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 Himachal Pradesh, this report provides an analysis of 10 most important governance issues as rated by the voters of Himachal Pradesh (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 2,000 respondents across all 4 parliamentary constituencies of Himachal Pradesh.

KEY FINDINGS

§   The Himachal Pradesh Survey 2018 shows that Better Employment Opportunities (63.60%), Availability of Water for Agriculture (47.02%) and Better Hospitals/Primary Healthcare Centres (41.10%) are the top three voters’ priorities in overall Himachal Pradesh.

§   The performance of the government on all top three voters’ priorities of Better Employment Opportunities (2.63 on a scale of 5), Availability of Water for Agriculture (2.60) and Better Hospitals/Primary Healthcare Centres (2.64) was rated as Below Average.

§   In rural Himachal Pradesh, top most voters’ priorities were Better Employment Opportunities (64%), Availability of Water for Agriculture (53%) and Better Hospitals/Primary Healthcare Centres (41%).

§   The performance of the government on rural voters’ priorities of Better Employment Opportunities (2.65 on a scale of 5), Availability of Water for Agriculture (2.60) and Better Hospitals/Primary Healthcare Centres (2.64) was rated as Below Average.

§   In addition, the government has performed poorly on Better Public Transport (2.39) and Better Roads (2.75) in rural Himachal Pradesh.

§   For the urban voters in Himachal Pradesh, the top most priorities were Better Employment Opportunities (60%), School Education (60%) and Eradication of Corruption (44%).

§   The performance of the government on urban voters’ priorities of Better Employment Opportunities (2.46), School Education (2.48) and Eradication of Corruption (2.54) was rated as Below Average.

§   In addition, the government has performed poorly on Better Roads (2.58) and Better Hospitals/Primary Healthcare Centres (2.71) in urban Himachal Pradesh.

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

Graph 1: Himachal Pradesh - Top 3 overall Voters’ Priorities and Government’s Performance Scores 

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

Attachment: Attached are the detailed Himachal Pradesh Survey Report 2018 both in English and Hindi. 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 a link to the report on our website.