Even as the Election Commission of India (ECI) has ordered that the services of government-appointed volunteers at the village and ward secretariats should not be drafted for any work when the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) is in force, the ruling YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) leaders have expressed overt support to the volunteer system.
Describing the introduction of the volunteer system as a ‘master stroke’ by Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, Atmakur MLA Mekapati Vikram Reddy said that the volunteers made the benefits of welfare schemes reach the beneficiaries on time.
He objected to the opposition parties flagging utilising the services of volunteers for service delivery mechanism with the ECI.
Mr. Reddy participated in a motorcycle rally as part of his election campaign, along with YSRCP candidate for Nellore Lok Sabha seat V. Vijaya Sai Reddy at Sangam town in Atmakur constituency of Nellore district on April 2 (Tuesday).
“In the absence of volunteers, the senior citizens and the differently abled do not have other option than travelling long distances to the government offices to collect their social security pensions. Who is responsible for this?” he asked.
Meanwhile, Agriculture Minister Kakani Govardhan Reddy, the YSRCP candidate for Sarvepalli Assembly constituency, called the order to keep the volunteers away as an ‘avoidable disturbance’ in the administrative mechanism. “Volunteers are always in the midst of people. There is nothing new to influence the voters in the next two months,” he said.
In the absence of volunteers, now the secretariat staff would be distributing the benefits and it may affect the poll work as many of them have been drafted for election duties. “There are around 2,000 volunteers in the Sarvepalli constituency and the number of secretariat staff is just 660, which is grossly insufficient to cover all the households. Further, volunteers are well-acquainted with the region. Now the secretariat staff, who are otherwise confined to offices, may face difficulty in understanding the topography of villages,” Mr. Govardhan Reddy said.
