ADR survey shows people want jobs, better healthcare, policing

What do people expect from the government? In a sort of a mid-term appraisal of the Modi Government, the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) conducted a countrywide survey to find out what are the priorities of the people (ADR Midterm All India Survey Report on Governance Issues—January to April, 2017)

The survey, conducted between January and April 2017, and which covered a sample size of 2.71 lakh adults, not surprisingly has revealed that slaughter houses, love jihad, Ram Mandir, beef, Romeos, demonetisation etc., do not even figure in their concerns.

• Only 2% of the respondents felt terrorism and strong defence and military are important issues
• 3% put better garbage clearance as an issue
• 3% seemed bothered about subsidised food/ration
• Surprisingly only 4% felt reservation for jobs, or education are important concerns
• 5% put school education as a concern
• 6% were worried about water, river and lake pollution
• 9% believed women’s empowerment and security were important
• 11% put noise pollution as an issue

The respondents, not so surprisingly, seemed far more concerned about better employment opportunities, better hospitals and healthcare, better policing and law and order, better public transport and roads, besides better availability of loan and electricity for agriculture.

Almost one-third of the respondents (30%), put jobs and better employment opportunities as their highest concern, followed closely by 25% of the respondents who wanted better hospitals and healthcare.

It may come as a shock to the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Government but the survey reveals that people, when asked to rate the performance of the government, found the government’s performance in countering terrorism, stopping encroachment of public land, ensuring lower food prices for consumers and eradicating corruption to have been the poorest.

On a scale of one to five, respondents gave more than four marks to the government in only three of the 30 parameters: electricity for agriculture (4.37), facility for cyclists and pedestrians on the road (4.18) and agriculture loan availability (4.14).

On 15 parameters, the rating was less than three.

The massive survey (most national surveys have a sample size of 25,000) covered 527 of the 543 Lok Sabha constituencies with 500 respondents from each constituency. A professional agency, Centre for Development, Planning and Research (CPDR), Pune, conducted the survey for the ADR.

“The result of the Perception Assessment shows the striking difference between the priorities of the voters and the performance on those issues,” says the introduction to the report, adding that the findings highlight the “weak efforts of all institutions in fulfilling their role in providing what the voters really need.”

Significantly, 95% of the respondents claimed to have voted in the 2014 general election. Asked to identify their reasons for voting for a particular candidate, they said that the choice of the prime minister/chief minister candidate, the party, the candidate himself, caste, religion etc, were some of the more prominent triggers.

They also acknowledged that people voted for candidates with a criminal record for a variety of reasons. They are not only seen as powerful but they also spend generously! Also people believed that cases against them were weak.