Vizianagaram: Volunteers clueless on their fate

Vizianagaram: The village and ward volunteers who the previous YSRCP government claimed, played a key role in implementing welfare schemes are in crossroads as their jobs hang in balance.

There are around 2.5 lakh village and ward volunteers across the state to whom the previous government had given priority in delivering welfare schemes like disbursing pensions and other benefits at the doorstep of people.

Even Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu before elections assured to increase their pay to Rs 10,000 a month instead of current Rs 5,000. However, after the TDP-led alliance came to power, there is no clear stance on their continuation in service.

But during the elections, there were widespread reports that volunteers were instrumental in distributing bribes to voters on behalf of then ruling YSRCP all over the state. In several districts, thousands of volunteers took part in YSRCP poll campaign and even resigned to work for YSRCP candidates, despite repeated appeals by then Opposition leader N Chandrababu Naidu to function impartially.

They have not been paid salaries for the past two months and were almost deprived of duties as the new government is out to prove that pensions and other benefits can be delivered at doorstep of beneficiaries with secretariat staff and other government employees.

Recently, the state president of AP Panchayati Sarpanches Association Y B Rajendra Prasad said that panchayats do not need the services of volunteers and urged the Chief Minister to wind up the system, which is a burden on the people as well as exchequer.

The employees of village and ward secretariats along with TDP cadre have been disbursing the pensions to the beneficiaries for the past two months smoothly. The ruling party leaders and activists are enthusiastically participating in distribution of pensions, not entirely out of service motive, as they hope to reap political benefits through the exercise.

Now the volunteers in the state are in dilemma and are losing hopes.

K Narayana Rao, a volunteer in Vizianagaram Rural mandal, said, “We believed the promise given by Chandrababu Naidu during his poll campaign but now the situation is completely different. Now we have to search new jobs as the government has stopped our services and we are in no way connected with the government

as of now.”