Ahead of Assembly elections in the national capital, a survey conducted by an NGO has found that the overall average score of MLAs denoting their performance based on various parameters has dropped from 58.8 per cent in 2016 to 53.8 per cent in 2019.
The NGO Praja brought out the 'Delhi Report Card – MLA Ratings 2019' which was based on an assessment of the MLAs' performance on various counts, including accessibility, perception of corruption, attendance in the Assembly, the number of questions raised as also the quality of questions raised.
The rating is done by the NGO in 2016, 58 MLAs, which included 55 from the AAP and three from the BJP — were ranked. In 2019, 60 MLAs have been ranked, which includes 56 from the AAP and four from the BJP.
As per the report card, the MLAs' attendance in the Vidhan Sabha has dropped, from 92.4 per cent in 2016 to 80.3 per cent in 2019.
Also, what is disturbing is that the accessibility of the MLAs has shown a downturn over the last four years. If it was 64 per cent in 2016, it has dropped to 49.20 per cent in the year preceding Assembly elections.
However, the number of issues raised has gone up to 2542 in 2019 as compared to 951 in 2016. As many as 13 per cent of MLAs, that is eight out of 60, raised five issues or less in the 2019 report card.
The report card notes that though the number of issues raised has gone up, the quality of questions has remained stagnant. The MLAs, it was felt, need to raise issues relating to the problems faced by citizens which impact the quality of life.
Based on different parameters such as attendance, the number of issues raised, the quality of issues raised, least criminal record and perceived performance, the survey ranked AAP's Mohinder Goyal as the top-performing MLA, followed by Jagdish Pradhan of the BJP and S K Bagga, again of the AAP. MLAs Naresh Balyan, Madan Lal and Amanatullah Khan, all three belonging to the AAP, were the bottom three MLAs in the ranking.
The NGO also analysed the performance of the MLAs for the entire term, which is their working from February 23, 2015, to 28 February 2019.
