Their political bosses swear by the name of Indira and Rajiv Gandhi christening every possible social scheme after the late prime ministers. Now, the Andhra babus, it seems, are taking a leaf out of Congress scion Rahul Gandhi’s political book.
In a circular sent to the district collectors few days back, the state chief secretary PK Mohanty has asked the district heads to visit the villages twice a week to assess the implementation of government programmes.
The circular instructs the officials to stay put in the villages for the night to interact with the people and further the awareness about government activities for them.
The idea is to promote cohesion between the higher officials and the villagers and also explore how the development plans could be aimed better.
“The focus of the initiative would be the villages with high proportion of Dalit and tribal population and those with dismal sex ratio,” Mohanty said.
The child sex ratio (number of females per 1000 males in the age group 0–6 years) which was 962 in 2001 fell to 943 in 2011, becoming the worst among the four southern states. There are 23 districts in the State with varying socio-economic, geographical conditions.
“The initiative, no doubt, helps us reach out better to the people like by staying in a social welfare hostel (often thrashed for their pathetic conditions) for the night; we could experience what the children eat, how they sleep etc. And it goes without saying that our presence inspires the young minds,” says Sudershan Reddy, IAS, collector, Kurnool district.
{{/usCountry}}“The initiative, no doubt, helps us reach out better to the people like by staying in a social welfare hostel (often thrashed for their pathetic conditions) for the night; we could experience what the children eat, how they sleep etc. And it goes without saying that our presence inspires the young minds,” says Sudershan Reddy, IAS, collector, Kurnool district.
{{/usCountry}}Other district and block level functionaries of health, education etc. departments would also visit the villages twice every week.
The chief minister Kiran Kumar Reddy had earlier embarked on tours in the districts, called Indiramma Baata (mother Indira’s path) to interact with the people.
*Both YS Rajashekara Reddy and Kiran Reddy named their major initiatives after the Gandhis