Job opportunities, noise pollution, water are voters’ top priorities, reveals survey

Chennai

The Survey says, in urban areas, 23.59% of voters prioritised on the need for better employment opportunities, followed by control of noise pollution (21.82%), access to safe drinking water (20.69%), better primary health care infrastructure (18.89%), better roads (17.58%) and easing traffic congestions (17.34%).

Dr Sudarsan Padmanabhan, coordinator for Tamil Nadu Election Watch, said people were unhappy with the governance. “In our 2014 survey, government performance across most parameters were ranked slightly above average. But this time, as per people’s priorities – better infrastructure or employment opportunities – the government’s performance in these areas has been ranked above 15. There is a clear discord,” he said.  Amidst the need for better infrastructure, ‘empowerment of women and security’ was ranked at number 11.

Dr Swarna Rajagopalan, Founder of Prajnya Trust, said, “This list reflects our social priorities. Women empowerment and security is not considered as a social priority – either by politicians or the public. It will take a lot to include gender equality in political agendas.” Provision of drinking water ranked higher, pollution of waterbodies was not a top priority.