India ranks poorly in Global Youth Development Index, at 133rd spot

India has been ranked 133th in a new Global Youth Development Index that was put together by the Commonwealth Secretariat on the Nation’s condition for youth when it comes down to employment, education, health, civic and political spheres.

India has ranked poorly, coming 133rd in the index that included 183 countries. India was placed below the neighboring countries like Nepal (77), Bhutan (69) and Sri Lanka (31) and trailing behind the South Asian average.

According to a report released last week that showed that India has seen an 11% improvement in score over the last five years and this highlighted the requirement for greater investment and hard-work to reap the the so-called demographic dividend.

"While India's overall rank is relatively low, it has registered an impressive improvement of nearly 11 per cent in its youth development scores in the period between 2010 and 2015. The research for this report also shows that youth development levels in India lag particularly in the domains of health, education and employment. Improvements in these sectors will give India a much better chance of reaping a handsome demographic dividend," Abhik Sen, the lead author of the '2016 Global Youth Development Index' report told ET.

The report highlighted the areas in which improvement is needed and they included education, employment opportunity and health and wellbeing.

The top 10 countries on the index are largely from Europe - Germany (1), Denmark (2), Switzerland (4), United Kingdom (5), Netherlands (6), Austria (7), Luxembourg (8), Portugal (9) - with Australia (3) and Japan (10) as the two exceptions.
(image: Indiainsider)