Can Happiness be Measured? — a look at Bhutan’s GNH Index
One of the world’s youngest democracies, sandwiched between the two most populated nations on the globe (China and India), is the torchbearer of Gross National Happiness (or) GNH that has piqued the interest even of the United Nations.
A country that claims to be completely carbon neutral if not carbon negative, has GNH and GDP on the same plane for measuring a country’s success. In this blog, we shall try to understand Bhutan’s Gross National Happiness Index and maybe, from a critically informed view of the same.
“If the government cannot create happiness for its people, then there is no purpose for government to exist.”
-Bhutan’s Ancient Legal Code of 1629
The term ‘Gross National Happiness’ was first coined by the fourth king of the Kingdom of Bhutan, King Jigme Singye Wangchuck in the year 1972 when he said the following as he was asked about the Gross Domestic Product, GDP.
“Gross National Happiness is more important than Gross Domestic Product.”
He was convinced with the concept that sustainable development needed a more holistic approach and gave equal importance, if not more, to intangible or non-economic factors like happiness and mental well-being.
Bhutan’s policies have been framed keeping in mind the GNH and it reflects in the way the country has managed to go beyond their borders and influence places like the United States, Canada, Thailand, and Finland. Bhutan has also kept protecting its environment at the heart of policymaking and has pledged to remain carbon neutral, at all times.
So, how does Bhutan measure its citizens’ happiness?
No! They don’t go around asking people if or not they feel happy. The country has a systemic method of finding of the GNH index that focuses on its four pillars, nine domains and thirty-three indicators.
Four Pillars:
Good Governance
Sustainable Socio-economic Development
Cultural Preservation
Environmental Conservation
Nine Domains:
Psychological Wellbeing
Health
Education
Time Use
Cultural Diversity and Resilience
Good Governance
Community Vitality
Ecological Diversity and Resilience
Living Standards
If we come to look at it, with the rise in GDP and a better education with amazing grades, Bhutan focuses on their citizens’ being happy and their students being better human beings whilst they become better learners. Primary education and healthcare remain free across the country even though Bhutan is only a two-billion-dollar economy. The country has carefully allocated the money in things that would create sustainable societies.
Through the GNH Index, people are segregated into four categories — unhappy, narrowly happy, extensively happy, and deeply happy. This GNH Index helps Bhutan frame policies around it.
In a world where mental health is taking a toll on people’s emotional and physical stability, what we need at this hour is to learn how to master our emotional selves and train to remain happy.
Following this suit, the Delhi government in India has introduced the Happiness Curriculum in its government schools that focus on teaching happiness, empathy, and moral education to its students. It is believed that in doing this, we may be able to give better citizens to the country who are receptive and sensible and help fight severe issues like sexual violence and terrorism among many.
It can be said, therefore, that as educated and aware citizens, parents, and siblings of the generation that will craft the future of the world, the onus also lies on us to teach our kids how to remain happy, in whatever situation, with whatever resources; because such intangible things also have profound impact on their cognitive development.
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