Witoubou Newmai
In a time when the prevailing ‘rat-race’ has brought about vacuous state of lifestyles, more and more people around the world are getting inspired by the Bhutan’s idea of Gross National Happiness (GNH).
Though it is repeated ad nauseam here, it goes without saying that sans the feeling of happiness in life, there is almost nothing left to pursue in life.
Jigme Singye Wangchuck, the fourth king of Bhutan, for the first time, introduced Gross National Happiness, in 1972. “Gross National Happiness is more important than Gross Domestic Product (GDP),” Wangchuck boldly declared.
The Gross National Happiness Index has nine domains and four pillars. The nine domains are psychological wellbeing, health, education, time use, cultural diversity and resilience, good governance, community vitality, ecological diversity and resilience and living standards. The four pillars of Gross National Happiness include sustainable and equitable socio-economic development; environmental conservation; preservation and promotion of culture; and good governance.
“When the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) passed a resolution titled ‘Happiness: Towards A Holistic Approach To Development’ in July 2011 urging member nations to measure the happiness and well-being of their citizens and calling happiness a ‘fundamental human goal’, it also acknowledged that the initiative was the small country of Bhutan and the ‘happiness project’ the Bhudhist Himalayan kingdom had been pursuing since the early 1970s”, writes Venkitesh Ramakrishnan in the latest edition of Frontline magazine.
Eight years down the line after the passage of the resolution by the UNGA, we find the ‘happiness’ measures taking up in various parts of the world constructed best suited to their respective societies.
Though there have been sections of commentators challenging concepts such as these measures regarding ‘happiness’ that it is everything to do with the making of individuality to be happy or otherwise, the Bhutanese concept seems to be permeating the modern world.
Among the countries and their steps focusing on ‘happiness’, this year’s New Zealand’s “Well-Being Budget” has attracted wide attention.
“The budget (Well-Being Budget of New Zealand) requires all new spending to go toward five specific well-being goals: bolstering mental health, reducing child poverty, supporting indigenous peoples, moving to a low-carbon-emission economy, and flourishing in a digital age,” writes journalist Sigal Samuel. He adds that, in order measure progress toward these goals, New Zealand will use several indicators tracking everything including loneliness.
This connotes that, given the nature of the budget frame the state comes down to every single person and ask, ’How are you doing today?’ Indeed, such is the state of big contrast, where in many cases citizens ask their governments, “Where are you?”
