Gallup Law and Order Index for 2021 was published on October 26 and it has put forward a lot of the most secure and least secure countries around the world based on its survey. However, Gallup's Survey has rolled out a few shocking results when it placed Pakistan higher than India meaning Pakistan is safer than India. Notably, India ranked 60th of 121 countries in the Gallup Law and Order Index for 2021, scoring 80 on an index that ranges from 1 to 100, with a higher score indicating that more people in a country feel secure. Singapore ranked the highest with a score of 96, while Afghanistan was at the bottom of the list with 51. Furthermore, Pakistan ranked 48th in the list, recording a score of 82, on par with Laos, Serbia, Iran, and New Zealand.
Seeing Gallup's survey, it can be said that their survey has called Pakistan more secure than India. The report has raised many eyebrows around the world as Pakistan was recently called the most dangerous country in the world by none other than US President Joe Biden. Not only this, the political instability and the shrinking of minors in Pakistan do not add to the stability factor. So, why Gallup's survey called India more dangerous than Pakistan? To under this, we have to understand how Gallup conducted the survey-
How the survey was conducted?
Gallup's official website suggests that in order to make the survey, it interviewed approx 1,27,000 persons over 15 years of age, in more than 122 countries and areas in 2021 and early 2022. In each country, around 1,000 respondents participated via telephone or face-to-face. Without explaining the methodology, Gallup said the index is a composite score based on the responses to four questions to measure their sense of security and faith in law enforcement.
What were the questions?
1) In the city or area where you live, do you have confidence in the local police force?
2) Do you feel safe walking alone at night in the city or area where you live?
3) Within the last 12 months, have you had money or property stolen from you or another household member?
4) Within the past 12 months, have you been assaulted or mugged?
What is Gallup?
For the unversed, Gallup, Inc. is an American analytics and advisory company based in Washington, D.C. It was founded by George Gallup in 1935, and the company became known for its public opinion polls conducted worldwide.
Notably, India's Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) is yet to give its response to this report.
It is pertinent to mention here that this is the second jolt for India in the past few months. Recently, the World Hunger Index ranked India at 107 among 121 nations, even below Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Nepal. Interestingly, the Government of India rejected the World Hunger Index report and called it biased. With a score of 29.1 -- a value denoting a serious level of hunger -- India ranks behind neighbours Sri Lanka (64), Nepal (81), Bangladesh (84) and Pakistan (99) on GHI 2022. The Indian government sharply criticised the Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2022 which ranked the country 107 among 121 nations, saying that the annual report was 'biased and disconnected from ground reality'.
"A consistent effort is yet again visible to taint India’s image as a nation that does not fulfill the food security and nutritional requirements of its population," the women and child development ministry said in a statement. "Misinformation seems to be the hallmark of the annually released Global Hunger Index," the women and child development ministry said in a statement.