Q.What is the difference between HDI and PQLI?

PQLI and HDI are both composite welfare indices, but PQLI uses three social indicators on a 0–100 scale and excludes income, while HDI uses health, education and income on a 0–1 scale.

PQLI (Physical Quality of Life Index) was developed by Morris David Morris. It is the simple average of three indicators, each scaled 0 to 100:

• Life expectancy at age one
• Infant mortality rate
• Basic literacy rate

HDI (Human Development Index) was developed by the UNDP (1990), conceived by Mahbub ul Haq with Amartya Sen. It combines three dimensions and takes a value between 0 and 1:

• A long and healthy life — life expectancy at birth
• Knowledge — education (mean and expected years of schooling)
• A decent standard of living — real per-capita income (GNI per capita, PPP)