New Delhi: As India's performance in Human Freedom Index declined at 119 out of 165 countries in 2021 from 90 out of 157 countries in 2013, the key Opposition All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) on Saturday took a dig at the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government accusing it for the worst ever performance of the country at the global level.
In a tweet from its official handle, the TMC has blamed the Narendra Modi government's 'misrule' for the record low performance of the country in the Human Freedom Index.
"Disturbingly, India's rank in the annual human freedom index has been declining since the BJP took to power and has fallen behind our neighbouring countries," the party said in a tweet.
"India ranked at 119 out 165 countries on the annual freedom index. This rank is worse than the countries like Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka. The country's rank on this index has been on the decline since 2014 and India's low rank clearly highlights BJP's dictatorial tendencies," the party said.
Besides the freedom index, India's performance on various indicators of economic, personal, and civil freedoms has declined between 2013 and 2019.
The 2021 report, which is co-published by two think tanks –Cato Institute in the US and the Fraser Institute in Canada –has used 82 indicators to rate countries from 2008 to 2019, which is the most recent year for which there was internationally comparable data.
However, India's rank is much better than its neighbours China, which ranks at 150, Pakistan (145) and Bangladesh (142).
But India's performance is worse than Nepal (84), Bhutan (98), and Sri Lanka (112), as per the report.