Feature
Survey reveals ‘Indian people unsatisfied with government performance’
New Delhi: “Better employment opportunities” is the top priority of Indian voters and they are unsatisfied with the government’s below average performance, reveals a survey conducted by election watchdog – the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).
The survey, released on Monday, said the government’s performance score on the top 10 voters’ priorities is below average.
The other top two voters’ priorities, “better healthcare” and “drinking water” were also rated as below average.
“This evidently indicates that the voters are unsatisfied with the government’s performance. The government needs to prioritise and invest more particularly in these sectors,” it said.
“On better employment opportunities, which is the top priority among voters, the performance of the government has been rated as one of the worst (2.15 on a scale of 5).”
The ADR conducted the survey between October 2018 and December 2018 covering 534 Lok Sabha constituencies, in which 2,73,487 voters spread among various demographics participated.
The three main objectives of this survey were to identify voters’ priorities on specific governance issues, voters’ ratings of the government’s performance on those issues, and factors affecting voting behaviour.
“It is quite clear from the top 10 voters’ priorities that Indian voters’ prioritise — employment and basic amenities (such as healthcare, drinking water, better roads) — lie above all governance issues (including terrorism and strong defence/military),” it said.
“This indisputably is a result of prevailing governance deficit in these sectors that is causing deprivation to the average Indian voter besides also leading to the denial of their fundamental rights such as right to live with human dignity as embodied in the Article-21 of the Constitution.”
It is important for the government to ensure basic services to all sections of the society for inclusive and equitable development, it added.
‘Indian voters unsatisfied with government’s performance’ reveals survey:
As per the survey, “better employment opportunities” (46.80 per cent), “better health care” (34.60 per cent) and “drinking water” (30.50 per cent) are the top three voters’ priorities at the all India level, followed by ‘better roads’ (28.34 per cent) and ‘better public transport’ (27.35 per cent).
Agricultural related governance issues featured predominantly as “availability of water for agriculture” (26.40 per cent) that was ranked sixth, followed by “agriculture loan availability” (25.62 per cent), “higher price realisation for farm products” (25.41 per cent), and :agriculture subsidy for seeds and fertilsers” (25.06 per cent).
The ADR said it is a matter of serious concern that for none of the 31 listed voters’ priorities, the performance of the government was rated as average or above average.
The worst performance of the government, as rated by the voters, was on the issues of encroachment of public lands, lakes, and terrorism, training for jobs, strong defence and military, eradication of corruption, lower food prices for consumers and mining and quarrying.
It said “better employment opportunities”, and “better healthcare centres” were among the top priorities last year as well.
Out of the 32 states and union territories, in 29 of them, voters have given below average ratings to the government for its performance on all top 3 voters’ priorities at the state level.
This is with the exception of Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu and Puducherry.
In most socio-economically backward states of Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh better employment opportunities is the foremost voters’ priority, as per the survey.
Drinking water is the topmost voters’ priority in Odisha, Karnataka and Daman and Diu.
The State Scores Extra High on Gaming-Friendly Industry Index
Meghalaya scored 92.85 out of 100 possible points in a Gaming Industry Index and proved to be India’s most gaming-friendly state following its recent profound legislation changes over the field allowing land-based and online gaming, including games of chance, under a licensing regime.
The index by the UK India Business Council (UKIBC) uses a scale of 0 to 100 to measure the level of legalisation on gambling and betting achieved by a state based on the scores over a set of seven different games – lottery, horse racing, betting on sports, poker, rummy, casino and fantasy sports
Starting from February last year, Meghalaya became the third state in India’s northeast to legalise gambling and betting after Sikkim and Nagaland. After consultations with the UKIBC, the state proceeded with the adoption of the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Act, 2021 and the nullification of the Meghalaya Prevention of Gambling Act, 1970. Subsequently in December, the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Rules, 2021 were notified and came into force.
All for the Tourists
The move to legalise and license various forms of offline and online betting and gambling in Meghalaya is aimed at boosting tourism and creating jobs, and altogether raising taxation revenues for the northeastern state. At the same time, the opportunities to bet and gamble legally will be reserved only for tourists and visitors.
“We came out with a Gaming Act and subsequently framed the Regulation of Gaming Rules, 2021. The government will accordingly issue licenses to operate games of skill and chance, both online and offline,” said James P. K. Sangma, Meghalaya State Law and Taxation Minister speaking in the capital city of Shillong. “But the legalized gambling and gaming will only be for tourists and not residents of Meghalaya,” he continued.
To be allowed to play, tourists and people visiting the state for work or business purposes will have to prove their non-resident status by presenting appropriate documents, in a process similar to a bank KYC (Know Your Customer) procedure.
Meghalaya Reaches Out to a Vast Market
With 140 millions of people in India estimated to bet regularly on sports, and a total of 370 million desi bettors around prominent sporting events, as per data from one of the latest reports by Esse N Videri, Meghalaya is set to reach out and take a piece of a vast market.
Estimates on the financial value of India’s sports betting market, combined across all types of offline channels and online sports and cricket predictions and betting platforms, speak about amounts between $130 and $150 billion (roughly between ₹9.7 and ₹11.5 lakh crore).
Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Delhi are shown to deliver the highest number of bettors and Meghalaya can count on substantial tourists flow from their betting circles. The sports betting communities of Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana are also not to be underestimated.
Among the sports, cricket is most popular, registering 68 percent of the total bet count analyzed by Esse N Videri. Football takes second position with 11 percent of the bets, followed by betting on FIFA at 7 percent and on eCricket at 5 percent. The last position in the Top 5 of popular sports for betting in India is taken by tennis with 3 percent of the bet count.
Local Citizens will Still have Their Teer Betting
Meghalaya residents will still be permitted to participate in teer betting over arrow-shooting results. Teer is a traditional method of gambling, somewhat similar to a lottery draw, and held under the rules of the Meghalaya Regulation of the Game of Arrow Shooting and the Sale of Teer Tickets Act, 2018.
Teer includes bettors wagering on the number of arrows that reach the target which is placed about 50 meters away from a team of 20 archers positioned in a semicircle.
The archers shoot volleys of arrows at the target for ten minutes, and players place their bets choosing a number between 0 and 99 trying to guess the last two digits of the number of arrows that successfully pierce the target.
If, for example, the number of hits is 256, anyone who has bet on 56 wins an amount eight times bigger than their wager.
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