New Delhi, Apr 3 (IANS): Mizoram's previous Lal Thanhawla-led Congress government neglected voter priorities and performed "poorly and underwhelmingly" on almost all governance parameters, including employment, healthcare, agricultural subsidies and loans, and road infrastructure, said a survey report by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).
The Lal Thanhawla government ruled Mizoram for 10 years, before it was defeated in the 2018 elections by the Mizo National Front.
Released on Wednesday, The Mizoram Survey Report 2018 stated that the Congress government neglected the voters' concerns. "This is quite clear from the fact that the government has performed 'poorly and underwhelmingly' on all top 10 governance issues as rated by the voters," said the ADR report. The survey was conducted between October and December 2018.
The survey found that better employment opportunities, better hospitals/primary healthcare centres, and better roads were the top three priorities for voters. The performance of the state government was rated below average on all three.
In rural areas, voters were concerned about employment, healthcare and agriculture loan availability and the government performed below average on these, the report said.
On a scale of 5, it scored 2.07 on employment, 2.05 on healthcare facilities and 1.96 on availability of agriculture loans in rural Mizoram, it said.
"In addition, the government performed poorly in providing better roads (2.04) and agriculture subsidy for seeds and fertilisers (2.09) in rural Mizoram," the report stated.
According to the survey, employment, better hospitals/primary healthcare centres, and better roads were major concerns for urban voters.
"On a scale of 5, the performance of the government on urban voters' priorities of better employment opportunities (2.05), better hospitals/primary healthcare centres (1.94) and better roads (1.97) was rated as below average. In addition, the government performed poorly in providing better public transport (2.1) and in empowerment of women and security (2.12) in urban Mizoram," the survey revealed.