Jobs top concern, political parties least trusted says survey

New Delhi, Mar 27: Jobs remain the top concern for the voters. A survey conducted by the Politics and Society Between Elections 2017-2019, which was released by the Azim Premji University and Lokniti CSDS suggests that the top concern is employment.

Over 24,000 respondents across 12 states were interviewed for the survey and 20 per cent said that jobs is the major concern.

49 per cent of the youth who voiced their concern are in the age group of 18 and 35. After jobs, the next big concerns raised were development, law and order, governance and corruption.

Further the survey that was conducted in November 2018 suggested that the Indian Army remained the most trusted institution, followed by the judiciary. The Election Commission was third on the list, while the political parties were least trusted. On the choice of candidate at least 50 per cent said that they would chose a leader from their own caste or religion.

The report also stated that," unemployment as an issue finds more support when one moves from non-literate voters to highly educated voters. For the college educated respondents, unemployment is an issue for 25 per cent of the respondents. The corresponding figures for the matriculate, the primary educated and the non-literate were 19, 13 and 12 per cent respectively. The biggest issue clearly differs across education."

The report while stating that jobs is the biggest issue, there was an exception among the Muslims and Adivasis. The Adivasis stated that physical infrastructure was the biggest concern. Muslims on the other hand stated development, growth and poverty as their top concerns.

On the job front, the concern has risen from 6 per cent in 2014 to 19 per cent in 2018. On the issue of price rise there was a steep decline from 20 per cent in 2014 to 11 per cent in 2018, the survey states.

In the states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Nagaland, law, corruption, governance were the top issues. In the Tamil Nadu, people complained about the lack of infrastructure. Farmer related issues also was a major concern in the state.