New Delhi, May 14 (TOI): About six out of every 10 persons surveyed by a community social media platform believe the Modi government has either met or exceeded expectations as it completes four years in power. While nearly three-fourths of respondents in this perception survey backed the government for handling Pakistan, over 

54 per cent said tax terrorism had reduced and direct benefit transfer (DBT) had been a success.

"On the four-year mark, 56 per cent citizens believe the government is on track to deliver the promises made in the pre-election manifesto, which is a slight slide from 59 per cent in last year's survey. Typically, the expectation from political establishments or the ruling party among citizens deteriorates very fast. This expectation percentage is similar to the approval ratings for US presidents and while it is falling every year, it is still in high digits for the Modi government,"
LocalCircles said in its survey report.

While these are good indicators for the government, similar surveys by the outfit in the past two years showed a gradual decline of people backing the government's performance. According to the agency, in 2016 poll, about 64 per cent believed the government was doing good, this year it was 57 per cent. A common complaint was that
local MPs were not engaged in addressing issues and development of the constituency. A year ahead of Lok Sabha elections, the ratings will cheer the government but also point to the need to address vulnerabilities.

The other areas of concern that came out in this survey covering 23 areas are rising cost of living, less effective handling of communalism related issues, the need for the government to do more to reduce unemployment and checking crime against women and children. On the positive side, there did not seem to have been any significant price rise attached to GST. Around 32 per cent said they experienced lower prices or lower monthly costs after the GST roll out while 60 cent said there was no change. "This means some form of price stabilisation has happened after GST and demonetisation, both of which had an inflationary component in them," the survey said.