A Policy of Happiness

Happiness and wellbeing have emerged as the new keywords in policymaking globally. Nations are accepting the reality that economic growth does not present a comprehensive measure of a country’s development. Thus, a shift towards happiness has become pertinent. India is no novice to this debate, with an entire chapter in its written constitution endowing far-reaching fundamental rights to its citizens and an activist judiciary guaranteeing the rights to the people, apparently happiness is the very grundnorm of the Indian polity. Though the word ‘happiness’ is not a part of the constitutional text, there exists substantial evidence of an implicit mandate for happiness to be the fulcrum of governmental policy. This commentary is an attempt to provide a brief yet comprehensive introduction to the happiness and wellbeing agendas in India, in view of their increasing popularity both in the global and domestic arena. It puts forth a conceptual framework of happiness and wellbeing, and then attempts to explore it from both the legal and policy perspectives. It aims at providing constitutional legitimacy and credibility to the concept, in the Indian context, as any policy change has to be driven by a legal sanction. To add to the validity of the assertions, a comparative analysis is also made with neighbouring Asian countries to gauge their stance on the issue.