Giving a taste of best quality of life, Andhra Pradesh claims the 'Ease of Living’ title

New Delhi, September 25: Making India a better place to live and craft a framework for ease of living, the states of the nation have considerably adapted ways of easy accessibility. The technological developments and advances in the state of Andhra Pradesh are quite evident and have helped the state grow immensely. Undoubtedly, Andhra Pradesh is ought to top the chart in the 'Ease of Living Index' rankings under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), followed by Odisha and Madhya Pradesh.

Addressing the event, Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said the index will encourage all cities to move towards an "outcome-based" approach to urban planning and management and promote healthy competition among cities.

According to the ministry, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, and Madhya Pradesh were awarded the three best performing states under AMRUT. 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.

He said this exercise marked a "major milestone" in India's goal to promote evidence-based planning and action towards sustainable urbanization. Hardeep Singh Puri hoped that the National Dissemination Workshop would provide an opportunity for states and cities to offer their valuable suggestions and also use lessons learned from the previous index rankings to ensure a more robust methodology in the future.

Till last month, piped water connection has been provided to more than 24 lakh households across the country under the AMRUT. Meanwhile, AP Minister for Urban Development P Narayana explained that the AP got 65.24 percent of marks based on the performance on each parameter, followed by Odisha (59.17 percent), MP (54.32) and Telangana (52.39).