A SURVEY ON PEOPLE’S PERCEPTION OF THE COVID PANDEMIC AND THE GOVERNMENT RESPONSE: FINDINGS

The country, like most parts of the world, has been fighting with the covid19 pandemic. As of date, the number of covid19 infected cases in the country stands at 1, 38, 845 (77, 103 active cases) with 4021 deaths. A nation-wide lockdown was imposed by the central government from midnight of 24th March which continues till date with greater relaxations coming in over time. The present phase of lockdown, phase 4.0, is till 31-st May, 2020.

IPD conducted an online poll recently to understand the perceptions of people of the country concerning the covid19 pandemic and more specifically the handling of the same by the government and its various agencies. The data was collected online between 15th and 21st May. A total of 520 people responded to the survey – across several locations in the country, encompassing 24 states & UTs. The key findings of the survey follow:

I. Impact of covid19 on daily life routine:

Unsurprisingly, majority state that covid19 has had a big impact on their daily lifestyle/routine

II. Opinion about the central government’s handling of the covid19 crisis:

Perception of the central government’s overall performance is mixed – roughly 1/3rd consider it to be on the positive side while a similar proportion rate it as negative

III. Opinion of the state government’s handling of the covid19 crisis:

More than 2/5th of the respondents are unhappy with the state governments’ handling of the situation

IV: Opinion about the central government’s handling of the migrant labour situation:

Very clear trend on the handling of the migrant labour situation – every 2nd respondent considers the government’s tackling of the situations as “very poor” – only 6% rate it as positive

V: Opinion about the state governments’ handling of the migrant labour situation:

Even for the state governments, the public impression of the handling of the migrant labour situation is more on the negative side

VI: Impact of migrant labour crisis handling on overall performance rating:

Poor handling of the migrant labour crisis is clearly having a major negative impact on perception of overall performance – similar for central and state governments

VII: Areas where performance needed to be better – Central government

In terms of parameters where the people feel the central government could have done better, the top 3 are: (1) earlier restriction on incoming international travel (II) greater nos. of tests done & (III) adequacy of PPE & other essential gears to medical teams

VIII: Areas where performance needed to be better – state govts.

The top 3 areas of where state governments could have done more are: (i) Higher no. of testing (ii) Better enforcement of the lockdown and (iii) Better management of medical facilities, quarantine centres etc.

IX: Opinion about central government’s financial relief package

On the financial package announced to counter the economic impact of covid, the people have rated the government response favourably at this point in time

X: Concern about threat of covid with lockdown easing:

As the lockdown gets relaxed gradually, concern of getting infected by covid is high among people