The recent proposal of completely banning the opinion polls hasn't received good public or parties(other than proposing it) reviews. The act casts a shadow on the existence of freedom of expression and thereby on the persistence of a better democracy. Some of the facts appropriately discussed by the authors throw a better light on what is the importance of opinion polls and what problems are in the way of genuine and reliable poll industry.
First is that a democracy certainly needs a systematic collection of public opinions. Many a times people need to understand what and how others are thinking, to make up their decision. And this is the only way by which the poor and the unrecognised can have an equal say, especially in a society like India where often the news is made on the views of the few elite. Secondly, opinion polls are quite an exact way of data collection. Though such polls do not affect the winning or losing side by much, but it somewhat aids the poll winner by getting some attention. And then finally, we look at the problem of non-transparency and non-professionalism in case of some poll holders. The polling agencies are unwilling towards revealing their polling methods and factors on which the results are produced. So, this causes rogue polls mixing up in the wave of genuine polls, making the reliability of opinion polls weaker.
Though whatever be the motive of proposing parties behind the ban, some intervention is definitely required in this sector. Banning the opinion polls totally wouldn't be the right way out, rather generating fixed guidelines and rules on running the polls would definitely regulate the system. Some mandatory disclosures which can be asked of the polling agencies as proposed by the author are the ownership details of the polling organisation, details of sponsors, sampling frame and size, social profile etc. So, what matters is regulating the system in the right direction instead of framing a total ban on it.
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