Skip to main content

Modi's "fight" against terror has 21% fewer supporters in a year, says urban youth survey by LocalCircles

By Rajiv Shah
There is a whopping 21% decline in just one year among urban Indian youth who believe that the Narendra Modi government has been successful in its fight against terrorism. Top Delhi-based consultant, LocalCircles, headquartered in Santa Clara, US, had found that last year 72% urban citizens felt terrorism had reduced under Modi, but this year it is down to 51%.
LocalCircles report on the survey says, “Terrorism has been a huge issue in India for the last few decades. The current Government has taken some tough stance on terrorism in the last couple of years.” However, when asked if “they felt that acts of terrorism and related activities have reduced in the last 3 years”, 51% citizens agreed, 42% disagreed, 7% chose not to answer.
Though ironical it may seem, a huge majority, of those surveyed, 61% of mainly city youths, felt the Modi government has handled “communalism related issues” quite well, which is just a marginal drop of 2% from last year. 
At the same time, the survey finds that if last year 34% citizens approved of the way India handled Pakistan, this number jumped almost 2-folds to 64% this year due to, to quote from the report, “the strict measure taken by the government in the last 1 year.”
Further, the report finds that 81% citizens – down from 90% last year – “feel that India’s image and influence in the world has improved under the leadership of the current government in the last 3 years”.
An organization which primary focused on urban daily life, even as addressing urban communities’ “common issues”, LocalCircles claims its survey is “largest” of its kind, involving “over 40,000 unique citizens”, 68% of which are males -- 42% from tier 1 cities, 28% from tier 2 cities, and the rest from tier 3 cities and rural locations. Average of those surveyed is 32 years.
The survey, taken to mark three years of Modi in power, finds that 51% felt the demonetization exercise “was successful in cracking down on black money.”
If last year 35% people in 2016 said that unemployment had reduced under the Modi government, “this number was 21%, indicating that an increased percentage of citizens now believe that the government is unable to address unemployment”, the report states.
According to the report, “Around 44% citizens this year said that government met their expectations; this is marginally down from 46% last year. Dissatisfaction has also risen – last year only 36% citizens said the performance of the government was below expectation. This has gone up to 39% in the third year.”
It adds, “While last year 18% said that the government had exceeded their expectations, this year 17% say that. Overall, as change hasn’t come fast enough for most people, there is a decline in citizens rating of the government in most areas as compared to last year. If we combine met expectations and exceed expectation there are 61 % who are satisfied with the government.”
The survey report further says, “Only 28% of the citizens believe that crime against women and children has come down in the last one year”, adding, “While police is not a central government subject, perception about safety is linked to central government. And 60% citizens believe that crime against women and children has not come down, this is up from 38% last year, a substantial rise.”
---
Click HERE to read full survey

Comments

TRENDING

Wave of disappearances sparks human rights fears for activists in Delhi

By Harsh Thakor*  A philosophy student from Zakir Hussain College, Delhi University, and an activist associated with Nazariya magazine, Rudra, has been reported missing since the morning of July 19, 2025. This disappearance adds to a growing concern among human rights advocates regarding the escalating number of detentions and disappearances of activists in Delhi.

Aggressive mining operations: With 70% of Maharashtra’s forest cover, Gadchiroli is on brink of environmental collapse

By  Raj Kumar Sinha*  A looming ecological and social disaster is unfolding in the forests of Gadchiroli, Maharashtra. Over 1.23 lakh trees are set to be felled for mining activities—an alarming development that has sparked widespread protests from Adivasi communities and civil society organizations. They are urging the state and central governments to immediately halt all mining-related approvals and operations in the region. They are also calling for a complete review of all clearances, including Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) and Detailed Project Reports (DPR), based on holistic ecological, hydrological, and social assessments. These groups demand that forest corridors and tiger habitats be recognized as protected areas, and that the laws under the Forest Rights Act (2006) and PESA Act (1996) be strictly enforced. Most crucially, they insist that decisions made by tribal gram sabhas be respected through transparent public hearings.

‘Act of war on agriculture’: Aruna Rodrigues slams GM crop expansion and regulatory apathy

By Rosamma Thomas*  Expressing appreciation to the Union Agriculture Minister for inviting suggestions from farmers and concerned citizens on the sharp decline in cotton crop productivity, Aruna Rodrigues—lead petitioner in the Supreme Court case ongoing since 2005 that seeks a moratorium on genetically modified (GM) crops—wrote to Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on July 14, 2025, stating that conflicts of interest have infiltrated India’s regulatory system like a spreading cancer, including within the Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR).

Overriding India's constitutional sovereignty? Citizens urge PM to reject WHO IHR amendments

By A Representative   A group of concerned Indian citizens, including medical professionals and activists, has sent an urgent appeal to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging him to reject proposed amendments to the International Health Regulations (IHR) before the ratification deadline of July 19, 2025. 

Sandra Gonzalez Sanabria: An inspiring life from Colombia’s Amazonian valley

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat*  In the village of Héctor Ramírez, known as Agua Bonita, in La Montañita, Caquetá, Colombia, a vision of peace and renewal is unfolding. In the pre-2016 period, this would have been nearly impossible for outsiders to visit, as it was the epicenter of violent resistance against state oppression. However, after the Peace Accord was signed between the Colombian government and former revolutionaries—marking the end of a 70-year insurgency that claimed over 400,000 lives until 2025, including civilians, rebel fighters, and security personnel—things began to change. Visiting Agua Bonita during the Global Land Forum in Bogotá revealed a village of hope and resilience. Former FARC revolutionaries have settled here and transformed the village into a center of peace and aspiration.

Farmer 'stripped, assaulted' by BSF jawan in West Bengal border village: Rights group urges NHRC to act

By A Representative  A disturbing incident of alleged custodial torture and public humiliation has been brought to the attention of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) by a leading human rights group, Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM), involving a Muslim farmer in a border village of West Bengal. In a formal complaint, Kirity Roy, Secretary of MASUM and National Convenor of the Programme Against Custodial Torture & Impunity (PACTI), has urged the NHRC to take urgent action following an incident that occurred on the morning of June 12, 2025, in Hakimpur village near the India–Bangladesh border under Swarupnagar police station, North 24 Parganas district. According to the complaint, 38-year-old Jahar Ali Gazi, a resident of Hakimpur Uttar Para, was on his way to his field in Kadamtala Math around 7:30 am when he was stopped by an on-duty Border Security Force (BSF) jawan near the 7 No. Outpost of Hakimpur Border Outpost (143 Battalion). The location...

India’s zero-emission, eco-friendly energy strategies have a long way to go, despite impressive progress

By N.S. Venkataraman*   The recent report released by OPEC’s World Oil Outlook 2025 has predicted that by the year 2050, crude oil would replace coal as India’s key energy source. Clearly, OPEC expects that India’s dependence on fossil fuels for energy will continue to remain high in one form or another.

The Empire strikes inward: Britain’s colonial legacy now targets its own citizens

By Bhabani Shankar Nayak   British colonialism may belong to the past, but the colonial mindset of the ruling elite in Britain persists. Today, these elites are applying colonial values and repressive political tactics not abroad, but to their own people. 'Home' is now where British colonialism is taking root—threatening civil liberties and undermining liberal democracy. The criminalisation of dissent has become a shared political practice across the Conservative and Labour leadership.

Ecological alarm over pumped storage projects in Western Ghats: Policy analyst writes to PM

By A Representative   In a detailed letter addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, energy and climate policy analyst Shankar Sharma has raised grave concerns over the escalating approval and construction of Pumped Storage Projects (PSPs) across India’s ecologically fragile river valleys. He has warned that these projects, if pursued unchecked, could result in irreparable damage to the country’s riverine ecology, biodiversity hotspots, and forest wealth—particularly in the Western Ghats.