India’s abysmal ranking in the UN Happiness Index exposes deep-seated flaws and contradictions in its social foundation. Discuss
Refer – Business Line
IAS Parliament 7 years
KEY POINTS
India’s abysmal ranking
· India is ranked terribly low at 133 out of 156 countries alongside some Sub-Saharan African countries, dropping 11 spots from 2017.
· Most of the emerging economies Mexico (24), Brazil (28), Argentina (29), Malaysia (35), Russia (59), and China (86) are placed far ahead of India.
· All the South Asian countries, even Pakistan and Nepal ranked better compared to India.
World happiness report
· World Happiness index released by UN is basically an appraisal of the general well-being of a nation rather than an indicator of personal happiness.
· The index doesn’t measure joy and cheerfulness of the people, besides it is a measure of prosperity such as income and healthy life expectancy.
· Index is based on six key factors found to support wellbeing: Income, Healthy life expectancy, Social support, Freedom, trust, and generosity.
· Out these six the important variable is trust, which is measured by the absence of corruption in business and government.
· The issue of migration was placed at the heart of the 2018 report, which also ranked 117 countries according to happiness of their immigrants.
Reasons for India’s awful performance
· Despite being one of the fastest growing economies, India remains a non-egalitarian country with growing levels of economic inequality.
· An Oxfam survey in 2017 has revealed that India’s richest 1 per cent has cornered almost 73 per cent of the total wealth created in the country.
· India’s public health spending is well below the global average (just 1.4 per cent of GDP) leaving the deprived millions to pitiable public healthcare facilities.
· Even the well-off Indian professional class, who can afford expensive private healthcare, are not guaranteed a long, healthy and happy life.
· India has failed in building a trustworthy social support system, helping people when they are in real trouble.
· India’s political system and business establishments are unable to manage big cash flows in a sustainable, responsible and transparent way.
· Indian response towards the Rohingya crisis, despite being a country that welcomed Tibetans and Sri Lankans, illustrates that generosity and altruism are giving way to pseudo-nationalism and self-obsession.
