SHILLONG: Rural voters in Meghalaya need subsidy on farming activities, water for irrigation and value for farm products where as the priority of the urban voters is better roads, education and subsidised food/ration.
These were the findings of a voters’ survey commissioned by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) across the country. The survey was conducted from October-December, 2018.
In rural Meghalaya, 42% of the respondents highlighted agriculture subsidy for seeds/fertilizers as their top priority, while 40% listed availability of water for agriculture as their main requirement.
39% of the respondents said higher price realisation for farm products was their main priority.
The performance of the state government on all top three voters’ priorities of agriculture subsidy for seeds/fertilizers was 1.40 on a scale of 5; availability of water for agriculture (1.15 out of 5) and higher price realization for farm products (1.18) was rated as below average.
In addition, the Meghalaya government has performed poorly in providing electricity for agriculture (1.20) and better law and order/policing (1.94) in rural areas.
For the urban voters in Meghalaya, the top most priorities were better roads (46% of the respondents), school education (46%), and subsidised food/ration (45%). The performance of the government on urban voters’ priorities of better roads was 1.80 on a scale of 5, school education (1.71), and subsidised food/ration (1.4), which was also rated as below average.
In addition, the government has performed poorly in providing drinking water (1.5 out of 5) and school education (1.71) in urban areas.
The survey covered 534 Lok Sabha constituencies with 2,73,487 voters participating in the exercise spread among various demographics.
The survey report for Meghalaya provides an analysis of the 10 most important governance issues — out of the 31 listed in the questionnaire — as rated by the voters of the state. The survey covered 1,000 respondents across the two parliamentary constituencies in Meghalaya.
