Shillong: Are you happy? That could be a tricky question until there is a framework to measure happiness. The Meghalaya government feels that measuring happiness and taking steps to increase it is a worthwhile endeavour.
The state government, in its budget statement for 2023-24 said that it would develop a framework for measuring happiness, besides evaluating performance-based indices such as per capita income and sustainable development goals.
The Happiness Quotient is a concept that measures approximately the amount of happiness each person has achieved in their life. It then provides a blueprint to increase one’s HQ.
In the country's first happiness measurement survey in 2020, Mizoram scored the highest among the northeastern states and even better than some of the big states.
Measuring happiness featured in this fiscal's budget of Meghalaya under the parent header, 'Healthy and Happy Population'. While no amount was earmarked for ensuring a 'happy population', the state government had much to offer to keep it's citizens healthy.
With an overall investment of Rs 1,805 crore, which is an increase of Rs 109 crore over the revised estimates of 2022-23, the state government has several health schemes in the pipeline, including an annual outlay of Rs 30,000 each for all the 6,275 village health councils in the state and allocating Rs 18.8 crore towards this endeavour.
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