Bengaluru ‘Most Liveable’ City, Tops Govt’s Ease Of Living Index

Bengaluru topped the ‘over a million population’ list and Shimla led in the ‘under a million population’ list.

Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru. Image used for representational purposes. 

(Photo: The Quint)

Bengaluru has topped the Centre’s Ease of Living Index 2020 as the best city to live in among 111 cities which participated in the Centre’s assessment exercise.

On Thursday, 4 March, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs released the Ease of Living Index and the Municipal Performance Index 2020 for cities with a population of more than a million and less than a million.

These indices help the Centre assess how cities fare on various parameters of urban living, providing a holistic assessment based on quality of life, infrastructure and addressing challenges of urbanisation said the Centre in a press statement announcing the indices on Thursday.

“Learnings gathered from these indices can help the government identify gaps, tap into potential opportunities, and increase efficiency in local governance to improve lives of citizens and fulfil broader development outcomes” said the statement.

Ease Of Living Index 2020

Bengaluru topped the cities with over a million population list, followed by Pune, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Surat, Navi Mumbai, Coimbatore, Vadodara, Indore, and Greater Mumbai.

In the under a million list, Shimla led the ranks, followed by Bhubaneshwar, Silvassa, Kakinada, Salem, Vellore, Gandhinagar, Gurugram, Davangere, and Tiruchirappalli.

“The EoLI report aims to measure the well-being of Indian citizens in 111 cities, across the pillars of Quality of Life, Economic-ability, and Sustainability, with 49 indicators under 13 categories”, said the Centre.

The Centre stated that the results guide evidence-based policymaking and helps promote healthy competition amidst cities.

Municipality Performance Index 2020

This is the first MPI exercise carried out by the Centre, in accompaniment to the EoLI report. It seeks to examine local government practice in municipalities across five verticals of services, finance, policy, technology and governance, which comprise 20 sectors and 100 indicators in all totality.

In the population over a million category, Indore has emerged as the highest ranked municipality, followed by Surat and Bhopal. In the less than million category, New Delhi Municipal Council tops the list, followed by Tirupati and Gandhinagar.

“The Municipal Performance Index provides a granular understanding of a municipalities' functionalities and the extent of their development and capabilities”, said the Centre.

The Index aims to facilitate better understanding of local governance practice by citizens and to promote transparency and accountability.