As the new AAP government begins its work, Delhi that gave it a record verdict is full of high expectations with assured supply of drinking water topping the list of priorities.

The other priorities, in descending order, are:

(2) Better hospitals / Primary Healthcare Centers
(3) Better electric supply
(4) Better Law and Order / Policing
(5) Better roads
(6) Better public transport
(7) Better schools
(8) Better employment opportunities
(9) Security for women
(10) Subsidized food distribution


These are the findings of a large-scale, nationwide survey conducted by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), along with Daksh. Now ADR has written to chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, urging him to “take cognizance of the findings of the survey that captured the top 10 Governance Issues as perceived by the Delhi voters”. [Read the letter, along with the survey findings]

In the survey conducted during December 2013-February 2014, voters were asked to rate the 30 most important issues in their region in terms of their capacity, governance and specific roles in improving their living conditions. These aspects are analyzed in relation to the performance of the government on those issues as perceived by the respondents, ADR said in a press release.

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 five percent respondents said there were “other issues” beyond it.

The results of the ‘Perception Assessment’ show the striking difference between the priorities of the voters and the performance of the government on these issues. Voter priorities have changed and expectations have gone up. There is a need to reset some of the priorities to reflect what the voters really need and to improve governance, ADR noted.

The overall score in Delhi, on a scale of 10, for ‘Importance of Issues’ was 8.88. This meant that the 30 issues presented to voters were rated as between ‘medium’ and ‘high’ priority. In other words, expectation from the government across Delhi state was high. Back then, the government’s performance fetched an overall rating of 5.86 on a scale of 10, when it came to these 30 issues, which meant below average performance.

The all India score of importance of all 30 Issues is 7.51 (out of 10), which means that voters of Delhi (with importance score of 8.88/10) expect more from the Delhi government and the gap between performance score (5.86/10) of the Delhi government, as perceived by the voters, and the importance score of issues as felt by them underscores their disappointment.