Over 93% for demonetisation, PM Modi's app survey reveals

Of the over five lakh responses, only two per cent rated demonetisation as a 'very poor' move by the government. 

More than 93 per cent of the five lakh people who participated in a survey on Narendra Modi App have supported demonetisation, the Prime Minister’s Office said on Wednesday a day after the prime minister sought public feedback on the issue.

“I thank people for the historic participation in the survey. It’s satisfying to read the insightful views and comments,” the PM tweeted along with the results of the survey conducted on Narendra Modi App.

“Unprecedented response to App Survey, record number of citizens share their view,” said the title of a write-up on narendramodi.in whose link was shared by the prime minister on his Twitter account.

The survey result was read out by IT and Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad at Cabinet meeting on Wednesday evening, prompting the prime minister to say that it “reflects the mood” of the people.

In just over 24 hours of the survey, more than 5 lakh people have participated and expressed their opinion, it said, adding “This is a staggering number by any stretch. No opinion survey conducted in India, on such policy or political issues, even comes close to sampling so many responses.”

More than 93 per cent people support the move to demonetise the old 500 and 1000 rupee notes, it said. Of the over 5 lakh responses so far, only 2 per cent have rated the move as ‘very poor’ or ‘one star’, the survey result said.

More than 90 per cent of the respondents feel the government’s move to tackle black money is above four-star rating, the survey result says. Seventy-three per cent of them give it a five-star rating of ‘brilliant’.

On the overall fight against corruption, more than 92 per cent of respondents either rate the government as ‘very good’ or ‘good’ while 57 per cent of them rate the fight as ‘very good’.

“As high as 86 per cent people believe that some so-called anti-corruption activists are now actually batting in support of black money, corruption and even terrorist financing”, the write-up said.

The write-up said the demonetisation survey was launched on the NM App on Tuesday at 10 am and “the response has been phenomenal.”

Modi’s move to gauge the views of the people directly came at a time when the opposition has escalated its attack on the issue of demonetisation.

Explaining the reason behind the Prime Minister’s move on survey, the write-up said Modi’s “belief in participative governance and direct engagement with people is unwavering” and “time and again, he has directly engaged with the people and sought their views on a wide range of issues.

“It was then decided to speak directly to the people and take their views in an open, free, fair, and equitable poll. “Instead of intermediaries speaking on behalf of people, let the people speak for themselves. Let them say whether they support or oppose the demonetisation move.

“Let them offer suggestions to alleviate the genuine inconveniences that some people may be facing. If someone has a well-argued case of opposing the move, let them say that too. Overall, instead of just opinion, let data speak for the support for the move.”

Contending that the questions to which the prime minister had sought answers were “comprehensive and direct”, the write-up said the queries also included opportunity to give feedback.

“The overall aim included means to make the implementation stronger and more effective,” it said.

The questions included “Do you have any suggestions/ideas or insights you would like to share with PM Narendra Modi.”

Some of the other questions asked are:

“Do you think black money exists in India?

“Do you think the evil of corruption and black money need to be fought and eliminated?

“What do you think of government’s move of banning old Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes?

“Do you mind inconvenience faced in our fight to curb corruption, black money, terrorism and counterfeiting of currency?”

Opposition parties questioned the credibility of the survey as well as the responses to it.

“We should focus on who would be the respondent, some urban-centric people who have known PM Modi and voted for him. I completely disagree with this,” said Congress spokesperson Priyanka Chaturvedi.

“Secondly, the kind of questions asked. There was no ‘disagree’ option and rural people have not participated in this survey,” she added.

Communist Party of India leader D Raja also questioned the survey results, saying, “Rural India has no access to apps. This is not a reflection of the real picture.”

He maintained that the demonetisation has affected the country’s economy in a big way and it is a big challenge.