12th April 2019

Dear Friends,

The Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) commissioned perhaps the largest ever Voter Survey in any country. The survey was conducted between October 2018 and December 2018, prior to the General Elections to the Lok Sabha 2019. It covered 534 Lok Sabha constituencies with 2,73,487 voters participating in this exercise spread among various demographics. The three main objectives of this survey were to identify the following: (i) voters’ priorities on specific governance issues, (ii) voters’ ratings of the government's performance on those issues, and (iii) factors affecting voting behaviour.

Focusing on Gujarat, this report provides an analysis of 10 most important governance issues as rated by the voters of Gujarat (out of the 31 listed in the questionnaire). These voters’ priorities are further examined in relation to the performance of the Government on those issues as perceived by the respondents. A three-level scale of GOOD, AVERAGE and BAD was used, where GOOD was given weightage equal to 5, Average was weighted 3 and BAD was weighted as 1. The survey covered approximately 13,000 respondents across all 26 parliamentary constituencies of Gujarat.

KEY FINDINGS

§ The Gujarat Survey Report 2018 shows that Better Employment Opportunities (42.68%), Drinking Water (37.12%), and Better Hospitals/Primary Healthcare Centres (30.23%) are the top three voters’ priorities in overall Gujarat.

§ The performance of the government on all top three voters’ priorities of Better Employment Opportunities (2.33 on a scale of 5), Drinking Water (2.60), and Better Hospitals/Primary Healthcare Centres (2.62) was rated as Below Average.

§ In rural Gujarat, top most voters’ priorities were Availability of Water for Agriculture (46%), Agricultural Loan Availability (45%), and Agricultural Subsidy for Seeds/Fertilisers (44%).

§ The performance of the government on rural voters’ priorities of Availability of Water for Agriculture (2.43 on a scale of 5), Agricultural Loan Availability (2.37), and Agricultural Subsidy for Seeds/Fertilisers (2.15) was rated as Below Average.

§ In addition, the government has performed poorly on Better Employment Opportunities (2.35) and Higher Price Realization for Farm Products (2.39) in rural Gujarat.

§ For the urban voters in Gujarat, the top most priorities were Traffic Congestion (49%), Noise Pollution (47%), and Better Employment Opportunities (45%).

§ The performance of the government on urban voters’ priorities of Traffic Congestion (2.23 on a scale of 5), Noise Pollution (2.20), and Better Employment Opportunities (2.31) was rated as Below Average.

§ In addition, the government has performed poorly in Better Hospitals/Primary Health Centres (2.27) and Drinking Water (2.31) in urban Gujarat.

Top 3 Voters’ Priorities and the Performance of Government in Gujarat – Overall and Rural & Urban

Graph 1: Gujarat - Top 3 overall Voters’ Priorities and Government’s Performance Ranking

Graph 2: Gujarat - Rural & Urban Breakup of Voters' Priorities and Government's Performance

Attachment: Attached are the detailed Gujarat Survey Report 2018 in both English and Gujarati. We believe that the assessment report can be an important tool in engendering improvements within all institutions in refining their own institutional practices and developing better oversight of other bodies. We hope the report will be instrumental in starting a coordinated effort to work together to ensure the most efficient use of resources to serve the nation as a whole. Please find alink to the report on our website.

Regards,

Media and Journalist Helpline

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Maj. Gen. Anil Verma (Retd.)

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anilverma@adrindia.org