MCD election: People in Delhi want better services not freebies, finds survey

delhi

Updated: Apr 12, 2017 11:55 IST

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. Another 33% said waste treatment plants were the solution. 22% felt door-to-door waste collection had to be improved in Delhi.

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Sanitation a big concern Delhi generates 10,000 metric tonnes of garbage daily but civic bodies have failed to manage and dispose this waste properly. What should be the top most priority in your councillor’s agenda?

How do you assess municipal services in the last five years?

What is the top most quality you seek in your councillor?

How the new councillor should improve waste management?

Should door-to-door garbage collection and segregation be prioritised across the city?

Do you want the new municipal leaders to implement night cleaning of streets?

Survey: LocalCircles

The survey said almost everyone (97%) wanted waste segregation and door-to-door garbage collection to be priority for the next municipal leadership.

Clean roads and public toilets were the top priority for 57% of the respondents. Cleaning streets at night, an activity considered the most efficient world over, was demanded by 91% people.

“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. 14% voted for a proactive approach as a quality.

On weekly markets -- a source for fresh vegetables and other affordable products -- present in most Delhi colonies, 56% people demanded that these should be organized better and regularised. 22% wanted the waste generated at these markets to be properly disposed.

Crowd-sourced manifesto

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 commercial parking facilities and availability of drinking water. Controlling population of stray dogs and other stray animals by providing animal shelter and sterilization, and enforcing rigorous clean-up and fumigation policies to ensure timely action in order to prevent the onset of deadly communicable 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.