People want improved civic services, not freebies: Study
VOTERSPEAK A LocalCircles survey with a sample size of 48,000 says residents don’t mind giving property tax, demand efficient garbage disposal in Delhi
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) may have promised to waive off property taxes if voted to power in the Delhi municipal election but most Delhiites actually do not mind giving property taxes, a survey has found.
Conducted by community social media platform LocalCircles, the survey found that as much as 89% of the 48,526 residents surveyed demanded that the civic bodies should rather ensure timely collection of property taxes.
Residents seemed divided over whether the existing service delivery system had lived up to their expectations. While 45% respondents felt the overall delivery of services had deteriorated, 43% said it remained more or less the same. Only 8% felt the services had improved.
Yet, sanitation is the biggest concern for Delhi residents as 36% people said landfills were not a solution to the problem of waste disposal.
The survey said almost everyone (97%) wanted waste segregation and door-todoor garbage collection to be priority for the next municipal leadership.
Clean roads and public toilets were the top priority for 57% of the respondents.
“The survey should make political parties rethink about their promises. For example, 26% citizens voted on better sewerage, waste disposal and segregation of waste as a priority. But this as a priority is missing in the agenda of most political parties as they focus on populist slogans and freebies,” said Yatish Rajawat of LocalCircles.
Rajawat said another finding that reinforced that people were not interested in freebies is of property tax. “Only 8% citizens voted for property tax to be reduced, clearly showing that citizens are ready to pay their taxes but want better services and sanitation in the city,” Rajawat said.
Instead of such populist promises, people want their candidates to be ethical and honest as 42% voted it as the topmost quality. Another 41% respondents felt capability to implement should be the top quality of candidates.
On weekly markets — a source for fresh vegetables and other affordable products — present in most Delhi colonies, 56% people demanded that these should be regularised.
In the study, LocalCircles drafted a manifesto for the contesting candidates in the April 23 MCD polls.
The most voted demands of people include replacing all streetlights with LED lights in next two years, converting all MCD buildings to energy efficient structures and removing encroachments from roads, especially footpaths.
“Other demands include improving parking facilities and availability of drinking water. Controlling population of stray dogs and other animals , and enforcing clean-up policies to ensure timely action in order to prevent the spread of diseases such as dengue or chikungunya were also in the wish list,” Rajawat said.
People want a strengthened grievance redressal mechanism and that civic authority officials or councillors should be more accessible on online platforms.