Spotlight
New Delhi, 6 April 2017
World Happiness
Report
BACKWARD MARCH FOR INDIA
By Dr S Saraswathi
(Former Director,
ICSSR, New Delhi)
The latest report on ranking of countries on Happiness Index
must have made our countrymen sadder for slipping from its low position at 118
in 2016 to further down to 122 in 2017 among 155 countries. India ranks
lowest among its South Asian, SAARC neighbours. The first five ranks are held
by Norway, Denmark, Iceland,
Switzerland, and Finland.
The saddest part is that our closest neighbours with whom we
have daily personal contact are ahead of us by rank – Pakistan at 80, Nepal 99, Bhutan 97, Bangladesh 110, and Sri Lanka 120. Perhaps, India can console herself by looking at the
decline of even the US
from 13th rank in 2016 to 14 in 2017.
It is the fifth Report on Happiness by the Sustainable
Development Solutions Network (SDSN) – a global initiative for the United
Nations. It emphasises the significance of social foundations of happiness. The
object is to mobilise support for sustainable development at local, national,
and global levels from scientific and technological expertise, public and
private sectors, academic institutions, and civil society.
The ranking on Happiness indicators is done on the basis of
certain criteria such as gross domestic product per capita, healthy life
expectancy, along with four factors from global surveys –extent of social
support if something goes wrong, freedom to make life choices, sense of
corruption in their societies, and extent of their generosity. Over-all top
score of 7.537 is achieved by Norway.
India
has scored 4.315 points.
The UN General Assembly passed a resolution in July 2011
inviting members to measure happiness of the people of their countries as a
guide to policy-making. The resolution asked members to undertake steps that
give more importance to happiness and well-being in determining ways of
achieving and measuring social and economic development.
The resolution declared that, “the pursuit of happiness is a
fundamental human goal” and embodies the “spirit of the globally agreed targets
known as the Millennium Development Goals” thus linking happiness with
development. The General Assembly proclaimed 20th March as the
International Day of Happiness.
Surprisingly, the pioneer who discovered the importance of
“happiness” for development and for measuring social progress is the tiny Himalayan Kingdom
of Bhutan.
The term “Gross National Happiness” to replace “Gross National Product” was
coined by the King of Bhutan in 1972.
The First World Happiness Report was issued on 1st
April 2012 in connection with the UN High Level Meeting on Happiness and
Well-being: Defining a New Economic Programme. The Organisation for Economic
Cooperation and Development (OECD) committed itself to “redefine the growth
narrative to put people’s well-being at the centre of government’s
efforts”. Guidelines were evolved to
measure “well-being”. Good mental state and affective reactions of people to
their experiences are among the indicators of well-being. In February 2017,
the United Arab Emirates
held a meeting on World Happiness as
part of the World Government Summit.
Indians may take a philosophical view and reject the very
idea of measuring happiness on a material yardstick. Happiness (Ananda) to them is a state of mind – the end of spiritual journey
along with Sat (truth) and Chit (consciousness). It is within oneself,
with one’s way of thinking, as told by Marcus Auralius – the Roman Emperor –
who believed that very little is needed to make a happy life. There are many
Indian legends, which are still popular, that teach that happiness does not
flow from material goods and comfort.
Recognition of individual happiness as a right and the role
of the government to promote happiness can be traced to the Declaration of
Independence in the US
in 1776. Pursuit of happiness is given the same importance as life and liberty
in this document. Thomas Jefferson asserted that, “the care of human life and
happiness is the first and only legitimate object of government”. Several
States of the US
mention happiness in their Constitutions. The US Supreme Court has used the
expression “happiness” in deciding several cases.
Utilitarian political thought stood for the greatest
happiness of the greatest number as the end of the State. The British are said
to be recently diverting attention of the government from mere wealth to other
purposes of life to promote the well-being of the people. Happiness finds
mention in the Constitutions of Japan (1947), South
Korea (1948), and France (1958).
The secret of the Buddhist kingdom Bhutan’s
official preoccupation with happiness deserves examination. Outwardly, it seems
to be deriving from its small size and small population conducive to community
spirit, natural beauty with less pollution, belief in the Buddhist philosophy
that desire is the root cause of misery, less gap between the rich and poor,
and the ability of Bhutanese to accept
spiritual and material happiness equally.
Happiness has had been the main concern of Bhutan Kings,
and the ultimate purpose of social and economic development from the 1970s. The
King declared in 1972 that “Gross National Happiness (GNH) is more important
than Gross National Product (GNP)”. Since then, GNH has become the guiding
force in public and private sectors and in individual lives. The Gross National
Happiness Commission has been set up. Five Year Plans, geared to enhance
happiness, present a “Vision for
Peace, Prosperity, and Happiness”. The Centre for Bhutan Studies and GNH
Research was established in 1998.
Gross National Happiness is included as one of the nine
pillars of “good governance” in Bhutan. GNH Index is based on social, economic,
cultural, and environmental status and its values are internalised in planning
in all sectors. Article 9 of the Constitution of Bhutan (2008) says that,“
The State shall strive to promote those
conditions that will enable the successful pursuit of Gross National happiness”.
The UAE and Venezuela
have also constituted a Ministry/Department for Happiness. The main objective
is to ensure “happiness in the lives of the common people”. Psychologists are
associated with the Ministry of Happiness in UAE to advise people on happiness.
Madhya Pradesh is the only State in India that is attracted by Bhutan example
and has constituted a Ministry for Happiness, called Anand Department in July
2016. The initial budget of Rs. 2 crore has been increased this year as 4.75
crore. MP is planning to evolve a “Happiness Index” with indicators to measure
economic status and social welfare. Data will be collected through
questionnaires from all residents. Anand Department will focus on cultural
aspects of happiness and is already conducting cultural events and sports
through the Panchayat institutions. The State has also established a Happiness
Institution headed by the Chief Minister himself. School syllabus is likely to
include lessons on Happiness.
The top rank holders in the Happiness Report have uniformly
scored high on caring, freedom, generosity, honesty, health, income, and good
governance – a mixture of internal qualities and material conditions.
Despite giving to the world sat, chit, ananda (truth, consciousness, and bliss) as the ultimate
goal of our spiritual journey, India
seems to have failed to internalise this in our material life. Ignorance is bliss to Indians unmoved by
global ranks an race for happiness. It is time that we realize that the global
report is not about sensual pleasures, but about enhancing the quality of life
of everyone and reverse our backward march.---INFA
(Copyright,
India News and Feature Alliance)
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