Q.What is the Physical Quality of Life Index (PQLI)? Who developed it?

PQLI is an older, income-free composite index built from three basic-needs indicators.

The Physical Quality of Life Index (PQLI) was developed in the 1970s by the American economist Morris D. Morris for the Overseas Development Council, as one of the earliest alternatives to using per capita income alone to judge development.

PQLI is built from three basic-needs indicators, each first scaled to run from 0 to 100:

1. Infant Mortality Index — based on the infant mortality rate.
2. Life Expectancy Index (at age one) — based on life expectancy at age one, rather than at birth.
3. Literacy Index — the basic adult literacy rate used directly, since it is already a 0-to-100 figure. …

Confusing PQLI's 0-to-100 scale with HDI's 0-to-1 scale, or forgetting that PQLI (unlike HDI) does not include …