Capability failure and group disparities: Some evidence from India for the1980s

This article advances a particular measure of deprivation - called the Capa bility Failure Ratio (CFR) - on the dimensions of longevity, knowledge and income, and suggests how an (inequality-) 'adjusted' version of the CFR may be derived. These measurement concerns are explored in the context of rele vant State-wise data for the Indian Union. The article makes an attempt to enrich the analysis of the human predicament by sensitising 'measures of ce ntral tendency' to distributional concerns.