Andhra Pradesh’s village-ward secretariat and volunteer system, which immensely aided the state in the ongoing fight with the Covid-19 pandemic, completed one year on Friday.
The Grama Sachivalayams were envisaged by Chief Minister Jaganmohan Reddy after he assumed power in May last year, to act as the nerve centers for effective implementation of all welfare and development activities at the ground level.
Beginning 2 October 2019, the YSRCP government set up 11,152 village and 3,913 ward secretariats for every 2,000 population in the rural and 4,000 in urban areas.
With the common service secretariats - necessary staff recruitment and infrastructure in place - assisted by a legion of village volunteers, the idea is to make people avail services like pensions at their doorstep and not step out of their village for any other government service.
Volunteers who are paid a monthly honorarium of Rs 5,000 are given the charge of 50 households in rural and 100 in urban areas. They are required to directly hand citizens government welfare like pensions, spread awareness about various programs, involve in beneficiary identification, engage in swift redressal of public grievances by following up with higher officials and also collect the public feedback.
The organisation of the village volunteers as part of the village secretariats has come in handy for the Reddy government during the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to CM Reddy, a total 2.16 lakh volunteers are assisting the ANMs, ASHA workers and other health workers on the Covid-19 duty.
Five rounds of house to house surveys were conducted across the entire state with the help of the ward and village volunteers to assess Covid-19 prevalence and identify susceptible persons of old age, with comorbid conditions.
During a virtual conference on the pandemic with the chief ministers last month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi reportedly appreciated the village-ward secretariat and volunteer system and opined that other states could emulate the model.
To commemorate the anniversary on Friday, CM Reddy, accompanied by his cabinet colleagues and senior officials at his Tadepalli camp office, applauded the secretariat and volunteer services with claps at 7 PM.
“Braving through harsh weather conditions & a pandemic that shook the world, our Grama Sachivalayam functionaries have been at the frontline, ensuring last-mile delivery of services. My heartfelt gratitude to each & every one of you for being the extended arms of our government,” Reddy said on twitter.