Anantapur tops in delivery of services to people: Collector Gandham Chandrudu

Anantapur: The concept of village secretariats and village and ward volunteers is ushering in and resulting in administrative reforms in services delivery mechanisms unheard of in the history of the state.

The village secretariats and village volunteers' system completed one year. Every secretariat both in urban and rural areas are handling delivery of 342 variety of services including delivery of fruits of welfare schemes to the targeted groups. Ward and village volunteers are playing a crucial role in this regard by being responsible for 50 and above families under their jurisdiction.

Rama Lakshmi, living in Arvindnagar ward, says that she got her pension at her doorstep delivered by her volunteer B Lavanya without having to run from pillar to post. This kind of response from the government is simply unheard of as a 65-year-old woman, who had voted for several parties in the past and was made to run after political leaders and even MLAs.

Only Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy could do this. "In the past one-year I did not feel the need to meet our MLA. When everything is coming to my doorstep where is the need to go after political leaders," an overjoyed Rama Lakshmi asks.

While volunteers are taking care of their target groups in disbursing welfare benefits to the beneficiaries, the village and ward secretariats are handling 342 services that pertained to every gamut of life.

For example, Sayed Basha says that he got his caste and income certificates from his secretariat in 3 days. "This kind of a thing baffles me as there were times when in the past they had to go to Tahsildar offices several times for the same certificate greasing the palms of office staff and attenders and yet not get it in time for his children's admission in schools and colleges.

One noteworthy aspect is, says Shravani, a ward administrative secretary, that people are no longer going to any government office for anything, power connection, driving license and name anything, the secretariat has become a focal point, nerve centre and the most happening place.

District collector Gandham Chandrudu speaking to The Hans India on the occasion of completion of one-year of secretariat services to the people says that the district stood first in the state on the delivery of services. This also explains the revolution the secretariats are ushering in rural and urban areas.

Ward volunteer B Lavanya told The Hans India that she enjoys the delivering of goods to her designated 50 families. She feels that if the chief minister gave village volunteers job security and absorb them in the government, AP model of secretariats and village volunteers will make waves in the country.