Madhya Pradesh CM suggests ‘happiness centre’ for joy of giving in all districts

BHOPAL: Taking the new concept of Happiness department to reality, Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has mooted the idea of setting up a centre like `neki ki deevar’ (wall of kindness), to derive `joy of giving’ in all 51 districts of the state.
“The centre should be called as `Arpan Anandam’ where the government through volunteers could provide help to the needy and person who wishes to donate material can keep them at the place so that those in need can get the same free of cost”, said chief minister Chouhan during the review meeting of happiness department.
He said the concept of `Arpan Anandam’ is based on sharing. The person who helps and those who get the help, both derive a sense of joy from this act. As a primary effort centres like `Arpan Anandam’ should be established in all districts to transform the joy into activities like `give and take’, suggested Chouhan.
‘Neki ki Deewar’ (wall of kindness) is a citizen-driven initiative that was first started in Mashhad, a north-eastern city of Iran with installation of few hooks and hangers on a wall called ‘Deewar-e-Mehrbani’ with words ‘If you don’t need it, leave it. If you need it, take it,’ written next to it. The initiative soon became a viral movement and spread like wildfire across the globe with people painting walls and joining this humanitarian initiative.
In India, a large number of metros have initiated the drive which the happiness department is willing to follow in each district. Officials said that this would be initiated as a service with the help of volunteers and all concerned departments would play major role in making it useful, beginning with the urban development department, who will provide a suitable location for the centre.
“We have so far registered 13,000 volunteers who suo moto have agreed to serve the purpose of helping the people for bringing smile on their face. I believed that this could be a major campaign across the state as various departments have offered help to the concept”, CEO Happiness Department, Manohar Dubey told TOI.
The department has other initiatives too. It has started another interesting programme `Anandam’ which is based on the concept of “be the change you want to bring”. The programme called `Alp Viram’ (short break) is based on listening to one’s inner voice which comes from the heart.
“Alp Viram is based on a meditation technique which aims at hearing the inner voice to get guided and enriched with ideas. One can also decide resolution of life through this. Happiness department has organised training programmes to three persons in a district who will guide others at selected offices”, said Dubey.
As chief minister Chouhan observed, thinking with peaceful heart brings new thoughts. “He also called upon the administrative officers to implement it in their life and to live a joyous life with enthusiasm,” said the officials. The happiness department will also bring happiness quotient or index by the end of March 2017, they added.