Madhya Pradesh to be first state in India to float a ‘happiness index’ in 2018

Madhya Pradesh will be the first state in the country to float a happiness index in 2018. The index, based on a questionnaire will help the government gauge the happiness quotient of people.

Updated on: Mar 20, 2017, 23:52:54 IST

By Neeraj Santoshi, Bhopal

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Madhya Pradesh will be the first state in the country to float a happiness index in 2018. The index, based on a questionnaire will help the government gauge the happiness quotient of people.

Last year, the state government had announced that the happiness index will be ready by 2017, but on Monday, chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan made a fresh announcement on his Twitter handle, saying, “I take this opportunity on the international day of happiness to share that a Happiness Index is being prepared to be published in 2018. I am glad that feedback from happiness index survey will be factored into our government policies and public expenditure priorities”.

Chouhan’s main tweet was, “Matter of immense pride for me that MP is the first state in India to set up a Happiness Dept.. #HappinessinMP #InternationalDayOfHappiness”.

Rest of the details of his vision for the happiness department were shared on the photograph which was posted along with the tweet. “It gives me delight to see my government train volunteers for improving the happiness quotient of people of Madhya Pradesh…Borrowing from religious texts and folk wisdom , we are trying to spread virtues of goodness, altruism, forgiveness and peace…we will try to infuse a positive mindset among people through lessons, yoga, moral science , meditation etc,” Chouhan said on his twitter handle.

Manohar Dubey, chief executive officer of Rajya Anand Sansthan (state happiness department) told HT the form was being prepared. “We are in the process of consulting some institutions and experts for framing the comprehensive happiness index, which will be a first such exercise by any state in India,” he said.

Shivraj Singh Chouhan announced creation of the happiness department during a state executive meet of the BJP in Bhopal on April 1, 2016.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Neeraj Santoshi
Neeraj Santoshi is the Chief of Bureau for Hindustan Times in Uttarakhand, where he leads the state reporting team while covering government, politics, environment, wildlife, Uttarakhand High Court, and issues shaping the Himalayan region. With more than two decades in journalism across conflict zones, he has covered politically sensitive regions and environmentally fragile landscapes, and focused on stories that combine public interest with in-depth storytelling. An alumnus of Pune University with a Master’s in Communication Studies, he has reported extensively from Jammu & Kashmir (2003-2010), Madhya Pradesh (2010 to 2018 ) and Uttarakhand (Since 2018), covering subjects ranging from insurgency, elections and governance to wildlife conservation, mining, climate change, agriculture, human rights and social justice. He has covered politics and legislative assemblies of both Jammu & Kashmir and Madhya Pradesh over more than a decade. Before taking over as Chief of Bureau in Uttarakhand, he served as Special Correspondent with Hindustan Times in Madhya Pradesh and earlier reported for both Hindustan Times and The Indian Express in Jammu & Kashmir, where he covered state politics, environment and insurgency-related developments. Over the years, his stories have focused on environmental degradation, wildlife, illegal mining, governance and the changing social fabric of Himalayan states and Central India. He is particularly interested in long-form explanatory journalism, and stories that explore the intersection of ecology, conservation, governance and society. Outside the newsroom, Neeraj enjoys reading widely on neuroscience, consciousness studies, Artificial Intelligence and quantum physics, with a special interest in Kashmiri Tantric Shaivist traditions. He is also passionate about wildlife, mountaineering and the Himalayas, interests that continue to inform his reporting and deepen his understanding of the region he covers.Read More

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