EDUCATION AS A DETERMINANT OF SOCIOECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN INDIA: AN EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION

Education is regarded as one of the major tools in the development process. Education can go a long way in the growth of productivity, promote employment avenues, better health etc. Education can improve the socio-economic development of a state or a region by providing skilled workforce, higher employment and also helps in reduction of poverty in the society. These in turn help in increasing per capita income, improve people's status, reduce population growth, improve living standards, improve environmental quality and also help in the decision making of the people and thus help in attaining the broader objective of socio-economic development. This paper makes an attempt to examine the relationship between education and socio-economic development in India over the period 2008 to 2018. Education Development Index and Socio-Economic Development Index were developed on the basis of indicators taken under consideration to find out whether there exists any relationship between education and socio-economic development in India. A simple regression was conducted among them and the results shows that there exists a significant association between education and socio-economic development.