In a bid to develop New Town, a satellite township on the north-eastern fringes of the city, as India's happiest space, IIT-Kharagpur will study the happiness index of the locality as part of a two-year project, a statement said on Thursday.

The New Town Kolkata Development Authority (NKDA) and West Bengal Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation (HIDCO) has asked Rekhi Centre of Excellence for the Science of Happiness of IIT-Kharagpur and IIT-KGP's Ranbir and Chitra Gupta School of Infrastructure Design and Management to help them raise the happiness index of New Town-Rajarhat.

"We have asked the institute to find out about the quality of life at New Town and how it could be enhanced. They would also be benchmarking New Town with the happy cities all over the world," said HIDCO CMD and NKDA chairman Debashis Sen.

"With the help of IIT-Kharagpur we would like to know what we can do now and in the coming years to convert this space into the happiest part of the country," said Sen.
 

The duration of the project will be of two years during which the institute will not only study the happiness index of New Town but would also ensure pilot implementation of the recommendations.

IIT-Kharagpur will also organise workshops with stake holders of New Town and train the master trainers, who in turn would impart the message of positive thinking and changing the mind-set of the residents.

In September 2016, IIT-Kharagpur became the first institute in the country to start a micro-credit course on "Science of Happiness" for its students.