Praja Foundation survey on MLAs in city: Fewer questions asked, but quality of life better

A survey by Mumbai-based Praja Foundation released on Thursday said the perceived quality of life in the city has improved by 8% in 2019 as compared to 2014, the last year of the previous Congress-NCP regime. However, the survey also notes the number of questions raised in the Assembly has dropped by 42% between the two terms.

The foundation has linked quality of life to the improved performance of the Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) based on parameters like attendance, number and quality of questions and usage of area development funds. Praja has also interviewed 22,845 people for their perception on their MLA’s accessibility, performance, etc.

According to the data, 68% respondents said there is an improvement in their lives as compared to 60% in 2014. “If we compare this to the performance of the MLAs, their scores have improved from 59% in 2014 to 64% in 2019,” said Milind Mhaske, director, Praja Foundation.

However, the survey also noted a significant drop in the number of questions raised in the Assembly. While 38,618 questions were asked in the last term (2009 -14), only 22,345 questions were asked in the current term (2014-19). The average number of questions per MLA has seen a drastic decrease from 1,207 in the last term to 698 this term.

The survey ranked Shiv Sena’s Sunil Shinde from Worli at the top, followed by Congress’s Amin Patel from Mumbadevi and Aslam Shaikh from Malad respectively. At the bottom are Shiv Sena’s Sadanand Sarvankar from Mahim, BJP’s Ram Kadam from Ghatkopar and Sena’s Ashok Patil from Bhandup.

The foundation, which began releasing performance reports in 2011, has looked at a co-relation between the MLA’s performance to the perceived quality of life in the constituency. For instance, the overall scores of the MLAs fell from 61% in 2017 to 59% in 2018 and the perceived quality of life also fell from 66% in 2018 to 65% in 2019. “One must look at performance of MLAs apart from party considerations to make a better choice about who would be ideal in working for citizens,” said Nitai Mehta, founder and managing trustee, Praja Foundation.