In the last one year, a new model of governance is evolving in Andhra Pradesh. The unique welfare model is borne out of the plight of common man and is free from caste, religion and party bias. This model did not take shape after brain storming sessions with economists, intellectuals, politicians or bureaucrats.
It is based on the experiences and inputs gathered from millions of people, both rural and urban, by a young politician who went on a grueling journey, mostly on foot travelling length and breadth of the State. Yeduguri Sandinti Jaganmohan Reddy, popularly known as YS Jagan Mohan Reddy or Jagananna for many, and in short, the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, is the man behind this governance model.
His baby steps in politics began in 2009 when he was elected to the Kadapa Lok Sabha constituency under the guidance of his father and the then Chief Minister, late YS Rajasekhara Reddy. After the tragic demise of YSR the same year, Jagan was hounded out of Congress by the High Command, a euphemism for Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul. Ruthless scheming by envious leaders added fuel to fire. With no option left and tremendous pressure from the rank and file of the Congress, Jagan floated YSR Congress in 2010.
He embarked on ‘Vodarpu Yatra’ to console multitudes of the followers of his father in 2009 in the then undivided Andhra Pradesh. For the first time in his nascent political life, he started understanding the problems experienced by common people, farmers, artisans, and students in getting the benefits of welfare schemes initiated by his father.
Evolution of the Model
In the run-up to the 2014 state Assembly and Parliament elections, the Congress government announced bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh into two states, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Hyderabad was allotted to Telangana and residuary Andhra Pradesh was left with no capital. In this background, Jagan faced his first general election to the Assembly and Lok Sabha. He promised to implement all the welfare schemes launched by his father, by plugging the loopholes in implementation, besides a slew of other schemes. Jagan-led YSRCP lost the elections by a wafer thin margin of about one per cent of votes.
Jagan embarked on the ‘Praja Sankalpa Yatra’ through the 13 districts of the state covering 125 Assembly constituencies on foot on 6 November, 2017. His walkathon of 3,648 km lasted 14 months. During the Yatra, Jagan met over two crore people and addressed 124 public meetings. He received hundreds of thousands of memorandums from different sections of people who listed out their problems seeking justice. They were digitally listed and tabulated. In the run-up to the 2019 elections, he also organised special conventions of students and youth, farmers, artisans and backward classes to get to know their aspirations.
In the elections, Jagan rose like a phoenix with his party securing 50 per cent of the total votes polled. YSRCP won a record 151 seats in the 175-member Assembly. The party also won 22 of the total 25 Lok Sabha seats in the state.
The opposition parties were decimated. Immediately after taking office on this day last year, he started implementing the nine promises, christened “ Navaratnalu”, included in his Election Manifesto.
They are
1. Support to the farmers; Rs 12,500 per year for the next five years, to meet agriculture investment.
2. Fee reimbursement to students; full fee reimbursement to every student, besides an allowance of Rs 20,000.
3. Health scheme under which all the medical expenses above Rs 1,000 would be borne by the government.
4. Completion of pending irrigation projects.
5. The assistance of Rs 15,000 to all mothers who send their children to school.
6. Reimbursement of interest for loans of women self-help groups.
7. Support of Rs 75,000 to the women of SC, ST, Backward class, and minority women over the next four years.
8. Twenty-five lakh houses for poor people in the next five years.
9. Old age pension to the poor.
In the last one year, the Jagan government transferred about Rs 40,139 crore to the beneficiaries as part of implementing 15 welfare schemes covering all the sections of the society. The ‘Jagan model of development ‘ is unique as it transfers cash into the hands of the farmers, students, old people etc, while pursuing a policy of rapid industrialisation, ease of doing bussiness and welfare of the people.
To effectively implement his schemes, the Chief Minister has established village secretariats and village volunteers in every village, with nine volunteers drawn from the village who will approach each family and ensure transfer of welfare benefits.
The motto behind the model is to put money in the hands of the needy and it would push up demand of goods and services, thus firing up the economy. Some states are already emulating this model and teams have visited AP to study village secretariat model.
Amar Devulapalli
Senior journalist and national media advisor, Andhra Pradesh government