Better employment opportunities and health care remain top concerns in Telangana: Survey

The people of Telangana is concerned about better employment opportunities and healthcare in the state as the two were among the top priorities, according to a survey conducted by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR). The survey probably the largest ever Voter Survey in any country 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.

The survey which focused Telangana analysed 10 most important governance issues as rated by the voters of Telangana (out of the 31 listed in the questionnaire). The 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 8,500 respondents across all 17 parliamentary constituencies of Telangana.

Highlights

1) The telshows that Better Employment Opportunities (65.99%), Better Hospitals/Primary Healthcare Centres (33.23%) and Better Public Transport (25.89%) are the top three voters' priorities in overall Telangana.

2) The performance of the government on all top three voters' priorities of Better Employment Opportunities (1.95 on a scale of 5), Better Hospitals/Primary Healthcare Centres (1.89) and Better Public Transport (2.51) was rated as Below Average.

3) In rural Telangana, top most voters' priorities were Better Employment Opportunities (63%), Higher Price Realization of Farm Products (45%) and Agriculture Subsidy for Seeds/Farmers (44%).

4) The performance of the government on rural voters' priorities of Better Employment Opportunities (2.05 on a scale of 5), Higher Price Realization of Farm Products (2.12) and Agriculture Subsidy for Seeds/Farmers (1.91) was rated as Below Average.

5) In addition, the government has performed poorly on Better Hospitals/Primary Healthcare Centres (1.9) and Availability of water for Agriculture (2.12) in rural Telangana.

6) For the urban voters in Telangana, the top most priorities were Better Employment Opportunities (71%), Noise Pollution (50%), and Water and Air Pollution (40%).

7) The performance of the government on urban voters' priorities of Better Employment Opportunities (1.81), Noise Pollution (2.03) and Water and Air Pollution (2.12) was rated as Below Average.

8) In addition, the government has performed poorly on Better Hospitals/Primary Healthcare Centres (1.87) and Mining/Quarrying (2.06) in urban Telangana.

Top 3 Voters' Priorities and the Performance of Government in Telangana – Overall and Rural & Urban

Graph 1: Telangana - Top 3 overall Voters' Priorities and Government's Performance Ranking

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