Welfare schemes vs livelihood: The dilemma for voters in Andhra Pradesh

Vijayawada/Guntur/Prakasam: As she wraps up the day’s work, 50-year-old Jayamma looks contended.  Apart from her work as a domestic help at four houses in Vijayawada, which helps her earn around Rs 10,000 per month, her family gets anywhere between Rs 60,000 and Rs 1lakh per annum from one or other welfare schemes of the YSRCP government in Andhra Pradesh.

"Now, I am able to buy some chocolates occasionally and also small goodies for my granddaughter with the money I get from the government in addition to what I earn from my job. My husband doesn't work as his health doesn't keep well," Jayamma told DH.

Jayamma is one among the many in Andhra Pradesh who have benefited from the YS Jaganmohan Reddy government’s welfare measures under which, as per the claims often made by Jagan, a whopping amount of Rs 2.6 lakh crore has been transferred into the bank accounts of beneficiaries in the last five years.

However, a trip across the towns and villages of coastal Andhra Pradesh throws up a mixed picture where it is evident that the voters are caught between welfare agenda and livelihood issues in the ensuing polls.

Polling for the 175 Assembly and 25 Lok Sabha seats in Andhra Pradesh will take place simultaneously on May 13.  

The ruling YSRCP has been claiming that the state government has put money in the pockets of the poor and more families have become financially independent.  

Not all agree with these claims. Sheikh Subhani, a pushcart soda seller in Tadepalli, Guntur district, said welfare benefits offered little relief to those who didn't have any regular income.

"My family is eligible only for Amma Vodi as my daughter now studies in intermediate second year. I tried  to get benefits under other government schemes for my small business. Somehow it didn’t get through. A single benefit of Rs 12,000 in a year under Amma Vodi is not sufficient for a family of three to survive. I have been in the soda-making business for the last 40 years. I don't know why but I never witnessed such low business in the last four years. Money from government schemes can only supplement what I already earn from my regular income source,” Subhani told DH. 

Subhani suffered heavy losses during the Covid pandemic and had to shelve his business by disposing of around 1,000 soda bottles.

"One cent of land that was given to us by the government is now embroiled in legal tangles. Why would he (Jagan) want to give sites to outsiders in the capital region? Now we have lost an opportunity to own a piece of land,” added Subhani who lives in the periphery of Jagan’s residence in Tadepalli.

Mohammed Ahmed Vali, who runs a cab, echoed a similar view.

"Between 2014 and 2019, Vijayawada was buzzing with a lot of activity. We used to see consultants from Delhi, Mumbai and many other parts of the country coming here for some work in Amaravati. Those were the best times in my life. After Jagan became the chief minister, the city lost its sheen. Nowadays, I anxiously wait for a customer," Vali, a college dropout hailing from Vuyyuru who shifted to Vijayawada a decade ago in search of a job, told DH.

He added that at one point of time he had plans to buy a second cab on EMI to meet the demand. He feels relieved as he didn’t do it.

"In 2014, I voted for the TDP. After the TDP came to power, local leaders in my ward did not include our family in the list of government schemes. In 2019, our entire family voted for the YSRCP. Now, we get all the government benefits. There is no one in the middle. Life has now become easy. At this juncture it is our responsibility to stand in support of Jagan Anna," a carpenter from Vennuru village, in Prakasam district, told DH.