Andhra Pradesh tops Ease of Living Index rankings under AMRUT

Andhra Pradesh has topped Ease of Living Index rankings under AMRUT (Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation).

• It was followed by Odisha and Madhya Pradesh.
• The three states were awarded best-performing states at National Dissemination Workshop on Ease of Living Index, 2018 held in New Delhi.

About AMRUT:

• It is an urban transformation scheme with the focus on the urban renewal projects to establish infrastructure that could ensure adequate robust sewerage networks and water supply.
• It aims at ensuring robust sewage networks, water supply and other infrastructure to improve the quality of life of people in urban areas.

About Ease of Living Index:

• The index was conceived by Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs in June 2017.
• It aims to help cities assess their liveability vis-a-vis global and national benchmarks and encourage them to move towards 'outcome-based' approach to urban planning and management.
• It was launched to rank 116 cities that are smart city contenders, capital cities and cities with population of 1 million plus based on the liveability parameters.
• The first edition of index released in January 2018 had ranked 111 Indian cities and was topped by Pune.
• It captures quality of life based on data collected from urban local bodies on four parameters, which are further broken down into 15 categories.
• It seeks to help cities undertake a 360-degree assessment of their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.
• The four parameters include institutional (governance), social (identity, education, health, security), economic (economy, employment) and physical factors (waste water and solid waste management, pollution, housing/ inclusiveness, mixed land use, power and water supply, transport, public open spaces).
• Institutional and social parameters carry 25 points each, physical factors have weightage of 45 points and economic factors 5 points totalling to 100 mark scale on which cities were evaluated.

Question:

Q. Which state has topped Ease of Living Index rankings under AMRUT (Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation)?
a. Odisha
b. Madhya Pradesh
c. Andhra Pradeshd. Maharashtra