TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: Over 80 per cent voters in Goa ignore the criminal record of their candidates since they feel these candidates have done “good work” and around 53 per cent of Goa’s electorate would actually vote for candidates facing criminal charges because they belong to the same caste or religion, a survey conducted by Association for Democratic Reforms has revealed.
The all India survey of 2.5 lakh respondents covering 530 Lok Saba constituencies, which has a Goa component also says that around 68 per cent people also vote for criminal candidates because they spend a lot of money during elections.
The survey also claims that, Goans give more importance to candidates over parties. The PM candidate of the party and caste or religion of the candidate were the third and fourth most important factors while voting.
According to the survey nearly 81 per cent of people in Goa are well aware that distribution of gifts and money by candidates ahead of elections is illegal. But only 37 per cent of people knew that they can get information about the criminal records of their candidates easily.
Shripad Yesso Naik BJP’s north Goa candidate scores the highest 7.55 points (above average), followed by Francisco Sardinha of Congress from south Goa constituency with 5.62 points – which was below average. However, none of the two MPs from Goa have exceeded the expectation of the people, not surprising as Rs 17 crore of the MPLAD fund remained unutilized till February and a perusal of the way the money –Rs 5 crore is given per MP per year – was spent to build large number of community halls, etc.
“This money could have been spent for building toilets. If you drive down from the airport there is a stink,” ADR’s Bhasker Assoldekar told the media today while announcing the results of the survey..
To identify voter priorities in terms of governance issues like water, electricity, roads, food, education and health, a list of 30 items was given to voters and they were asked to rate whether a particular issue was high, medium, or low. This list was comprehensive as less than 5 per cent said that there were “other issues” beyond the list.
In Goa, better hospitals / primary healthcare centres, better schools and drinking water are the top three issues about which people are most concerned this election, as far as governance is concerned.
BOX
Overall top 10 issues for Goa this election:
S. No. Issues Expectations of issues as perceived by voters on a scale of 1 to 10
1 Better hospitals / Primary Healthcare Centres 9.37
2 Better schools 9.35
3 Drinking water 9.29
4 Eradication of corruption 9.21
5 Empowerment of women 9.13
6 Better electricity supply 9.12
7 Better employment opportunities 9.10
8 Subsidized food distribution 9.09
9 Security of women 9.04
10 Better roads 9.03
11 Environmental issues 9.03
However, in rural areas better schools was the number one expectation closely followed by drinking water, better primary healthcare centres and electric supply.
