WHY INDIA RANKS SO LOW ON HAPPINESS INDEX?

- Cdt. Diksha Singh

India ranked 139 out of 149 countries of the world in the annual World Happiness Report 2021 , which
makes it fourth least happy country in the world.India has the lowest happiness score among the
neighbourhood: Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are ahead of it. The annual index ranks
nations based on a variety of parameters like gross domestic product per person, social support, personal
freedom, levels of corruption, healthy life expectancy, and opinions of residents.The country hasn’t been
performing well on the index released by the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network
since it began slipping from 111th, which was recent highest in 2013.Now the question arises that In
spite of the country’s good economic progress, why are Indians so unhappy?

“Clearly, the correlation between happiness and wealth is weak,” Jayshree Sengupta , economist and
author, had written in the context of India’s slipping rankings. Further, “growing inequality and seeing the
rich and famous having fancy weddings and lavish parties at home and abroad, do make ordinary people
unhappy,” Sengupta had written.In 2020, India added 40 new billionaires to a global rich list, while 57%
of the country’s working population worried they’ll lose their jobs within the year due to the pandemic-
related economic crisis.

The country’s chronic unhappiness is a result of many factors: rapid urbanization and congestion in cities,
concerns about food security and water safety, rising costs of health care, women’s safety,
and environmental pollution, which itself is linked to poor mental wellbeing.Also we see that people are
slowly and gradually report an increase in negative emotions.India accounts for 17.8 percent of all
reported suicide cases. According to the National Crime Bureau, India reported 381 suicides daily for the
year 2019 which is really disheartening.People are insecure about their health because the question of
cost of treatment plagues their minds.In India, every day we are witnessing robber barons getting away
scot free after defrauding banks of crores of rupees and corruption at all levels. When people like Nirav
Modi and Vijay Mallya escaped abroad after borrowing huge sums of money from public sector banks,
ordinary people felt very unhappy and angry as they were dying because of some small amount of loan
they borrowed from the bank.

Former Indian President Pranab Mukherjee said the country should strive for "sustainable development"
by focusing on the concept of "Triple bottom line".'triple bottom line' - an accounting framework that
puts equal focus on social, environmental and financial development

Finland and Bhutan, among the happiest countries, have adopted various strategies to reach where they
are today. Finland, for example, has invested in its education system. India needs to learn from such
trends and rethink its strategy to become one of the happiest and the fastest economies globally.

The pandemic has affected mental well-being, pushing many people towards issues like anxiety and
depression.During the pandemic, post the imposition of the lockdown, many patients are facing severe
mental conditions .The mental disturbance people experienced during the initial weeks of the lockdown,
and the trauma of the event are being felt even today. Our country is already working pretty well on
fighting against this widespread disease, similarly we need to focus on the mental health and happiness
of the people as well because the healthier and the happier we are the more productive we can be.We
will strive together to make India a happier,safe and healthier place .

Name :- Cdt. Diksha Singh

Reg. No. :- OD/20/SW/A/304634
KIIT University, Bhubaneswar
Unit :- 6 (O) Bn NCC, Puri
Group Hq. :- Berhampur
Odisha Dte.