Survey says people are happy about electricity supply, municipal & civic services, and ease of doing business, but corruption and healthcare remain a problem.
New Delhi: A year ago, the BJP rode to power in Uttar Pradesh on the promise of better law and order and minimal corruption. The Yogi Adityanath government then went on an encounter spree, shooting dead 39 alleged gangsters over a span of 10 months.
The policy seems to have paid off, because almost 70 per cent of UP’s residents believe that the law and order situation has improved, according to a survey conducted by LocalCircles, a social media platform launched in 2013 where citizens of a given area can come together on issues of governance and shared interests, as well as to flag common concerns to the administration. For this, users of the platform, who have to sign up and interact under their real names, become members of their ‘local circle’. For example, a resident of Meerut would join one for the city to engage with other locals on issues of mutual concern.
The survey was conducted online among 45,000 LocalCircles users from Uttar Pradesh, who responded to questions on the platform itself.
Overall, half the respondents found the government’s performance meeting or exceeding expectations (37 and 13 per cent respectively), while 43 per cent were disappointed with its performance.
Other positives highlighted by the public included the ease of doing business, availability and affordability of power, and better municipal and civic services.
On the negative side are healthcare services, corruption, regulation of excessive fees charged by schools, and women’s safety.
Law and order
One-third of respondents found that the law and order situation had significantly improved, while another 39 per cent saw some improvement. Only 16 per cent though the improvement was negligible, while 12 per cent said the situation had deteriorated.
Crime against women and children
While 25 per cent of those polled said the reduction in crimes against women and children in the last one year had been significant, 30 per cent said improvement has been minimal. Thirty-six per cent said there has been no improvement, while 9 per cent said the situation had become worse.
Power supply
Forty-six per cent of respondents said there was significant improvement, while 33 per cent said there was some. Fourteen per cent found no improvement while 7 per cent said the situation had deteriorated.
Municipal and civic services
The respondents seem to think the Yogi government has only lately put improvements in these services on its agenda — 16 per cent found significant improvement, 39 per cent said things were slightly better than before. Thirty-eight per cent of people found no change while 7 per cent said things had got worse.
Healthcare
The deaths of 60 infants and children within a week at Gorakhpur’s BRD hospital was one of the most shocking stories to come out of UP in 2017. Half the respondents found no improvement at all in healthcare services, while 8 per cent said things had got worse. Thirty per cent found some improvement, while the other 13 per cent said things were significantly better.
Corruption
Despite announcements of inquiries into various projects launched under the Samajwadi Party government, like the Gomti riverfront project and the Agra-Lucknow Expressway, a majority of respondents said the Yogi government hasn’t delivered on its anti-corruption promises.
Forty per cent of people believe there’s been no change in the situation, while 12 per cent feel things have deteriorated. Another 40 per cent found some improvement, while 8 per cent said there had been a significant reduction in corruption.
Jobs
The good news for the Yogi government is that not a single respondent thought the job situation had got worse since the BJP came to power.
For 33 per cent respondents, things were stagnating; 46 per cent found some improvement, while 21 per cent saw significant improvement.
“Mass new job creation has not happened in UP in the last year and many government recruitment exams were cancelled, leaving candidates in the lurch. In addition, with the closure of illegal slaughterhouses, many were forced to look for alternate livelihoods,” said Yatish Rajawat of Localcircles.
Ease of doing business
Overall, 74 per cent of respondents found that things had improved – 16 per cent said it was a big jump, while 58 per cent called it small steps. Twenty-one per cent found no change, while 5 per cent said doing business had become more difficult under Yogi.
Delivery of apartments on time
Twenty-two per cent UP residents said there was significant improvement in the delivery of long-pending apartments by builders, and implementation of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016, in the last one year. Twenty-eight per cent said there was some improvement, 44 per cent said there was no improvement and 6 per cent said the situation had worsened.
Regulation of excessive school fees
Fifty-three per cent of respondents said there was no improvement in the regulation of excessive fee increase by schools in the last year, while 6 per cent said it had worsened. Twelve per cent said there had been significant improvement, while 27 per cent said there had been some improvement.