Coinciding with the TDP government completing 1,500 days in office, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Monday launched a direct interface with the people in the rural areas to elicit their feedback on some of the flagship programmes of the government.
The interactive programme, christened ‘Grama Darshini’, is similar to ‘Rachabanda’, a programme initiated by former Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, where people gather at a village square to discuss and sort out issues facing them in the presence of village elders.
On an overcast day, Mr. Naidu chose a Dalit Colony in the village, which was part of the Vemuru Assembly constituency, to launch the programme.
The Chief Minister, who began the day by inaugurating a lift irrigation scheme at Potharlanka village, was at his usual self, taking officers to task, though his stern words were laced with a touch of wit. Whether engaging the women in a discussion on implementation of welfare scheme such as Chandranna Bima (accidental insurance) and Chandranna Bharosa (monthly pension), or provision of ration through fair price shops, or catching the village personnel napping as they fumbled to answer, Mr. Naidu was in his elements. But the subdued response from the crowds was a touch disappointing.
Mr. Naidu had even asked a village secretary to furnish the list of eligible persons for pension and, within no time, he got the list much to the amusement of the crowd.
But the programme had its share of emotion.
The Chief Minister was touched when a young widow, Vemula Sireesha, narrated her ordeal of losing her mother too. The woman, a beneficiary of Chandranna Bima, had put the painful experience behind, and is now a community resource person for the Zero Based Natural Farming.
The tech edge
Mr. Naidu then summoned the three fair price dealers and asked the people if they were satisfied with the delivery of services.
Not the one to be satisfied with the words of the dealers, the technology- savvy Mr. Naidu had one of his officers check the satisfaction levels of the public distribution system. The relief on the faces of the dealers was visible as the figures matched with their words.
“This is why I encourage technology in a big way. Sitting in my office, I know what exactly is happening at the ground level. I know the number of people getting pension, the exact delivery of ration, and the number of street lights functioning in each village,” Mr. Naidu said.
Earlier, he walked through the lanes of the Dalit colonies and had first-hand experience of the difficulties most families were facing in the construction of houses.
A tenant farmer complained that he was not getting loan from the bank to take up farming. In the end, the Chief Minister had words of praise for the way in which the welfare scheme were being grounded.
Ministers N. Ananda Babu, and P. Pulla Rao, Collector K. Sasidhar; Bapatla MP Malyadri; and MLAs A. Rajendra Prasad (Tenali) and A. Satya Prasad (Repalle) were present.
