India is suffering from sadness, at least this much can be interpreted from the recent United Nation’s World Happiness Report. The seriousness of the condition can be understood from the position India has got. India stands at shocking, yet not so shocking, number 140 in the list of 156 countries.
Last year, India stood at 133 which means its rank has dropped by 7. In the year 2016, its rank was 118 and ranked number 111 in the year 2013. This number was also not good but it seems as if India is losing its happiness in recent times and under the recent government.
The UN report suggests that the decline faced by countries is due to economic, political and social stresses. India has definitely undergone some drastic economic decisions which affected the balance. GST and demonetization is still being called as decisions which will yield good results in the future, but it seems as if future is far to seek. Earlier this year, reports came that the unemployment was highest after demonetization happened, i.e. in the year 2016-17. Obviously, if people are unemployed then they will not be happy. Last year’s AIMO report said that GST and Demonetization reduced 43% jobs in trading sector.
There are several social and political factors in the present government which might be affecting the happiness of the country. For example, Journalists always face threats for exposing someone which can even result them getting murdered. Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is an is an independent organization which promotes press freedom worldwide. According to its report, 12 Indian journalists have been killed in last 4 years due to their work. 48 journalists have been murdered since 1992 in India. That means, “1.8 journalists have died per year” since 1992. And “3 journalists have died per year” since 2014.
Even the communal harmony has declined which has given rise to hatred and fear. These two feelings are contrary to happiness. There have been ample amount of videos that about Muslim men being beaten (sometimes to death) only on the basis of doubt that they might be eating cow meat. Thus, India under Modi rule is facing some conditions like hatred, loss of freedom of speech, unemployment etc which can be a reason to its deteriorating position in Happiness List.
