India angrily, blaming government corruption, inflation

India angrily, blaming government corruption, inflation

NEW DELHI: Inflation is starting to hurt seriously, corruption is at its highest of all time and the government is not doing enough to tackle any problem. That is the way to the big cities of India feels the two issues dominating headlines in recent months, according to a survey of 8 of the city made exclusively for TOI.

Asked what impact rising prices have had on their household budget, only 3% said it has had little impact. About a fifth of respondents said they had been forced to reduce consumption of some items, one in six said they had put off some purchases, a quarter said they had reduced their savings and a little more than one three said he had felt all of these impacts.

The question of who was responsible for these prices out of control, six of the seven fault of the Central or state governments or both. About two-thirds said the government has done everything possible.

On corruption, the anger is even more evident. An overwhelming 83% said it is at its highest ever. Three out of five political blame for this state of affairs and less than a third of respondents believe the government is serious about the problem. Almost everyone keeps corruption scandals that have tarnished the image of government.

Interestingly, almost two thirds of respondents believed that corruption had not been so dominant, government revenues have been further than allow some tax cuts. In other words, the exception to the corruption is not just for moral reasons.

The survey, conducted by Synovate, a market research agency worldwide, surveyed nearly 2,500 respondents in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Lucknow and covers people from the socio-economic categories A, B and C.

Two shocks, different responses

Interestingly, however, significant differences in the details of the responses of several cities.

Almost everyone in urban India, for example, admits that the price increase has forced changes in family budgets, but people in different cities seem to have adapted differently to economic crisis. In Hyderabad, for example, the predominant response was that had led to a reduction in consumption levels, with 46% offered the answer. In Mumbai, however, the impact seems to be mainly in the form of savings reduces 45% say it's like they have faced.

Even the perception of who is to blame for this varies across cities. While overall 23% blamed the Centre, 12% blamed the state government and 51% said both were responsible, the cities of Ahmedabad, Kolkata and Lucknow, all in opposition-ruled states, saw participation in the guilt more biased towards the government in New Delhi.

The government has done everything possible to control prices? Most of Delhi took a charitable view of this topic, while three quarters of Chennai returned a decisive NO.

Asked if the poor have been hardest hit by the spiraling prices generally 46% said yes while 34% said that the middle class had also been badly affected. In Lucknow, however, 75% said the poor had become more affected, while Chennai fell at the other end with 51% saying no.

The extent to which corruption is grab Mindspace was evident in the fact that 83% said it was on its highest point, but if that is an impressive figure consider this: in Lucknow 99% said yes and also in Hyderabad and Kolkata rang the number to 90%.

Politicians, as expected, emerged as the most villainous of the people on the issue of corruption, but the atmosphere was particularly marked in Chennai, where 67% blamed the net, reflecting perhaps the fact that a prominent Tamil Nadu politician, a Raja, has been at the center of the most high-profile scam. Mumbai, however, reveals an introspective vein with 41% saying we are all guilty of corruption.

As with inflation, so in corruption, Delhiites were more likely to be charitable to the government, 52% said they believed the government was serious about fighting corruption. He was accompanied by Ahmedabad, where 43% trust the intention of the government.

Not surprisingly, nearly all respondents thought that the image of governments have taken a beating because of corruption scandals. There was, however, differences in how badly they have dented its image. Hyderabad was at one end of the spectrum, with 80% said they had seriously damaged the image of governments, while Ahmedabad, on the other end was only 33% express that view.

Could we have less tax if you were under the corruption? Once again, responses were varied. The city that most accepted the relationship was in Chennai, with 96% saying that taxes could be reduced as fewer graft means more revenue for the government. By contrast, Bombay and Ahmedabad, arguably the two most economically smart cities, were more cautious at this point.

Finally, it would be a scheme to launder black money amnesty would be a good idea? In a somewhat unexpected response, 54% said they would. Perhaps surprising, the city where he welcomed most of the idea was to Calcutta (87%), while the more opposed the Hyderabad (74% say no).

TOI-Synovate mood of national survey
* 97% say price hike has affected the family budget
* 86% blame the Centre and state governments to inflation
* 62% say that government has done everything possible to curb prices
* 83% say that corruption in all-time high
* 60% feel guilty main political
* 64% say that government is not serious about fighting graft
* 96% say that the Central Govt image damaged by wave of scams