Jobs, healthcare, drinking water top priorities for voters: Survey
New Delhi, Mar 26: Better employment opportunities, better healthcare and drinking water are the top priorities for the voters at the all-India level, as per a survey by the Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR).
According to the All India Survey 2018, in all the 10 areas that were the priority for the voters, the government's rating was "below average".
"The significance of better employment opportunities as voters' highest priority has increased by 56.67 per cent from 30 per cent in 2017 to 47 per cent in 2018. At the same time, the performance of the government on this issue declined from 3.17 to 2.15 on a scale of five," the ADR survey noted.
The three main objectives of the ADR survey were to identify voters' priorities on specific governance issues, voters ratings of the government's performance on those issues, and factors affecting the voting behaviour.
According to 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 priorities of the voters at the all-India level,
It is followed by better roads (28.34 per cent) and better public transport (27.35 per cent) at the fourth and fifth place, respectively.
Agriculture-related governance issues also featured predominantly in the top 10 voters' priorities at a time several parts of the country have been witnessing farm distress.
For instance, the availability of water for agriculture (26.40 per cent) was ranked sixth, agriculture loan availability (25.62 per cent) ranked seventh, higher price realisation for farm products (25.41 per cent) ranked eighth, and agriculture subsidy for seeds/fertilisers (25.06 per cent) ranked ninth.
Better law-and-order situation was the 10th governance-related issues in the survey.
The survey was conducted between October -December last year, covering 534 Lok Sabha constituencies with 2,73,487 voters, spread among various demographics, participating in the exercise.
"Amongst the 32 states and UTs (Union Territories) that were surveyed, in 29 of them, voters have given below average ratings to the government for its performance on all top 3 voters' priorities at the state level. This is with the exception of Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, and Puducherry," the findings of the survey noted.
As per All India Survey 2018, 75.11 per cent voters disclosed that the chief ministerial candidate was the most important reason behind voting for a particular candidate, followed by candidate's party (71.32 per cent) and the candidate (68.03 per cent) himself/herself.
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Bill to regulate deepfakes tabled in Lok Sabha
New Delhi (PTI): A Private Member's Bill seeking a clear legal framework for regulation of deepfakes has been introduced in the Lok Sabha.
The Regulation of Deepfake Bill, introduced by Shiv Sena leader Shrikant Shinde in the House on Friday, aims to protect citizens by mandating prior consent from individuals depicted in deepfake content.
"Misuse of deepfakes for harassment, deception and misinformation has escalated, creating an urgent need for regulatory safeguards," Shinde said.
The Bill also lists penalties for offenders creating or disseminating deepfake content with malicious intent.
"With advancements in artificial intelligence and deep learning, deepfake technology has emerged as a significant tool for media manipulation. While the technology has potential applications in education, entertainment and creative fields, it also poses severe risks when misused, threatening individual privacy, national security and public trust," Shinde said in the statement of objects and reasons in the Bill.
The proposed Bill seeks to establish a clear legal framework to govern the creation, distribution and application of deepfakes in India, said Shinde, a three-term Lok Sabha member from Kalyan.
The Bill also seeks to establish the Deepfake Task Force, a dedicated body to combat national security implications and evaluate the influence of deepfakes on privacy, civic participation, and potential election interference.
The task force will collaborate with academic and private sector institutions to develop technologies that detect manipulated content, thereby promoting credibility in digital media.
The Bill also proposes to establish a fund to support public and private sector initiatives in the detection and deterrence of advanced image manipulation.
A Private Member's Bill is a procedure of Parliament that enables lawmakers, who are not ministers, to draw attention to issues that might not be represented in Government Bills or to highlight the issues and gaps in the existing legal framework that require legislative intervention.
