Enhancing quality of life is a key aim of government and civil society globally. The creation of a composite quality of life index provides a statistically founded tool to measure progress and challenges in quality of life.
What is quality of life?
WHO defines quality of life as an individual’s perception of their position in life in the context of the culture and value systems in which they live and in relation to their goals, expectations, standards and concerns.
Why measure quality of life.
Though quality of like is dynamic and changes in quality of life are but a natural phenomenon, these changes, sometimes happen gradually but at times drastically in a State.
In Goa supposedly governed according to the principles of democracy, the people or demos are an important part of the democratic system of governance. It is important that the government is fully aware of what people generally consider as affecting their quality of life.
In a true democratic society, there should be adequate machinery to assess those aspects of a society’s life which affect the quality of life and adopt corrective measures, when there is deterioration in those aspects.
For us, some of these changes are unpalatable and undesirable. But opinions and perceptions can differ, and hence there is need for scientific and comprehensive study of all possible factors which affect the quality of life in Goa.
Though Goa was liberated in 1961, one could easily treat the first few decades as a period of travail, and stabilisation of the State for the functioning of elected governments.
The decades post its Statehood, would be a reasonable period to study the transition in the quality of life of the people, to ascertain, whether the successive governments were successful in preserving the quality of life of its citizens.
Of course, there are many differences of opinion as to which are the pertinent factors for determining the quality of life of the people. Any determination of quality of life however scientific or comprehensive, will be subject to criticisms. If there is no criticism or dissent, but pretended unity of opinion, then it is not patently undemocratic, but a falsehood.
One could consider some aspects of quality of life, which are often commonly used standards or the variables for a study, like:
1. Health
2. Education
3. Economic environment
4. Public safety
5. Corruption in public life (A negative variable)
Corruption is an unconventional variable, as none of the studies have included it. Most studies are from the West where corruption in public life is either absent or is negligible. But in India corruption has formed deep roots in almost all aspects of governance, as openly stated by some Supreme Court judges. Goa is no exception to this. Corruption nullifies all the good, which is supposed to accrue to the public. A study on corruption requires an intelligent assessment. There are victims of corruption, their narrations should be given due weightage in using corruption as a negative variable to assess quality of life of citizens.
6. Infrastructure
7. Other indicators
One of the most prevalent indicators is weather and environment in general like amount of pollution, type of weather, location, or other positive aspects of the natural environment.
Need for Empirical
validation
When the data to be collected concerns the public , proper methodology and adequate sampling are important. The data should not be a tool for manipulation, and selectivity should be avoided. Properly constructing an index requires balancing act.
The index must include enough variables to capture a reasonably complete picture of what is purportedly being measured, adding unnecessary variables introduces noise to the index and dilutes the explanatory value of other variables. Strong theoretical justifications must exist for the inclusion of each variable. After constructing a theoretical basis and collecting data, the resulting index can be empirically vetted to establish its validity.
Relevance of audit of quality of life for Goa.
Ever since Goa’s liberation, various political parties have ruled Goa, first as a UT and from May 30, 1987 as a separate State. Goa has been governed by 20 elected governments since 1987. The Chief Minister as well as the ministers, has individually and collectively proclaimed that they are rendering dedicated service to improve the quality of life of the citizens of Goa.
These improvements in the quality of life brought about since 1987, need to be assessed and audited for the sake of the public. Clarity in this area will greatly help good and responsible governance in Goa.
Goan politicians, those on the ruling side, have been praising themselves, as if they are the only dedicated hardworking citizens, and those in the opposition have been levelling all kinds of criticism about the ruling party, and yet do the same things when they gain power. In this slugfest, the concerns of the common man are often trampled upon
Evaluation of improvement in the quality of life in Goa brings about a mixed picture, with different views from the public. There is need for the government to assign this task to some good scientists, who have the knowledge and skill to conduct an objective research using suitable variables with due weightages for each variable. Such study will inform the government as to what are the priorities of the people and those of the elected representatives and the need to reassess governmental priorities towards achieving a better quality of life for its citizens.
Such study will bring out people’s priorities. The government has to ensure that it does not end up merely as a political exercise.
(The writer is a professor of Law & an educational consultant)