Andhra Pradesh has bagged the top slot, followed by Odisha and Madhya Pradesh, in the ‘Ease of Living Index’ under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) launched by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA).
The three states were felicitated at the National Dissemination Workshop on ‘Ease of Living Index’ 2018 for performing efficiently under AMRUT, which was launched in 2015 to ensure improvement in the quality of life of people in urban areas of the country.
In the ‘Ease of Living Index,’ the evaluation scale for cities is 100%, wherein the ‘physical’ pillar (infrastructure) is given importance of 45%, institution (governance) and social affairs contribute 25% each and the rest 5% is based on the performance on the economy front.
The Minister of State (I/C) for Housing and Urban Affairs, Hardeep Singh Puri, who was present at the workshop, stressed on the role of ‘Ease of Living Index’ in increasing competition between cities. The minister also averred that this index will help develop a framework with regard to future. “It will set high livability benchmarks that will make cities more sustainable and citizen-friendly,” he said.
While addressing the participants, Puri also added, “The ‘Ease of Living Index’ is imperative in supporting cities for 360-degree evaluation of their strength, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.”
Other important dignitaries present at the workshop were Durga Shankar Mishra, Secretary MoHUA, Shiv Das Meena, Additional Secretary MoHUA and Mission heads under Urban Affairs and Urban Planners from the States and Union Territories.
