Governance
Ease of Living Index
- 25 Sep 2018
- 3 min read
Andhra Pradesh topped the ‘Ease of Living Index’ ranking under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), followed by Odisha and Madhya Pradesh.
- The index is released by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs ( MoHUA).
- 'Ease of Living' as a term has no standard definition. For some, it is fundamentally tied to physical amenities such as water supply, solid waste management, parks and green space etc; for others it relates to cultural offerings, career opportunities, economic dynamism or safety. For these reasons it is directly or indirectly also linked to number of schemes and initiatives of the Government which ultimately aims to meet the needs and aspirations of the people.
- It will help cities systematically assess themselves against global and national benchmarks and encourage them to shift towards an ‘outcome-based’ approach to urban planning and management.
- The MoHUA released the first ever ‘Ease of Living Index’ covering 111 Indian cities in August, 2018, which serves as a litmus test to help assess the progress made in cities through various initiatives.
- It captures quality of life based on data collected from urban local bodies on four parameters or pillars, which are further broken down into 15 categories. The cities are evaluated out of 100.
- The four parameters with their respective weightage are:
- Institutional (governance)- 25.
- Social (identity, education, health, security)- 25
- Economic ( economy, employment)- 5
- Physical Factors (waste water and solid waste management, pollution, housing/ inclusiveness, mixed land use, power and water supply, transport, public open spaces)- 45
- Ease of Living assessment standards is also linked with majority of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), specially to the SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities And Communities).
- This will promote evidence-based planning and action towards sustainable urbanization as it seeks to assist cities in undertaking a 360-degree assessment of their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.
