Fostering Empathy, Protecting Lives
- Jeremy Bentham has said that ‘nature has placed mankind under the governance of two sovereign masters, pain and pleasure’. Empathy is defined as a person’s ability to understand the emotions of others and share their feelings. In fact, empathy is all about sharing emotion and caring others. Research studies have reported that presence or absence of empathy greatly affects people in many aspects of social life. Further, it is said that ‘the empathetic people are more likely to have strong ties to family members and other with whom they regularly work or interact’. It can be strongly argued that individuals capable of empathy have higher self-esteem and enjoy life more lively. People who have trouble empathizing with others suffer from poorer mental health and have less fulfilling social relationships. Keeping these views in mind, Policy on Better Human Connection shall be formulated to build empathy in all sectors of public life.
- Policy Laboratory shall be established to analyze data from different sources for formulating policies.
- The future of policy making shall not be done sitting in the offices rather it shall be placed-based where the ideas come to life. The policy shall be made in cross-functional teams.
- It is often observed everywhere that rich don’t have enough empathy for underprivileged, men don’t have enough empathy for women, ruling party doesn’t have enough empathy for opposition, brutes don’t have enough empathy for kids, etc. However, empathy has been regarded as a great source of pleasure and a valuable aspect of intimate relationships. Sikkim State Wellness Laws shall be framed to boost emotional intelligence and for improving behavior and learning.
- Empathy shall be an essential element of legal, policing, teaching and medical practices.
- Civil servants shall be made experts in empathy. Empathy programs shall be developed to create a high-empathy civil service.
- Sikkim State Empathy Education Program shall be launched in order to create a more inclusive community and society.
- Empathy programs like Teach Empathy through community services, outdoor Adventures, Tourism and Cultural Union, Repairing Village Footpaths, Cleaning Trash and Debris in workers’ settlements, youths Volunteer Trip, Food- Water-Health Care Provisioning to underprivileged families/communities, Land Preservation, School Building Renovation, Joining Ceremonies, etc. shall be developed to young and adult citizens.
- Start Empathy program shall be launched for kids to learn empathy.
- Teaching Empathy program shall be launched in school to develop emotionally strong population.
- Empathy Competition Contest shall be initiated to identify Empathy Innovators.
- Empathy Fellowship program shall be launched for social Entrepreneurs who possess ideas to improve fields like Public Health, Civic Engagement, Education, Culture, Art and Literature, etc.
- Reading materials and kits shall be prepared to create Empathy Culture in public sector.
- Assessment studies shall be done periodically to reflect empathy level of different sections of the society.
- Wellness Index shall be prepared periodically to support policy-making process.
- Friendship Sharing Day shall be celebrated on 4th August each year in all democratic institutions.
- Philosophical discourses on empathy shall be initiated and promoted.
- Moral Education shall be started in schools for students up to class five to make them understand the values of our culture and tradition and help kids discover themselves.
- Child specialist doctors shall be provided to each GPU to monitor the children’s behavior.
- Cognitive (reason based) empathy shall be fostered to kids and young minds through compassion training.
- Museums about moral, ethical and cultural values shall be established at each GPU level to help children gain success and contribute in village development.
- Seminars/conferences shall be organized in schools to educate children about moral and ethical values of our society.
- Counseling shall be provided to kids and youths to become a good person in future.
- Different types of games for kids shall be introduced in schools to help them to foster empathy and help them to learn about adapting to changing scenarios in modern civilization.