New Delhi– Sixty-one per cent of some 200,000 citizens surveyed across the country say they are satisfied with the performance of the Narendra Modi government as it completes three years in office. This is, however, down from the 68 per cent approval after its first year and 64 percent approval after its second year.
Forty-four per cent of the respondents in the two-week survey by Local Circles citizen’s engagement platform said the government had met their expectations while 17 per cent said their expectations had been exceeded.
Around 59 per cent of the citizens polled believed that the government will fulfil the promises made in its pre-election manifesto.
Conversely, dissatisfaction has also risen — last year only 36 per cent citizens said the government’s performance was below expectation. This has gone up to 39 per cent in the third year.
The survey also found that the government has been able to better handle Parliament and opposition benches therein during its third year: 65 per cent said the government has effectively handled Parliament and delivered on key bills, like the one on GST.
At the same time, individual MPs still remain disconnected from their constituencies, the survey found. Around 69 per cent of the citizens polled said that their local MP is not engaged with the constituency.
Around 66 per cent of the citizens believe that the price of essential commodities and cost of living have gone up. This is in spite of the fact that inflation has come down to 3 per cent.
A massive 60 per cent citizens believe that crimes against women and children have not come down. This is up from 38 per cent last year, a substantial rise. While police is not a central government subject, perception about safety is linked to the central government, the survey found.
Though the Swachh Survekshan 2017 released recently reported that 75-80 per cent citizens find their cities cleaner, only 35 per cent agreed when asked whether their city had become cleaner in the last three years due to the Swachh Bharat Mission.
The general perception among 47 per cent citizens is that corruption has reduced in the last 3 years whereas 43 per cent believe that it had not reduced at all.
Asked if corruption has reduced as a result of demonetisation, only 39 per cent agreed. However, 51 per cent agreed when asked if the demonetisation exercise was successful in cracking down on black money.
A massive 81 per cent citizens feel that India’s image and influence in the world has improved under the government in the last 3 years.
Citizens were also asked if they approved of the way the government has handled Pakistan during the last three years, with around 64 per cent agreeing. (IANS)
