Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Madhya Pradesh have been awarded the three best performing states under AMRUT (Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation) at the National Dissemination Workshop on Ease of Living Index, 2018, held in New Delhi on September 24.

While presenting the awards to the states, Union Housing and Urban Affairs minister Hardeep Singh Puri said that the Ease of Living Index is a transformative initiative of the ministry to help cities assess their liveability vis-à-vis national and global benchmarks.

He exuded confidence that the Ease of Living Index will encourage all cities to move towards an ‘outcome-based’ approach to urban planning and management and promote healthy competition among cities.

"The Ease of Living Index seeks to assist cities in undertaking a 360-degree assessment of their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats," Puri said, adding the exercise marked a "major milestone" in India's goal to promote evidence-based planning and action towards sustainable urbanisation.

The minister hoped that the National Dissemination Workshop would provide an opportunity for states and cities to offer their valuable suggestions and also use lessons learnt from the previous index rankings to ensure a more robust methodology in the future.

Launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in June 2015, AMRUT aims at ensuring robust sewage networks, water supply and other infrastructure to improve the quality of life of people in urban areas.

The Ease of Living Index seeks to assist cities in undertaking a 360-degree assessment of their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. It was decided in June 2017 to rank 116 cities (all smart cities and million plus cities) based on the liveability parameters. The implementation of the assessment commenced formally on January 19, 2018.

MoHUA released the first Ease of Living Index covering 111 Indian cities on August 13, 2018, which serves as a litmus test to help assess the progress made in cities through various initiatives. All cities were evaluated out of 100. The 'physical' pillar (infrastructure) was given the highest weightage of 45, while institutional (governance) and social were weighted 25 each. Economy was weighted 5.

"Another highlight of the Ease of Living assessment standards is its close linkage with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Of the 17 SDG goals, 8 goals are directly linked to India’s ease of living assessment framework with SDG 11," Puri said.

"The ease of living index provides a strong impetus to India’s effort for systematically tracking the progress of SDGs in the urban areas," Puri added.