The Happiness Dividend !!

Here is a new way to measure your progress!  GNH- Gross National Happiness

An extremely innovative modification of the Human Development Report, this new variable estimates how far has growth being actualized as higher living standards. This term which was coined by the former Bhutanese king Jigme Wangchuck in 1972, has come into common parlance recently. A very similar effort has been made by Mexico where the government makes annual measurements of the Genuine Progress Index (GPI).Bhutan, a country which has just come out of the wriggles of dictatorship, has always based their development goals on GNH. The surprising part is that they even have a Gross National Happiness Commission (GNHC) which gives out annual reports just like Indian Economic Survey released every year by the Ministry of Finance. This index is measured by four parameters namely equitable and sustainable socio-economic development, promotion of culture, conservation of natural resources and good governance.

Despite the noble intentions behind the concept, some critics believe that the concept of GNH index is too abstract and vague.  In the words of Dorji Penjor of the Centre for Bhutan Studies, GNH is at best an empty slogan—one that risks “including everything and ending up meaning nothing”. There are many loopholes which can’t be ignored. Under every category, a person has to opt between Not at all happy, Somewhat happy, happy, Very happy and extremely happy. This eventually means that we are rating an abstract noun with more number of abstract nouns. Maybe the qualitative variables can’t be measured precisely and may lead to inaccurate results.  This doesn’t undermine its importance for sure! And I would like to substantiate my point of view in the following paragraph.

The first look at their website (http://www.gnhc.gov.bt) is surely impressive as they have an elaborate questionnaire and a complex methodology of calculating the index as well. The Bhutanese officials have used a scale from 0 to 10 for many variables like religious education, spirituality and health levels- a few of the nine domains. This index measures are not only on paper but have also shown drastic improvement. Based on the moral values of community living and harmonious existence, Bhutan is grounded in its tradition and culture even today. There are many temples having inbuilt altar rooms where people do meditation which is why many young boys still aspire to be monks. The conservation of national resources is given utmost priority. The dams constructed are all run-on-the-river kinds, the highway is broad enough for one car (minimum concretisation so that natural resources are caused least damage), tree cover is more than 60% and many other eco-friendly features. Even though the forces of globalization are pulling down its GDP, GNH has topped the charts. It has rightly been said by the Bhutanese PM that “Here, even the street dogs are smiling!”

Let us not materialize everything and remember that “Life is not worth living till we possess something which money can’t buy!”