17th February, 2015
Press Release
ADR requests Chief Minister of Delhi to take cognizance of the findings of the ADR-Daksh Survey that captured the top 10 Governance Issues as perceived by the Delhi voters.
Dear Shri Arvind Kejriwal,
1) We the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) along with Daksh conducted perhaps the largest ever survey in any one country. The survey was conducted across 525 Lok Sabha constituencies and over 2, 50,000 voters participated in this exercise spread among various demographics. The main objective of this survey was to find outvoter perception on specific governance issues and the rated performance of our Government on those issues.
2) The survey was conducted during December 2013 to February 2014, prior to the Lok Sabha elections. While conducting this survey voters were asked to rate the 30 most important issues in their particular region in terms of their capacity, governance and specific roles in improving the living conditions of the voters. These aspects are analyzed in relation to the performance of the Government on those issues as perceived by the respondents.
3) To identify what are voter priorities in terms of governance issues like water, electricity, roads, food, education and health, a list of 30 items was given to voters and they were asked to rate whether a particular issue was High, Medium, or Low. This list was comprehensive as less than 5% said that there were “other issues” beyond the list.
4) The results of the Perception Assessment shows the striking difference between the priorities of the voters and the performance of the Government on those issues. Voter priorities have changed and expectations have gone up. There is a need to re-set some of the priorities to reflect what the voters really need and to improve governance.
5) The key objective of this perception assessment is to provide an improved understanding of the importantexpectations of voters from the Government and how they assess its performance. In addition, it seeks to fill a vital gap in contemporary times, namely, evidence based research and action on governance. For far too long we have depended entirely on ideology or the opinions or various experts. Though that is important, we also need to reflect the priorities of citizens. These priorities and assessments will change over time, and hence there is a need to repeat this survey periodically.
6) The overall score in Delhi, on a scale of 10, for Importance of Issues was 8.88. This meant that the 30 issues presented to voters were rated as between Medium and High Priority. In other words, expectation from the Government across Delhi state was high. The voters gave an overall Government’s performance rating of 5.86 on a scale of 10, to these 30 issues, which meant Below Average performance.
The all India score of Importance of all 30 Issues is 7.51 (out of 10), which means that voters of Delhi (with importance score of 8.88/10) expect more from the Delhi Government and the gap between performance score (5.86/10) of the Delhi Government, as perceived by the voters, and the importance score of issues as felt by them underscores their disappointment.
S. No. | Score (on a scale of 10) | Delhi | India |
1 | Expectations of Governance Issues as perceived by voters | 8.88 | 7.51 |
2 | Delhi Government’s Performance on the Issues as perceived by voters | 5.86 | 5.68 |
Importance Scores of all 30 Governance Issues as perceived by Delhi and all-India Voters and Governments’ Performance Scores as perceived by the voters
7) In Delhi, Drinking Water was rated as the highest priority, getting a score of 9.24, followed by Better Hospitals, Better Electricity Supply, Better Law and Order, Better Roads, Better Public Transport,Better Schools, Better Employment Opportunities, Security for Women and Subsidized Food Distribution as the Top 10 issues with scores between 9.05 and 9.24 about which people are most concerned.
The table below shows the Delhi’s top 10 Governance Issues with their importance scores as felt by the Delhi voters and the Delhi Government’s performance scores on each issue as perceived by the voters. The table also provides the corresponding figures, for the top-10 Delhi Issues, as reported by all India voters. It can be seen that Delhi voters’ expectations are significantly higher.
Perceived Importance Scores of Delhi’s top 10 Governance Issues and Delhi Government’s Performance Scores on the Issues as perceived by the Delhi voters compared with scores capturing the perceptions of all-India voters on the Delhi’s top 10 Governance Issues
We earnestly request that your Government take a serious note of the findings of the ADR-Daksh Survey and prepare a blueprint at earliest so that the most pressing Governance Issues as reported by the Delhi voters may be catered and resolved sooner rather than later.
We wish you all the best in your Government’s endeavors to put Delhi on the path of development.
