Government’s performance ‘below average’ on voters’ issues: ADR

New Delhi: Employment, healthcare facilities and drinking water were the top priorities for the Indian voters, but the government’s performance on these fronts was “below average”, according to a survey by the Association of Democratic Alliance (ADR).

The ADR said that it was a matter of “serious concern” that in none of the 31 listed voters’ priorities, the performance of the government was rated “average” or “above average”.

For the voters, employment and basic amenities were above all the governance issues such as terrorism and strong military, revealed the survey conducted by the non-profit organisation which interviewed 2,73,487 voters spread across 534 Lok Sabha constituencies during October-December 2018.

As per the survey, better employment opportunities (46.80 per cent), better healthcare (34.60 per cent) and drinking water (30.50 per cent) were the top three voters’ priorities at the all-India level, followed by better roads (28.34 per cent) and improved public transport (27.35 per cent).

The significance of better employment opportunities as the voters’ highest priority increased from 30 per cent in 2017 to 47 per cent in 2018.

Similarly, the significance of better healthcare facilities increased from 25 per cent in 2017 to 35 per cent in 2018 and in case of drinking water, it increased from 12 per cent to 30 per cent.

Farm related issues also featured among the voters’ top concerns as availability of water for agriculture (26.40 per cent) ranked sixth among their priorities, followed by agriculture loan availability (25.62 per cent), higher price realisation for farm products (25.42 per cent) and agriculture subsidy for seeds and fertilisers (25.06 per cent).

Better law and order and policing figured at the 10th place.

The worst performance of the government was in the issues of encroachment of public lands and lakes, terrorism, training for jobs, strong defence and military, eradication of corruption, lower food prices for consumers and mining and quarrying.

In 29 of the 32 states and Union Territories, voters have given “below average” ratings to the government for its performance in all the top three voters’ priorities at the state level, with the exception of Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu and Puducherry.

Out of all the eight Empowered Action Group (EAG) states, which are considered most socio-economically backward, in seven states (Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh), better employment opportunities was the foremost voters’ priority.

Drinking water was the top most voters’ priority in Odisha, Karnataka and Daman and Diu.

(IANS)