By Express News Service

NEW DELHI: In the 1990-2017 period, the southern and northern states in the country have performed much better on the human development index (HDI) front compared to their respective peers, said a State Bank of India report on sub-national human development index. The report said that eastern states have a poor HDI performance.

According to the 2017 HDI scores by SBI, Kerala, Goa and Punjab occupy the top three positions, while states like Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh are among the bottom ranks. The index ranks states on the basis of three indicators — education, health and standard of living.

On improvement made during the 27-year period, the report said that Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka have seen a significant jump in their HDI ranks, while most of the northeastern states like Nagaland, Meghalaya and Manipur have seen slippages.

“The preponderance of southern states is not a surprise, but it also reflects an emerging concern. This is because ‘Southern India’ population is turning old and is currently witnessing a significantly low population growth and this could potentially result in imminent pressure on Southern states in terms of inter-state migration (both social & physical),” the report said.

The report further added that gap between the eastern region and rest of the regions, which was widening till 2014, has either declined or remains the same since 2015. This could be attributed to higher economic growth in eastern states, mainly Odisha and Bihar. As per UNDP’s HDI, India is ranked 130 among 189 countries.