Employment opportunities top list of voters' priorities; govt. performance 'below avg': ADR survey
New Delhi, May 13: Better employment opportunities, healthcare and drinking water were the top three issues on which voters want the government of the day to work on, a national survey conducted by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) has claimed.
As per the survey, conducted between October and December in 2018, the performance of the government has been rated "below-average", Jagdeep Chhokar, founder member, National Election Watch, ADR, told reporters here on Monday.
The survey covered 534 Lok Sabha constituencies with 2,73,487 voters participating in the exercise.
It was spread across various demographics such as voters' priorities on specific governance issues; voters' ratings of the government's performance on those issues, and factors affecting voting behaviour.
When asked if national security was one of the issues listed in the survey, Chhokar said, "terrorism was one of the 31 listed issues, and it figured on the 30th position in the survey".
Better employment opportunities figured as the highest priority among voters (46.80 per cent), followed by better healthcare (34.60 per cent) and drinking water (30.50 per cent), better roads (28.34 per cent) and better public transport (27.35 per cent), as per the national survey.
Chhokar claimed that as per the report, the performance of the government, measured on a scale of 1 to 5, was rated "below average" on top 10 governance issues.
He said as the survey was conducted last year, "Balakot airstrike, national security issue was not included in the list".
"It is important to note that agriculture-related governance issues featured predominantly in the top 10 list of voters' priorities, e.g. availability of water for agriculture (26.40 per cent) that was ranked sixth, agriculture loan availability (25.62 per cent) at seventh, higher price realisation for farm products (25.41 per cent) at eighth, and agriculture subsidy for seeds/fertilizers (25.06 per cent) at ninth," he said.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
My party will complete 5-year term, says CM Siddaramaiah
Mysuru (Karnataka) (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday asserted that the Congress government would complete its five-year term, while sidestepping questions on whether he personally would remain in office for the full duration.
Addressing reporters here, he maintained that decisions on the leadership would rest with the party high command and refrained from giving a direct answer on his own tenure.
“Our party will complete five years,” Siddaramaiah said, when asked if he would complete a full term as Chief Minister.
On the issue of leadership, he reiterated that the final call would be taken by the party leadership, saying, “The high command will decide. There’s no point asking the same thing again.”
Indicating his readiness to travel to the national capital if required, he said, “If I am called to Delhi, I will go,” adding that he would seek an appointment with Rahul Gandhi if needed.
The talks on leadership change have intensified in the power corridor of the state where claims were made that Siddaramaiah would make way for his Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar.
The Chief Minister also underlined that recent by-election victories in Bagalkote and Davanagere South assembly segment reflected public support for the government, stating that this clearly shows that people have appreciated the Congress government and its programmes.
The CM also dismissed the opposition’s claims, alleging they lacked strategy, and said local body elections would be conducted as per rules.
