Taking cue from Bhutan, the Madhya Pradesh government has cleared the proposal to form a happiness department. With the state cabinet giving a go ahead, MP would become the first state in the country to have such a department. Bhutan is known to be one of the world’s happiest countries and has a gross national happiness commission that measures the country’s happiness quotient based on a number of factors.

As of now, the happiness department of MP would be headed by chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who said that besides the basic necessities of roti, kapda and makaan, people need something more to be happy about.

The move was announced in April where Chouhan had talked about how mere materialistic possessions did not bring happiness into the lives of people and that it came through positivity in one’s life.

The cabinet has approves an estimated budget of Rs 3.60 crore for functioning of the department which is expected to identify factors of happiness, work in coordination with other departments, take feedback from public and make recommendations and changes to improve happiness levels of people.

The department would have a chairman, a chief executive officer, a director each for research and coordination, among other staff members.

In the World Happiness Report 2016 of the UN, India had ranked way below at 118 among 157 countries.