For a laidback life Uttarakhand is a preferred place

Chandigarh, Dehradun, Pune, Udaipur, Indore, Jabalpur and Ranchi occupy the highest ranking among tier-II cities for post-retirement living for majority of CEOs and other officials, according to a report by Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham).

However, Ghaziabad, Meerut, Noida, Faridabad, Sonepat and Manesar fall in the category of poor ranking as not many CEOs and other retired officials prefer to stay there, an Assocham release said. The report is based on an analysis carried out on the basis of parameters like availability of good civic amenities like power, roads, marketing facilities, health and recreation centres including sewage and water disposal facilities as also environment, ecology and overall prevailing law and order situation in tier-II cities.

The cities taken into account for the purpose comprised Indore, Jabalpur, Chandigarh, Pune, Udaipur, Aurangabad, Surat, Coimbatore, Madurai, Kochi, Visakhapatnam, Vijawada, Mysore, Dehradun, Ghaziabad, Meerut, Faridabad, Noida, Sonepat and Lucknow. Assocham secretary general, D. S. Rawat said that a vast majority of well-to-do serving populace in government and corporate sector have a priority for Chandigarh and Dehradun in northern India. Both places provide the best of civic amenities and good climatic conditions as also conducive law and order environment.

As a result, the rating of Chandigarh turns out to be the best followed by Dehradun which is a place worth living. Chandigarh has occupied prime position even though off late there are widespread criticism that entire Punjab and Haryana are facing potable water shortage. Pune, Udaipur, Indore, Jabalpur and Ranchi fall in the second rung with Udaipur and Pune securing equal rank followed by Ranchi, Jabalpur and Indore for corporate and others for spending their post-retirement period. All these cities provide a peaceful environment in which elderly couple can stay safely.

Unfortunately, tier-II cities like Ghaziabad, Meerut, Faridabad, Manesar, Sonepat and even Noida are no longer preferred for settling down as public perception about them continues to be adverse, the report added. Neither stable power supply is available in these cities nor civic amenities are up to the mark. Law and order of these cities are consistently subject to criticism and most importantly, the identified cities are known for criminal activities, it said.

In Gujarat, Surat is rated one of the best centre in which superannuated people would like to settle down, especially those that have entrepreneur skills. Similar is the case of Aurnagabad in Maharashtra.