A critical note on UNDP's gender inequality indices

This paper analyses the different indices applied for the measurement of hu man development as constructed by the United Nations Development Program. O f special interest is the Gender Development Index (GDI), introduced in the 1995 Human Development Report and the Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM). In light of the mate bias in the Indian socioeconomic context, the applicatio n of the GDI and GEM acquires special significance. A critical appraisal of their theoretical base and their application has been undertaken in this p aper. The conclusion is that GDI and GEM. although praise-worthy achievemen ts on the part of the UNDP, do not adequately reflect or measure male/femal e disparity in the Indian context. Both indices suffer from the weakness of employing a pre-assigned value of the Gender Sensitive Equity Indicator. T hey also exhibit several other shortcomings, outlined here. GDI is a poor i ndicator of the relative deprivation of females as shown by our analysis of the relationship between the GDI and the female/male ratio for 16 Indian c ore states.