Majority of Nepalis believe that the most important challenge before their country is not political stability, but maintaining law and order, a local leading media group's website THT Online reported on Sunday.

A survey showed that 69 percent of the respondents were concerned about the law and order while merely 6 percent categorized political stability above law and order.

Education naturally is the primary variable. Accordingly, 81 percent of the illiterates said that the most important challenge being faced by the country is law and order. By contrast, 47 percent of those who had attained higher education felt that law and order was the most important challenge for the nation. For them, other challenges being faced by Nepal such as unemployment ( 22 percent) and political stability (17 percent) were of primary importance.

Women respondents seemed more concerned than men about the law and order issue: for 75 percent of the female respondents law and order was of primary concern compared to 63 percent of the male respondents.

At the same time, a majority of Nepalis feel that the ongoing peace process will eventually lead to lasting political stability.

The survey was conducted by 49 trained enumerators hired by the local vernacular The Annapurna Post Daily.

The survey applied systematic random sampling among 9,629 respondents aged 18 years and above in 57 districts of Nepal covering 96 villages and 12 towns. There are 75 districts in Nepal.

Source: Xinhua