Previous BJP government let voters down in MP: ADR

New Delhi, April 26 (IANS) The previous BJP government in Madhya Pradesh, led by Shivraj Singh Chouhan, performed "poorly and underwhelmingly" on almost all governance parameters, including employment, healthcare facilities and agriculture infrastructure, according to a report by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).

The survey released on Friday was conducted between October and December 2018 in the state then ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), before it was replaced by the Congress in December last year.

The Madhya Pradesh Survey Report 2018 stated that voters' priorities were neglected by the government. "This is quite clear from the fact that the government has performed poorly and underwhelmingly on all top ten governance issues as rated by the voters of Madhya Pradesh," said the ADR report.

It said that employment, higher price realisation for farm products and better healthcare facilities were top priorities for voters and the government performed "below average" on all three.

In rural areas, where another concern was availability of electricity for agriculture, the government scored 1.96 on a scale of 5 on employment, 1.81 on farm product prices and 1.81 on availability of electricity for agriculture, the report said.

"In addition, the government has performed poorly on providing agriculture subsidy for seeds/ fertilisers (1.66 out of 5) and availability of water for agriculture (1.67) in rural Madhya Pradesh," it added.

According to the survey, employment, healthcare and better roads were major concerns for urban voters.

"The performance of the government on urban voters' priorities of better employment opportunities (1.88 on a scale of 5), better hospitals/ primary healthcare centres (1.85), and better law and order was rated as below average.

"In addition, the government has performed poorly on better roads (1.88) and traffic congestion (1.96) in urban Madhya Pradesh," the report said.