Journalism of Courage
For political parties building and dissecting strategies for the General Elections, data compiled by Pew Research Center, Washington DC based think tank shows more than two-third of Indians are dissatisfied with the current state of affairs in the country, of which they rank price rise and threat of terrorism as top concerns.
Lack of employment opportunities, corruption and perceived inequality rank just behind with political deadlock far behind. The findings by the non-partisan organisation are based on 2,464 interviews with adults, between December 2013 and January 2014 in India, covering 15 of 17 large states. “Seven-in-ten Indians are dissatisfied with the way things are going in their country … ,” said the report — “Indians Reflect on Their Country and the World”.
Bruce Stokes, director, Global Economic Attitudes at the centre said the Indian mood could be interpreted as a willingness to change. According to him, the surprise in the data was that despite the dissatisfaction, 57 per cent of respondents thought the economy was in good shape. However, 62 per cent of the respondents believe economy will improve over the next 12 months and nearly two-thirds said that their finances are in good shape.
The report notes that the level of dissatisfaction is shared by people across the political spectrum. “This public frustration with the direction of their nation is less a judgment about economic conditions in India or their own personal financial situation and more disgruntlement about a range of problems — from inflation to corruption — that the public perceives to be troubling Indian society. Concerned, Indians express a desire for political change.”
Also, people in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka are the most dissatisfied with current economic conditions with 60 per cent believing that the situation is bad.
BJP, led by Narendra Modi, is considered as the formation that can address these challenges. “… Nearly eight-in-ten Indians (78 per cent) have a favourable view of Modi, compared with 16 per cent who hold an unfavorable view,” it said.
