Madhya Pradesh becomes first state to have Happiness Department

Madhya Pradesh became the first state in India to have ‘Happiness Department’ that will work as knowledge resource centre on the subject of happiness on the lines of Bhutan.
Decision to set up Happiness Department was taken by the state cabinet meeting presided by chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
Key Facts

• The Happiness Department will will work under a working committee headed by a chairman. The committee will evaluate the state’s gross happiness.
• The department will prepare guidelines for coordination between different departments like women and child development, health, and sports for propagating happiness in the state.
• It will prescribe action plan and activities for experiencing happiness by identifying and defining the parameters of happiness and efficiency.
• It will also undertake constant researches and surveys for expanding means happiness and improve norms to assess them. It will publish reports pertaining to status of happiness.

Bhutan is the first country in the world to come up with the concept of Gross National Happiness (GNH). It has fixed standards of living, education, good governance, health and psychological happiness among the various parameters that make its citizens happy.
The World Happiness Report 2016 published by the United Nations ranks India at 118th position among 156 countries.

Month: Current Affairs - July, 2016