India @ 73: 79% citizens foresee India’s standing in the world improving in the next 3 years but more citizens now concerned about equitable growth
- • 72% feel India will be able to leverage its demographic dividend by creating enough employment or entrepreneurship opportunities in the next 3 years
- • 46% feel India will be able to improve the safety of women and children situation before it turns 75
India @ 73: 79% citizens foresee India’s standing in the world improving in the next 3 years
15th August 2019, New Delhi: The last year has been an exciting one for the country. From the Balakot strike to the massive mandate to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a second term, and from the sensex touching 40,000 for the first time to mission Chandrayaan 2, India has made progress in its endeavour to become one of the superpowers in the world.
On India’s 73rd Independence Day, to better understand how citizens feel about the coming 3 years in regards to growth & prosperity, leveraging the demographic dividend, India’s image in the world, safety of women & children etc., LocalCircles carried out its annual Mood of the Nation survey which received more than 48,000 responses from 215 districts across the country.
This being the 3rd year of the Mood of the Nation survey, it allows LocalCircles to also analyse how citizens have responded over time on key questions thereby providing some unique insights and trends over time.
Poll 1
India @ 73: 70% citizens feel India will be able to leverage its demographic dividend by creating enough employment or entrepreneurship opportunities in the next 3 years
The first question asked citizens how do they foresee India leveraging its demographic dividend by creating enough employment or entrepreneurship opportunities. 35% said they see lots of new employment & entrepreneurship opportunities being created and 35% said they see only some new employment but many small entrepreneurs being created. 19% said they are unable to see either new employment nor small entrepreneurs being created while 11% were uncertain about it.
Poll 2
India @ 73: 65% foresee growth and prosperity for most Indians before India turns 75
In the next question, 22% citizens said they see growth and prosperity for all in the next 3 years while 43% said they see growth and prosperity for most. 32% said they see growth & prosperity for few, and only 3% said they see growth & prosperity for none in the next 3 years.
Although the National Council of Applied Economic Research said India’s economic growth could slow down to 6.2% in 2019-20 from 6.8% a year ago, RBI expects the growth to recover in the second half of the year. India will need to grow by approximately 9% every year for the next 5 years to realise Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ambition of seeing India as a $5 trillion economy.
In an earlier LocalCircles survey, only 44% households said that they expect their earnings to increase in the next 12 months.
Poll 3
India @ 73: 79% citizens expect India’s clout in the world to improve before India turns 75
When asked how do they see India’s clout in the world changing in the next 3 years, 79% said they see it improving, 14% see in staying same as what it is currently and 4% see it declining.
The Government’s decision to strip Jammu and Kashmir of its special status and divide it into 2 Union Territories is being described by many as the most significant development this year. While the Government has the support of the majority on this decision, only time will tell whether Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh will see growth and prosperity, or bloodshed and terrorism.
Poll 4
India @ 73: 43% citizens feel bribery and corruption will reduce in India before it turns 75
43% citizens in the next poll said they feel bribery and corruption will reduce in India before it completes 75 years of independence while 31% feel it will feel the same as today. 20% said they see the situation deteriorating and 6% were unsure about it.
Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index ranked India at 78 out of a total of 180 countries, which is a rather low rating. Although the Government has taken some strong steps to reduce the corruption in the country, it clearly has not been enough. According to LocalCircles’ India Corruption Survey 2018, India lives in its districts and it is critical to drive local level reforms in property registrations, municipality, policing etc. to reduce corruption in India.
Poll 5
India @ 73: Only 42% citizens believe India will be able to improve social stability before it turns 75
Next question asked citizens how do they see India’s social stability (ability of citizens of different caste and religion to live with each other in harmony and peace) changing in the next 3 years. The responses show that 42% see it improving, 26% see it being same as it is today and 30% see it declining.
Poll 6
India @ 73: Only 46% citizens believe India will be able to improve the safety of its women and children before it turns 75
When it came to safety of women and children in India, only 46% citizens believe India will be able to improve the situation in the next 3 years while 18% said they see the situation declining. 32% said they feel it will stay the same as today.
If the results of this year’s survey are compared with last year’s survey, similar trends can be noticed. Below is a quick overview of how the comparison of citizen outlook from last year and this year looks like:
Growth and Prosperity
Fewer people now think that India will be able to achieve equitable growth in the next 3 years. When it came to growth and prosperity, the number of people who said they foresee growth and prosperity for most increased from 39% in 2018 to 43% this year.
3 years comparison: Fewer people now believe that India will be able to achieve equitable growth in the next 3 years
India’s clout in the world
Citizens remain confident about India being able to improve its clout in the world in the next 3 years. Last year, 79% citizens saw India’s clout in the world increasing. Even this year, 79% see it increasing.
3 years comparison: Citizens maintain their confidence in India being able to improve its clout in the world in the next 3 years
Social Stability in India
Citizens continue to be not so optimistic in India being able to improve social stability in the next 3 years. 43% in last year’s survey saw the social stability in India improving. The number has gone down a bit to 42% this year. The percentage of people who saw the situation declining remains the same at 30% this year too.
3 years comparison: Citizens continue to be not so optimistic in India being able to improve social stability in the next 3 years
Leveraging the demographic dividend
Citizens continue to be optimistic about India being able to create new employment and entrepreneurship opportunities. The number which said India will create a lot of new jobs and entrepreneurship opportunities stays at 35%, while there was a reduction of 8% in the percentage of people who said India will not be able to do either of them when compared with last year.
3 years comparison: Citizens continue to be optimistic about India being able to create new employment and entrepreneurship opportunities
Safety of women and children
More citizens are now optimistic that women and child safety in India will improve in the next 3 years. When compared with last year’s 42%, even this year a similar 42% citizens feel that the situation around safety of women and children in India is improving. Decisions that that on the POCSO law has helped improve the sentiments. The percentage of people who thought the situation is declining has also reduced from last year.
2 years comparison: More citizens now optimistic that women and child safety in India will improve in the next 3 years
Bribery and corruption
Citizens continue to be optimistic that bribery and corruption will reduce in India in the next 3 years. The appointment if India’s first Lokpal and passing of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Bill which intends to enhance transparency and accountability of government have also led to the belief of a corruption free India. Numbers tell a similar story as both last year and this year, 43% people said that bribery will reduce before India turns 75.
2 years comparison: Citizens continue to be optimistic that bribery and corruption will reduce in India in the next 3 years
Comparison Summary
Comparison summary: More citizens turn pessimistic about India’s ability to deliver equitable growth in the next 3 years
Poll Demographics and Participation
Over 48,000 responses were received from over 22,000 unique citizens located in 215 districts of India. Approximately 37% the respondents were women while 63% were men. 41% of the participants were from Metro/Tier 1 cities, 37% from Tier 2 cities and 22% were from Tier 3 and rural locations.
About LocalCircles
LocalCircles takes Social Media to the next level and makes it about Communities, Governance and Utility. It enables citizens to connect with communities for most aspects of urban daily life like Neighborhood, Constituency, City, Government, Causes, Interests and Needs, seek information/assistance when needed, come together for various initiatives and improve their urban daily life. LocalCircles is free for citizens and always will be!
Akshay Gupta - media@localcircles.com, +91-8585909866
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