A GROWING ECONOMY BUT AN UNHAPPY NATION
As the world celebrated Happiness Day on March 20, we were informed by the United Nations that India is one of the least happy nations on the planet. We rank 122 out of 155 countries, easily the worst in South Asia, with only the poorest African nations below us on the list. One can almost hear the howls of protest — can happiness be defined? How can the UN pass judgment with such a small sample size? Yet, since we go to town on small improvements in other rankings like ease of doing business, it’s only fair to examine what, according to the study, makes us so unhappy.
The six parameters on which happiness is measured are per capita GDP, healthy life expectancy, freedom, trust, social support and generosity. This sounds very reasonable, critics should not have a problem with the methodology. So, where do we stand on each?
GDP per capita is our most glaring and quantifiable shortcoming. In 2017, India ranked 126 out of 200 countries on this yardstick, which for the “world’s fastest growing economy” is deplorable. The UN goes one step further by saying that it is unemployment and poor quality of jobs that makes people truly unhappy. On this, we have taken many steps back in recent years, adding to the misery of our citizens. Yet, this is not a story of economics alone. China has made rapid strides with GDP per capita growth over the last two decades yet its position in the Happiness Index has not moved up at all.
Seemingly “softer” issues such as trust, freedom and generosity are equally important.
There is little trust in an Indian society riddled with corruption. The interface between citizens and the State, through bureaucrats, politicians, law enforcers and tax collectors, is often a transactional one. Trust is not the foundation of any of these equations.
While on paper, we are a functioning democracy, freedom is often the privilege of the upper classes, eco-
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MARCH 29: The deadlock facing the film industry was resolved today (March 28) at a meeting of representatives of the film producers, distributors and exhibitors convened by the Union minister KK Shah.