World Bank to replicate GNH as economic index

Thimphu, November 10: The World Bank said it would look into the Bhutanese philosophy of Gross National Happiness (GNH) as the alternative index to measure country's wealth and economic scale.

During his five-day visit to Bhutan, managing director of the WB Graeme Wheeler said, "Bhutan has been translating this philosophy into action on the ground. It has been practicing what other countries need to do. We need to extend the concept of gross national happiness to gross international happiness."

Though other countries projects to gain higher gross domestic product (GDP), Bhutan projects to attain GNH – a policy pioneered by King Jigme Singye Wangchuck to try and reflect the true quality of life in a more holistic manner.

"When we partner with the Bhutanese government, it is a valuable one, where we at the World Bank learn a lot from Bhutan," Wheeler said hinting at adopting the philosophy though same name would not be given.

"Bhutan would play an important role in the global effort to address climate change in terms of the way it thought about the use of forestry and how the constitution protects land use for forestry," the World Bank official said.

A recent research by Centre for Bhutan Studies, with financial support from Japan foundation, had concluded that 68 percent of the nearly 700,000 people in Bhutan were said to be happy in life with the country's wealth measured by the happiness.

"The former king was more interested to know if the kids were going to school and maintaining a good health, whether the forest cover was well protected, or if expectant mothers were getting adequate healthcare facilities," Indo Asian News Service quoted Gopilal Acharya, editor of the Bhutan Times – the nation's first independent weekly newspaper to have said. Bhutan News Service