People are satisfied with the educational and health facilities provided by the BJP-led state government, but have given mixed reactions to the provision of various civic amenities.
People are satisfied with the educational and health facilities provided by the BJP-led state government, but have given mixed reactions to the provision of various civic amenities.
In the past few months, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has been campaigning aggressively in Gujarat, which is the bastion of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the home state of both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah. survey findings of Public Policy Center for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) Indicate that AAP has been able to make its footprints in rural and urban Gujarat through the sustained campaign of national convener Arvind Kejriwal. But if the party leadership thinks that they can challenge the BJP by questioning the ruling party about the work done by the state government in the fields of school education and public health, they may be mistaken.
54% of the survey respondents believed that facilities in government schools have improved, while only 16% did not (Table 1). There is a shared belief that not only the quality of education, but also other facilities such as mid-day meals, classrooms and sports and games facilities have improved. People also believe that the morale of both teachers and school children has improved in the last five years (Table 2). Therefore, it is not surprising that a large number of people are satisfied with the performance of the state government in the field of education (Table 3).
People are also happy with the facilities available in the government hospitals of Gujarat. A majority (60%) of the respondents believe that facilities in government hospitals have improved in the last five years; Only 15% do not believe in it. The improvement in government hospitals is higher in cities and towns than in villages (Table 4). It is not surprising that 30% said that they are ‘completely satisfied’ with the work done by the government in providing various facilities in government hospitals (Table 5).
However, we received a mixed response on the provision of civic amenities (Table 6). People said that the drinking water and electricity system had improved, but they were more divided on the cleanliness of the sewer and the condition of the roads.
Sanjay Kumar Professor, CSDS, and Co-Director, Lokniti-CSDS