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Andhra: Opposition allegeVillage, ward workers of stealing data to help YSRCP
The 2.66 lakh-strong village and ward volunteers in Andhra Pradesh are facing flak from the state Opposition for allegedly being used by the ruling YSRCP to steal the personal data of the people and use the same for the benefit of the Jagan-led YSRCP party
Hyderabad: The 2.66 lakh-strong village and ward volunteers in Andhra Pradesh--introduced by the chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy to ensure doorstep delivery of government welfare schemes-- are facing flak from the state Opposition for allegedly being used by the ruling YSRCP to steal the personal data of the people and use the same for the benefit of the Jagan-led YSRCP party.
With just around nine months left for the assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh, these volunteers across the state are turning out to be potential game changers in favour of the ruling YSR Congress party.
TDP official spokesperson N Vijay Kumar said that the village and ward volunteers are collecting the personal data of the individuals in the name of delivery of the government benefits.
While the volunteers are being considered as “foot soldiers” for the government in the implementation of strategies, the opposition parties are alleging that these village and ward volunteers are none other than the YSRCP activists appointed at the recommendation of the party leaders.
“The data collected is passed onto the Field Operations Agency (FOA) that was formed in 2020 to act as a liaison between the state government and the volunteers, operating from Hyderabad. It was given the task of data portal management and monitoring of volunteers,” Kumar said.
“Our inquiries revealed that many of the employees of the FOA were originally part of the Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC), a popular political consultancy firm hired by the YSRCP,” Kumar added.
He alleged that the I-PAC, which is getting access to the data analysed by the FOA, is using the same to gauge the mood of the people and identify the voters who might vote for the opposition parties. The I-PAC, which had played a key role in the victory of the YSRCP in 2019 elections, has been engaged again for the 2024 elections as well.
However, an I-PAC functionary, who refused to be quoted, said the I-PAC had nothing to do with the village volunteers’ system, which was engaged only for the delivery of benefits of government schemes to the people.
“We do field studies only for the YSRCP and not for the government,” the functionary said, but admitted that some of those who were working for the FOA had worked with the I-PAC in the past. “After 2019 elections, many of the I-PAC staff members had quit the organisation. Maybe, they were engaged by the company to oversee the volunteers’ system,” the I-PAC functionary said.
The TDP has alleged that based on the data collected by the volunteers, the YSRCP is indulging in profiling of voters and deleting the pro-TDP voters and enrolling bogus votes to favour the ruling party in the coming elections.
Last month, TDP president and former chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu wrote to the Election Commission, alleging that the YSRCP indulged in large scale enrolment of bogus voters, deletion of eligible voters and enrolment of several votes on the same door number. “More than 10.23 lakh votes have been deleted recently,” the TDP chief said
On July 21, when the Election Commission of India commenced the verification of enrolled voters, there were reports that at several places, village volunteers had accompanied Booth Level Officers (BLOs) in their door-to-door survey of voters’ verification.
“This clearly shows how the village volunteers are being used even to manipulate the electoral rolls and mislead the election authorities,” Kumar said.
When contacted, chief electoral officer of EC Mukesh Kumar Meena said there were indeed complaints of the volunteers accompanying BLOs in as many as six districts in the first two days of voters’ list verification. “Acting on the reports, we took strict action, suspending the officials concerned. Now, there are no such complaints,” Meena said.
Popular actor and Jana Sena Party chief Pawan Kalyan also hit out at the volunteer system and said,“The system was created by the chief minister only to gain control over every household and individuals at the grassroots level,”
He alleged that the volunteers have emerged as a parallel system to police, bureaucracy and political force in the state, working for the interest of the ruling YSRCP.
YSRCP strongly defended the volunteers’ system, saying they were doing splendid service to the people. “Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi and NITI Aayog have appreciated the village and ward volunteers’ system in Andhra,” senior YSRCP leader and Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams trust board chairman Y V Subba Reddy said.
“Naidu and Pawan Kalyan are making reckless comments against volunteers. Apart from taking the benefits of welfare schemes to the people directly, the volunteers had done tremendous service to the people during Covid-19 pandemic,” Subba Reddy said, adding the ruling party was ready for an open debate on the volunteer system.
The concept of village volunteers in rural areas and ward volunteers in urban areas, which was introduced with effect from August 15, 2019 – within two months of Jagan coming to power, was originally aimed at ensuring that the benefits of various government welfare schemes are delivered at the doorsteps of the people and identifying the problems being faced by them and bring them to the notice of the government through village secretariats.
Each volunteer has been assigned to take care of 50 households and they are being paid a monthly honorarium of ₹5,000, that comes to an expenditure of around ₹1,200 crore from the state exchequer. Besides, the government also spends ₹243.34 crore towards cash awards for the best performing volunteers as a token of appreciation for their services.
While presenting the annual awards for best performing volunteers at a function on May 19, Jagan himself described the 2,66,000-member volunteer force as ‘Jagan Army’ and his brand ambassadors. He also said the volunteers had a responsibility to thwart the vicious and malicious propaganda unleashed by the jealous Telugu Desam Party and Jana Sena Party against the government.
At many such meetings in the past, YSR Congress party leaders, including ministers and MLAs openly declared that the majority of the volunteers were the YSRCP workers and they should work for the ruling party.
