Question

The only country in the world to officially proclaim the Gross National Happiness as the measure of the country’s progress is:
1. Indonesia
2. Singapore
3. India
4. Bhutan

Answer 1

Correct Answer - Option 4 : Bhutan

The correct answer is Bhutan.

• The phrase ‘gross national happiness was first coined by the 4th King of Bhutan, King Jigme Singye Wangchuck, in 1972
• He declared, “Gross National Happiness is more important than Gross Domestic Product.”
• The concept implies that sustainable development should take a holistic approach towards notions of progress and give equal importance to non-economic aspects of wellbeing.
• The Gross National Happiness Index, Bhutan sought to create a measurement tool that would be useful for policymaking and create policy incentives for the government, NGOs, and businesses of Bhutan to increase GNH.

• The GNH measure has been designed to include nine core domains that are regarded as components of happiness in Bhutan and are constructed of indicators that are robust and informative with respect to each of the domains.
• The nine domains are:
  •  Psychological wellbeing.
  •  Health.
  •  Time use.
  •  Education.
  •  Cultural diversity and resilience.
  •  Good Governance.
  •  Community vitality.
  •  Ecological diversity and resilience.
  •  Living standard.