Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of State (Independent Charge), Housing and Urban Affairs announced the release of the final rankings of the Ease of Living Index (EoLI) 2020 on Thursday. Here are the parameters on which the ranks were decided and how several cities fared.

What is the Ease of Living Index?
Ans: The Ease of Living Index (EoLI) is an assessment tool that evaluates the quality of life and the impact of various initiatives for urban development. It provides a comprehensive understanding of participating cities across India based on the quality of life, the economic ability of a city, and its sustainability and resilience. The assessment also incorporates the residents' view on the services provided by city administration through a Citizen Perception Survey.

What are the parameters for the index?
Ans: The EoLI 2020 strengthened its scope by consolidating the framework with the addition of a Citizen Perception Survey in the index, holding a weightage of 30 per cent. The index examined the outcomes that lead to existing living conditions through pillars of Quality of Life, Economic Ability, Sustainability, spanning across 13 categories of Education, Health, Housing and Shelter, WASH and SWM, Mobility, Safety and Security, Recreation, Level of Economic Development, Economic Opportunities, Environment, Green Spaces, and Buildings, Energy Consumption, and City Resilience, that account for 70 per cent of the overall outcome. As per the official PIB release, the CPS was undertaken to help validate citizens' experience of their city in terms of service delivery. The assessment was conducted from January 16, 2020, until March 20, 2020. A total of 32.2 lakh citizens from 111 cities participated in the survey. Bhubaneshwar had the highest CPS score, followed by Silvassa, Davangere, Kakinada, Bilaspur and Bhagalpur.
 

What were the categories that the cities were divided into?
Ans: The rankings under the Ease of Living Index 2020 were announced for cities with a population of more than a million, and cities with less than a million people. 111 cities participated in the assessment exercise that was conducted in 2020. The analysis categorises them into Million+ populated cities (those with a population of more than a million) and Less than Million populated cites (those with a population of less than a million) along with all the cities under the Smart Cities Programme.

Which cities made it to the top spot this year?
Ans: Bengaluru emerged as the top performer in the Million+ category, followed by Pune, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Surat, Navi Mumbai, Coimbatore, Vadodara, Indore, and Greater Mumbai. In the Less than Million category, Shimla was ranked the highest in ease of living, followed by Bhubaneshwar, Silvassa, Kakinada, Salem, Vellore, Gandhinagar, Gurugram, Davangere and Tiruchirappalli.