Why India Lags in Happiness Index Rankings?
"Sanity and happiness are an impossible combination".
- Mark Twain
"Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony."
– Mahatma Gandhi
Wouldn't you want to be happy, for ever? What would be the ultimate purpose of any human endeavor? What is the expected outcome of every enterprising activityy?
Are Indians - individuals, families, institutions - happy? Intriguingly, India's ratings in Happiness Index indicate unequivocally that Indians aren't happy and India isn't a happy nation while it's a happening nation. Are Indians going wrong somewhere? Is India progressively regressing? After 71 years of independence, why is it that India accounts for the largest number of people living below international poverty line? Reporting that India accounts for one in three of the poor population worldwide, the World Bank report said India accounted for the largest number of people living below the international poverty line in 2013, with 30% of its population under the $1.90-a-day poverty measure.
Recently released World Happiness report reinforced that India has been continuously lagging behind on ‘Happiness’ metric. Money has never been the only ingredient in the recipe for happiness of the report. United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network publishes World Happiness Report since 2012 which measures Happiness of 156 countries based on economic and social factors. The World Happiness Report calculates each country’s ranking based on six variables: GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom to make life choices, generosity, and freedom from corruption................
Exhibits
Exhibit I: India’s Happiness Ranking is Falling Consistently
Exhibit II: Glimpse of World Happiness Report 2018