The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) on Monday presented India’s first-ever ‘Ease of Living’ Index, that ranked Pune the most livable city from among the list of 111 cities.
The Ministry launched the ‘Ease of Living’ Index in January 2018 to 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 framework for the ‘Ease of Living’ Index for cities was launched in June 2017.
Hardeep S. Puri, Minister of State for Housing & Urban Affairs said that the Ease of Living Index was formulated with the ultimate goal of being able to rank the cities on the quality of lives led by their citizens.
The indicators used have been adapted from various national, international indicator sets and service level benchmarks and finalised after extensive consultations with state, city governments and citizens through the MyGov portal and peer review by sector experts.
Key objectives:
- Generate information to assist evidence-based planning
- Catalyse actions to achieve broader development outcomes including the Sustainable
- Development Goals
- Assess outcomes achieved from various urban policies and schemes
- Serve as a basis for dialogue between citizens and urban decision makers
The 111 cities assessed in the index are smart cities, capital cities and a few others with a population of over 1 million. Interestingly, Goa’s Panaji was ranked a poor #90, despite the state being known for its quality of life.
The Ease of Living Index captures the breadth of the quality of life in cities across 4 pillars and 15 categories, using 78 indicators, of which 56 are core indicators and 22 are supporting indicators.
Mixed reactions from citizens on this ranking with a considerable number who believe that Pune has a long way to go before it becomes truly most liveable…
Menaka Rawat, Student of Urban Development and Town Planning: Pune ranked 2nd in the Physical Sub Index which covers Public Open Space, Power Supply, Transportation and Mobility, Assured Water Supply, Waste Water Management, Solid Waste Management, Reduced Pollution and more as its supporting index.
Despite this, I can vouch for the fact that many parts of the city still do not have access to drinking water and adequate water supply. A light shower in the city leads to a massive power cut. Many people still depend on inverters and water tankers to manage…
Solid waste management is still a major concern, not to forget the dilapidated public transport and overall traffic situation of the city.
Despite all these problems, if Pune has topped the list of most livable cities, I seriously wonder, what state the other cities of our country are in!
Karan Agarwal, Founder- Green Energy Movement: On the education front, it is almost like Pune is in a state of coma. You find some institutes and their heads with no genuine interest in the future of the kids. It is all about charging high fees and the students get little in return. Leave alone placements, the IQ levels are dropping severely.
Apart from university exams for the students, there ought to be exams for the faculty.
While Pune has several offices of MNCs, their headquarters are always located in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and other cities. Pune is not a growing city, but we can say it is a spending city. Spending on food, clothing is rising, yet investment in property etc are coning down.
Daaud Khan, Sales Manager: This had to be Pune. Everything to lead a good life is right here in Pune. Safety, employment opportunities, good educational institutes, nice weather, less pollution, great infrastructure and more.
I have been a frequent traveler to most of the big cities of India like Delhi, Mumbai, Nagpur, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Lucknow, Ranchi to name a few and I have seen the difference. Pune is way ahead.
Pune only lacks in a good and well-connected public transport system, like Mumbai and Delhi. I hope the metro services will start soon to resolve this. Also, if corporate houses set up their headquarters in Pune, the employment opportunities will get a huge boost with better profiles coming on the lines Mumbai, Bangalore and Delhi
Yash Siriah, Student: I have been to some major cities in India like Mumbai (including greater and Navi Mumbai), Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, Delhi, Hyderabad, etc.
Some of these cities have some aspects better than Pune, like Delhi’s transport connectivity, Thiruvananthapuram has better overall city infrastructure, Hyderabad has better paved and planned roads, Navi Mumbai and Chandigarh are better planned, Mumbai has a grand feeling vibe to it etc.
But as an overall package, Pune still seems better on many counts.
Pune has reasonably well made and maintained city infrastructure, Pune has lots of greenery in and around it, many lovely nature spots like Mahabaleshwar, Lonavala are easily accessible and we have one of the best air qualities in India.
The city has a rich culture and heritage and a positive and energetic vibe to it. Sure, it does have its share of problems like bad traffic and not so friendly people, but as an overall package, no city in India can beat Pune!
~~
#All views expressed are those of the respondent’s and Pune365 does not necessarily subscribe to them.
Reach her at loveleen@pune365.com or tweet @KaurKaur18
- Pune’s Interesting Midnight Food Delivery Options - July 26, 2019
- Excessive Shopping Could Signal Illness- Mental Health Experts - July 15, 2019
- Chronic Stress ? Seek Professional Help Before It Takes A Toll - July 9, 2019
