On the 30th of July 2023, a tragic incident occurred when a 72-year-old woman named Kotagiri Varalakshmi lost her life due to suffocation caused by a pillow, all for a mere 30-gram gold chain. This crime was committed by a 26-year-old named Rayavarapu Venkatesh. Interestingly, venkatesh had been serving as a volunteer for the 95th ward of the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation until just a week prior to the incident.
 
Unfortunately, this isn't an isolated incident, as a spate of criminal activities involving volunteers has been observed across the state. Notably, a volunteer absconded with a married woman who was also a volunteer in Madhurwada, Visakhapatnam. In another instance in Koyalgudem, Eluru, a volunteer made away with Rs 1,70,000 from a single woman's bank account using her fingerprint. There are concerns regarding the accountability and purpose of such volunteering efforts, especially in the wallet PLATFORM' target='_blank' title='digital-Latest Updates, Photos, Videos are a click away, CLICK NOW'>digital age. What is the need for a volunteer to handover pension in person when the government can credit the pension amount to the beneficiary bank account directly?
Jagan Warriors or andhra pradesh Volunteers?
 
A Volunteer for every 50 families to deliver welfare schemes and strengthen last mile delivery of services was one of the earliest decisions of ycp Govt after coming into power in 2019. As of date, nearly 2.6 lakh Volunteers aged between 18 – 35 years are working in the State and each volunteer receives an honorarium of Rs 5000 per month.
 
The Ministers and MPs of ycp party have openly claimed in public domains that 90% of the Volunteers are ycp Karyakartas. A ycp minister even went on to say that a Volunteer who does not follow the ycp party instructions shall be terminated from the Volunteer position. So, in the truest sense the ycp government treats Volunteer System as it’s extended wing of the party, more like a party Soldier for every 50 homes.
 
The government clearly in its GO stated that the Volunteers are not government employees and are not subjected to the service Rules, however, there is still no clarity about the accountability of this entire Volunteer System. Is it the district Collector? Is it the Chief Secretary? Is it the Chief Minister? Who exactly is held responsible for the overall performance of a Volunteer? Despite no clarity on the accountability, ycp government openly branded Volunteers as jagan Warriors.
 
Oh, My DATA!
Today, a Volunteer is collecting data that includes name, gender, date of birth, bank account, mobile number, land holding, fixed assets, vehicles, livestock, education details, profession, income tax, salary, religion, caste, sub caste, marital status, electricity bill, ration ID. The Volunteers are also geo tagging, collecting biometric, capturing photos of the households etc. Does a Volunteer have the authority to collect personal data from a citizen? Is it not Violation of Article 21 – Right to Privacy as cited by the supreme court in the K.S. Puttaswamy Vs. Union of India?

The ycp government must answer – Is the Volunteer authorized to collect such critical data? How is the collected data being stored? Where is it stored? Who is taking the ownership of this data? How is this data being used? Is all this data safe? The security of this substantial data pool is a legitimate concern, especially given recent instances of wallet PLATFORM' target='_blank' title='digital-Latest Updates, Photos, Videos are a click away, CLICK NOW'>digital signature theft within the Chief Minister’s Office.
Andhra Pradesh high court on Volunteer System
 
When few women whose names were removed from the beneficiary list of ysr Cheyutha scheme by the Volunteer, the women approached the high court of Andhra Pradesh. After hearing the case, Justice Battu Devanand made important observations and questioned the State government of andhra pradesh about deputation of volunteers for beneficiary identification, data collection, and the overall accountability of the volunteer system. There's a sense that volunteers are being potentially exploited, given their limited honorarium.
 
Volunteers for party or Public Good?
The Volunteers have carried out ycp party activities that includes mobilizing people for public meetings, campaigning for the party during local body elections. Recently, there have been numerous instances where Volunteers accompanied the ycp Booth Level Officers in verifying the electoral list. It does not come as a surprise that today a Volunteer commands more clout and power than a Sarpanch, Gram panchayat Member or a Ward Member in the Village.
 
Today, Gram Panchayats in Andhra have become inefficient, and Sarpanches across the State have been complaining about insufficiency of funds and diversion of the local body funds worth Rs 8660 Crores by the ycp Government. The ycp govt deducted an amount of Rs 1351.47 Crores from the Finance Commission’s grant to local bodies to pay the electricity expenses to the DISCOMs.
CAG pointed out that for FY 2021 – 22, the total Financial Assistance allocated to both village Volunteers and Gram Sachivalayam, which are not Constitutionally approved is Rs. 2700 Crores. In the last 3 years, the ycp government spent Rs. 705 crores on Volunteers Satkaram (Felicitation). On the other hand, for the same period, the ycp government allotted Panchayati’s just Rs. 1343 crores from the Finance Commission Grants.
 
The 11th Schedule by the 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act empowers the Panchayats to make plans and implements schemes relating to 29 subjects. By having a Parallel system overriding Gram Sabha and Gram panchayat the Volunteer System has partly violated the Article 243 G of the indian Constitution which empowers the Gram Panchayats to prepare plans and implement schemes for economic development and social justice.
 
Data Vs Democracy
The ycp government severely opposed then tdp government when it was collecting personal data through Seva Mitra app. The Current chief minister then criticized the tdp government’s actions and accused them of violating the Right to Privacy, stealing personal data, and using it for electoral gains. The Governments change, but the Data Collection Continues.
 
Irrespective of governments, the modus operandi has always been the same - First get the basic data of every person in the name of delivering welfare services, second get the critical data in the name of government surveys, third use the data to control the people and finally exploit the data to gain power.
 
When Political Parties with their election strategists & campaign consultancies collect tons of personal data from the micro level – starting from an individual to a household to a booth, to a ward, to a panchayat to a Mandal and then to an assembly & Parliamentary Constituency in the hope of improving their chances of winning elections by understanding the demography & caste equations, it is not only insulting to the voter, but also destroying the fabric of Democracy.
 
Rethinking the Volunteer System
Volunteers is not a novel concept – From Worldwide red Cross Volunteers to our own Nehru yuva Kendra’s National youth Corps, National service Scheme Volunteers etc. Volunteering exists in our society. From distributing Masks to helping people getting vaccinated, one cannot forget the services of Andhra Volunteers during the Covid crisis. Yet the government must innovatively revamp the Volunteer System. The Volunteer System cannot become a Parallel Institution at the Risk of Diluting Constitutional Bodies such as Gram Panchayats.
 
Reimagining the Volunteer role, diversifying their age group, and ensuring their alignment with genuine community needs could rejuvenate the purpose of Volunteer System in Andhra Pradesh. Volunteers could contribute to educational initiatives, support self-help groups, train farmers, and bolster disaster management efforts. This requires a cohesive strategy involving community participation and a clear demarcation of roles, ensuring that the volunteer system truly serves the people's welfare rather than being a tool for political manoeuvring.
 
The government must revive the school Management Committees, make them functional and let the community in every panchayat take care of their schools. This will quickly solve problems such as teacher shortage, children’s attendance, cleanliness, and sanitation at school etc. Graduates in the village can volunteer to teach the school children wherever there is a teacher shortage, and the SMCs can manage it.
 
Andhra Pradesh has one of the strongest Self Help Group Network but unfortunately there are hardly any enterprises that are successful and sustainable. The government can engage Social Entrepreneurs, VCs, corporate Heads on a Sabbatical as Volunteer Mentors to work and guide at least a handful of SHG Enterprises. The traditional crafts and arts can be rejuvenated.
 
Every village has Farmer Groups mostly practicing traditional farming. Let there be a call for Volunteers who can help the government in creating demo fields in every mandal & train the farmer groups with new & scientific farming techniques.
 
The Volunteers in Villages must be trained in disaster management, emergency relief, geriatric care, giving first aid, performing CPR, firefighting. Let the Volunteers be the Guardians of our Community resources – Protect our sand, minerals, forest produce, monuments. Let the Volunteers be our village Security Forces against alcohol & drug abuse, Crime, Child Marriages & Child Labour, and violence. This requires community participation, sensitization & training; it must invite people from all sections, and depending upon their skills, experience, availability they can be utilized for various community development engagements.
 
The raison d'etre of Volunteer system must not be to become an offline Cambridge Analytica, but truly create Community Welfare & Development and it’s possible. When a Volunteer System Awakens Social Consciousness and Ignites Sense of Civic Duty among the Citizens, Inspires more people to come and participate in Community welfare and development, that is truly Strengthening Democracy and Marching towards Realizing the Dream of Gram Swaraj.

Written by B. naga TRINADH, Alumnus of Institute of Rural Management anand (IRMA).


For more interesting updates wa click and follow Indiaherald WhatsApp channel

Find out more:

S Venkateshwari

25/08/2023 05:23 PM