India’s Trust in Its Institutions Slips, Shows Report

By Little India Desk | January 29, 2018

The Indian population’s trust in its government, media, businesses and NGOs has slipped by 4 points as compared to 2017, but remained in the “Trust” category, according to the Global Trust Index report that was released in Davos.

Among the informed public, trust in India’s institutions declined by 3 points, but remained in the “Trust” category. However, the report – Edelman Trust Barometer 2018 — also stated that India was among the six nations that faced extreme “Trust losses” i.e. 13 per cent. The other nations were Colombia, South Africa, Brazil, Italy and the United States.

There has been a trust crash in each of the institutions in the United States. From average trust in U.S. institutions of 68 in 2017, it has sunk to 45 in 2018. Meanwhile, China, India and Indonesia continue to be in the top three.

China saw the maximum trust gain, with an increase of 27 aggregate percentage point change. In China, business is the least trusted while the government enjoys the maximum trust while in the United States, the government is the least trusted as NGOs are expected to lead the future.

In India, 71-75 per cent people are worried that fake news will be used as a weapon. Among the 28 countries that were surveyed, nearly seven in 10 people worry about the use and impact of false news.

Media has also become the least trusted institution the world over, except in India, Indonesia and China. However, while there has been a loss in trust in media in India, the same has seen gain in Indonesia and China. The media in the United Kingdom and the United States are not trusted, according to the report.

Globally, there has been a decline in trust in platforms but increase in trust in journalism. Media was understood as both platforms and journalists by the people. While Germany, Ireland and Canada have a major difference between trust in the platform and journalism, it is almost similar in India.

While trust in media platforms decreased in India by 5 points it still has the highest level of trust among the 28 countries included in the list. The United States faced the steepest decline trust in platforms, falling from 53 per cent to 42 per cent.

In India, 86 per cent employers are trusted by the people while those in Japan are trusted the least by employees.

Trust in NGOs in India has declined by 3 per cent since 2017 but it still remains one of the highest, at 68 per cent. Trust in businesses in India remained unchanged from 2017, at 74 per cent. Trust in government has declined by 5 per cent and stands at 70 per cent.