World Bank report: India trumps Pakistan in female literacy, infant mortality

Lahore [Pakistan], Oct. 4 (ANI): Fresh statistics released by the World Bank this week show that India has an edge over Pakistan in adult female literacy and life expectancy, however, it also mentions that both the hostile neighbours face the herculean task of eradicating poverty. According to Dawn, the World Bank report titled "Poverty and Shared Prosperity" has put Pakistan among the countries where incomes of the poorest are growing faster than average. The poorest in Pakistan are slightly ahead of the four per cent national growth rate while China tops the list with a more than 8pc growth rate. On the other hand, India lands among the countries where incomes of the poorest are growing slower than average, although it has one of the world's fastest growing economies. Overall, the statistics show that while in some fields India is doing better than Pakistan, in others Pakistan is ahead. The data shows that as many as 21.25pc Indians live at or below the World Bank's poverty line of $1.90 a day compared to 8.3pc in Pakistan. India fares better than Pakistan in life expectancy, which was 68 years in India and 66.1 years in Pakistan in 2014. India has an edge in life expectancy for women too, 69.49 years versus 67.15 years for Pakistan. India, however, has a clear edge in adult female literacy with 59.2pc in 2011, while for Pakistan it was 41.9pc. Infant mortality in India declined from 46.3 per 1000 live births in 2010 to 37.9 in 2015, while for Pakistan the comparable figures are 73.5 in 2010 and 65.8 in 2015. This gives a clear advantage to India. India is better in dealing with undernourishment as well, with 15.2pc of its population undernourished in 2015, compared to 22 per cent in Pakistan. (ANI)