Just 12% Gujarat households say Modi govt "committed" to fighting corruption, national average 31%: Survey

By Rajiv Shah
A 13-state survey carried out a Delhi-based non-profit organization, CMS India, has found that in “model” Gujarat’s just about 12% households households feel that the Narendra Modi government is “committed” towards reducing corruption, which is the lowest of all states, with the sole exception of Andhra Pradesh, where just about 2% of feel that way.

Things no better insofar as the Gujarat government, headed by chief minister Vijay Rupani, is concerned. The survey, involving a sample of 160 households from each of the 13 states, covering 10 to 12 rural and urban locations, finds that Gujarat’s 13% households feel that the state government is committed to reducing corruption. Only two states perform worse than Gujarat – Andhra Pradesh (1%) and Rajasthan (11%).
The survey report, titled “CMS-India Corruption Study 2018”, says, “Compared to previous year (2017), in 2018 round, the percentage who feel Union government is committed to rein duce corruption (31%), should be a matter of concern for the Modi-led government. In 2017, the percentage of such population was more than 40 percent.”

Perception about Modi govt

It adds, “Another 38% feel that the government is not much committed i.e. committed to some extent only, while a little more than 25% feel that Union government is not at all committed in reducing corruption. Vacant Lokayukta’s (Ombudsman) position at the national level after being in power for around 4 years, or recent cases of non-performing assets (NPAs) in banking sector (infamous cases of Mallaya and Nirav Modi), could be the factors contributing in building people’s perception that government at the national level is not committed to reduce corruption.”

By way of comparison, Biharis place the highest trust in the Modi government with 50% households feeling that it is committed in reducing corruption, followed by Delhi 44%, West Bengal 43%, Telangana 42%, and so on.
As for trust in state governments, 48% households of West Bengal feel that the Mamata government is committed to reducing corruption, followed by Bihar 44%, Telangana 39%, and so on.
Conducted during February-March 2018, the survey results further finds that 48% of Gujarat households feel corruption in public service has increased, which is higher than four of the 13 states surveyed – Andhra Pradesh 72%, followed by Punjab 56%, Tamil Nadu 53%, and Rajasthan 51%.

Perception about respective state governments

The report says, “Compared to 2017 round, the perception about the respective state government’s commitment towards reducing corruption has further deteriorated in most of the surveyed states in 2018 round, except, Bihar, Delhi, Karnataka and Maharashtra to some extent.”
With an average of 31% across 13 states, the report particularly notes, “No change in opinion about the state government in Gujarat is observed, as far as people perception about the respective state government’s commitment to reduce corruption in public services is concerned.”
The report states, “In CMS-ICS 2018, 75% households have the perception that the level of corruption in public services has either increased or remained same during the last 12 months”, adding, “27% households experienced corruption at least once while availing any one of the 11 public services covered in CMS-ICS 2018.”

It adds, “Among public services, where households experiencing corruption while availing its services was high during the last 12 months include, transport (21%), police (20%), housing/land records (16%) and health/hospital services (10%).” On the other hand, “less than 1% of the households experienced corruption in banking services.”
The survey found that “while 99% of the respondents had Aadhaar, 7% of them paid bribe to get it. In case of Voter ID, around 92% had one but 3% paid bribe to get the Voter ID made.” The report comments, “This is high and reflects continued malice.”

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