
For those unversed, human capital is a collection of various intellectual assets like knowledge, talents, skills, abilities, experience possessed by individuals or group of individuals in a population along with physical capital such as buildings, equipment and other tangible assets, contribute to economic productivity.
In the study, a period measure of the expected human capital was generated, which is defined as the expected lifespan of each birth grouping, from ages 20 to 64. This grouping was adjusted with the educational attainment, quality and functional health status, using time-period, age and sex-specific rates from 1990 to 2016.
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