Step 1: Understanding the Concept:
HDI is built on exactly three pillars: health, education, and income. Anything that does not fit under one of these three pillars cannot be part of HDI.
Step 2: Sort the four choices under the three pillars.
Life expectancy fits the health pillar. Educational level fits the education pillar. Per capita income fits the income pillar. All three have a clear home inside HDI.
Step 3: Test the leftover option.
IMR does not fit any of the three pillars. It is instead one of the three legs of an older measure, the PQLI, alongside life expectancy at age one and literacy rate.
Step 4: Final Answer:
Because IMR has no place in the HDI formula, the correct answer is Infant Mortality Rate.