For the BJP-led Central government battling opposition criticism over a sluggish economy, the latest report of the Ipsos 'What Worries the World' monthly survey has good news as well as bad. 58 per cent of urban Indian respondents, in January, believed that India is heading in the right direction, unlike global citizens, of whom at least 61 per cent believe their country is on the wrong track.

However the bad news for the BJP is that the survey results for January show an 11 percent drop in optimism levels from December, when no less than 69 percent of urban Indians polled believed that India is moving in the right direction.

"Employment generation needs to be the top priority of the government, as it is reaching alarming proportions, among worry levels of urban Indians. Likewise, law & order and incidents of violence need to be tackled with a firm hand," said Amit Adarkar, CEO, Ipsos India.

Urban Indians continue to list joblessness or unemployment, crime and violence, and financial and political corruption as their top concerns. In January, worries centred around financial and political corruption saw a slight dip of 2 per cent over the previous month, while concerns over joblessness, and crime and violence zoomed up by 11 per cent and 7 per cent, respectively.

"Urban Indians continue to be optimistic and have faith in the abilities of the administrators, steering the country. Government should allay their worries by taking concrete steps. Some of the initiatives announced in the Union Budget, around Education & Skills under 'Aspirational India' theme, are likely to a have a positive impact, in the long term. However, we need some immediate term measures, to improve outlook," Adarkar added.

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In all, 19,508 interviews were conducted for the January survey, between December 20, 2019 and January 3, 2020 in 28 countries around the world via the Ipsos Online Panel system. (IANS)