Rawat government fared below par on voter concerns

The Trivendra Singh Rawat government performed "below average" on employment opportunities, hospitals/primary healthcare centres and availability of agriculture loans, the three major concerns of voters in Uttarakhand, according to a survey by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).

On the scale of 5, the government scored 2.45 on employment opportunities, 2.39 on hospitals/primary healthcare centres and 2.20 on agriculture loan availability, said the ADR report.

"The Uttarakhand Survey 2018 shows better employment opportunities (51.61 per cent), better hospitals/primary healthcare centres (41.85 per cent) and agriculture loan availability (30.54 per cent) are the top three voter priorities in the state," ADR said in a statement on Wednesday.

The election watchdog said the voter priorities in rural Uttarakhand were better employment opportunities (47 per cent), agriculture loan availability (44 per cent) and electricity for farms (42 per cent).

The government's performance on these on a scale of 5 was 2.44 in case of employment opportunities, 2.20 in agriculture loan availability and 2.19 in electricity for farms, it added.

In addition, the government performed poorly on agriculture subsidy for seeds/fertilisers (2.29) and hospitals/primary healthcare centres (2.39) in rural areas.

For the urban voters in the state, the priorities were better employment opportunities (61 per cent), better hospitals/primary healthcare centres (50 per cent) and traffic congestion (47 per cent).

"The performance of the government on urban voter priorities was -- better employment opportunities (2.48), better hospitals/primary healthcare centres (2.39) and traffic congestion (2.32) -- and was rated 'below average'," said the survey.

For the urban voters, the government also performed below par on better public transport (2.41) and better roads (2.41).

Conducted between October and December 2018, the survey aimed to identify the voter priorities on specific governance issues, their rating of the government performance on those issues, and the factors affecting voting behaviour.

It covered approximately 2,500 respondents across all five parliamentary constituencies of Uttarakhand.

--IANS

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