Indian Army Most Trusted, Politicians the Least, Reveals Survey

The country feels the Indian Army is the most trusted institution, followed by the judiciary, while the police, government officials and political parties are the least trusted, a report released on Tuesday said.

The report titled Politics and Society Between Elections (2019) by Bengaluru’s Azim Premji University and Delhi-based research institute Lokniti Centre For the Study of Developing Societies’ is based on a survey of public opinion on issues of politics, society and governance, The Hindustan Times reported.

The survey was conducted in Assam, Jammu and Kashmir, Kerala, Mizoram, Nagaland, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, and the National Capital Region of Delhi.

As many as 30 per cent respondents surveyed for the report agreed the government should punish those who do not stand for the national anthem at public places, while 20 per cent were in disagreement. States such as Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Uttarakhand took more nationalist positions, where close to half of the respondents fully agree that the government should punish those not standing up to show respect, the report noted.

It further observed that over the past few years, the ideas of nation and nationalism have taken centre-stage. “People are now divided into two groups — nationalists or anti-nationalists — based on their attitudes and perceptions towards private and public practices.”

The study also reveals that the people surveyed in states like Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Uttarakhand, where cow slaughter is completely banned , were of the opinion that those who consume beef should be punished. However, an overwhelming number of people in states like Mizoram, Nagaland and Kerala where beef consumption is not banned rejected the idea.

Another notable observation made in the report is that the central concern for the respondents between the age group of 18-35 is jobs and employment. “Citizens are concerned with many issues between elections, but what concerns the most is unemployment,” HT quoted the report as saying.