Andhra Pradesh Government urged to wisely utilise services of volunteers

Anantapur/Puttaparthi: Village and ward secretariats, considered as the most happening places for people, appear to have been retained by the present TDP-led NDA government in the State.

Dubbed as the brainchild of ex-Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, the secretariats have brought administration and government services closer to people.

Under the older set-up, village volunteers acted as a catalyst between people and secretariats and took the responsibility of goods delivery on behalf of the secretariats. Now a vacuum arose with the government undecided on the fate of village and ward volunteers.

Dr Ranga Reddy, a retired professor, talking to The Hans India, says it is like cutting a wing in a two-winged system of goods delivery. Not only should the government view it in a political angle but it has an administrative dimension when it comes to the role of volunteers versus secretariats. The government should take a comprehensive view of the people-centric benefits the system delivered.

In the absence of volunteers, the onus will fall on the people to go to secretariats and get things done for themselves. Will the people be in a commanding position to extract services from secretariat personnel is the question dogging the minds of observers. If not the whole concept of the system might collapse, if the government does not give clarity on volunteers as well as the secretariats. The government also will have to redefine the role of 1000 odd secretariats with 10,000 staff in the undivided district of Anantapur.

District Collector Dr Vinod Kumar told The Hans India that clarity is yet to emerge as the government is engaged in the exercise of deciding on the pros and cons of continuation of the earlier set-up of volunteers-secretariats nexus or do they need to be redefined in tune with the changed scenario. The State government would soon take a policy decision on the matter.

Meanwhile a vacuum arose due to a paralysis in the volunteers system and the village secretariats and the people, the main stakeholders are looking into government for guidance but as of now everything has come to a standstill.

Beyond politics people were benefitted by the system which delivered goods on a fast track. The stakeholders are urging the government to take a wise decision without fully insisting on political correctness.

A government pensioner Praveen Kumar Naidu suggested that new volunteers can be recruited by the government and retain the old system if they think that the old volunteers are under a cloud.

Naidu explained that volunteers job is not only disbursal of pensions but making multiple things happen for the people hassle-free. Volunteers earlier played a crucial role in the delivery of 300 odd services to the people.

The government has to take a comprehensive view of their role and can replace the present with TDP volunteers, if they also want to be politically correct, he added.