A new study has found that a majority of Punjab residents see chief minister Maryam Nawaz’s governance positively, especially in education, healthcare and infrastructure while remaining concerns about employment and inflation.

The study conducted by the Institute of Public Opinion Research (IPOR) across Punjab’s 36 districts revealed that 62% of respondents assessed Maryam Nawaz’s first year in office as “remarkable” by tackling public questions.

In Education and Health Services, 73% and 68% of the provincial government, respectively, assessed the performance of the provincial government as “good” or “very good.” However, 63% expressed dissatisfaction with job creation efforts and called them “poor” or “very poor.”

Overall, 57% of respondents believe that management standards have improved in the past year, while 17% said they have worsened. A similar 57% felt that the government had effectively dealt with important public concerns.

According to the study, 60% of Punjab residents believe Maryam Nawaz has surpassed the three largest provinces. Her most well received initiatives include improvements in education, healthcare, infrastructure and the campaign “Clean Punjab”.

The report highlights a 15% improvement of education, 14% in healthcare, 11% in infrastructure and 11% in cleanliness efforts. However, residents identified employment (13%), healthcare (13%) and inflation control (12%) as the most pressing problems that require attention.

The survey also found that 53% of respondents believe that Punjab’s governance has improved under Maryam Nawaz compared to former Pakistan Tehreek-E-Insaf (PTI) government.

The vote was carried out between 3 and 18 February and collected responses from 66,000 inhabitants in both rural and urban areas.