Transparency, Inclusiveness, Quick Response During Crisis Hallmarks of YS Jagan Governance

AMARAVATI:  Turning a new leaf in public administration, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has brought in numerous initiatives to infuse transparency and widen the outreach base besides keeping a check on corruption to show inclusiveness in governance.
Be it the village secretariat system with an impeccable flow of social delivery system to the village level or the Reverse Tendering and Judicial Preview system to check irregularities in big ticket projects and Spandana taking the administration closer to people, the Government has won accolades from far and wide.

The village and ward secretariat system
For the first of its kind in the country, the State government had brought the village and ward secretariat system to ensure that government services reach people to a maximum extent and make it more accessible. So far, 3.95 lakh are working in 15,004 village and ward secretariats across the State, including the volunteers who are given the charge of 50 households in rural and 100 in urban areas offering over 500 services. Village and Ward Secretariats have brought governance closer to the people and shown to the nation a functioning Gram Swaraj and initiative has won wide acclaim from far and wide. The social delivery system was appreciated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi among others and has been lauded across the country. Launched on Gandhi Jayanti, the village and ward secretariats stand as a true reflection to Gram Swaraj.  The network came in handy during the times of pandemic and distribution of social security schemes in an effective, transparent and corruption free manner. The village/ward secretariat system has become an effective force in fighting coronavirus, where the volunteers have been able to collect data throughout and put the State on high alert.

Spandana to resolve public grievance
As part of good governance, the State government had launched ‘Spandana’ according  high priority to resolve the public grievance within a stipulated time frame. The grievances can be registered through Village/ward secretariats, 1902 Call Center, Spandana web portal, and Collectorate grievance day on Mondays. So far 28,03,766 grievances have been registered across the state of which 27,23,909, have been resolved and 79,857 are under process.

Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT)
Taking transparency to the next level, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy had initiated Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) to ensure transparency in delivering the welfare schemes by crediting the amount directly into the accounts of the beneficiaries, without the involvement of any middlemen and reducing the hassles. The State government had spent Rs 28,906 Crore through DBT benefiting 1,77,09,653 people during 2019-20 financial year, and during 2020-21 up to November, the government disbursed Rs 33,483 Crore through DBT benefiting 3,14,06,765 people in State.

Reverse Tendering
Reverse Tendering and Judicial Preview are the two reforms through which the government had saved almost Rs 4,000 crore in projects like Polavaram, Bhogapuram Airport and even in developmental projects like Nadu-Nedu. In the Polavaram project alone, Rs 1343 crore was saved by going through reverse tendering and of this Rs 1140 crore was saved by canceling tenders of the previous government and going for fresh bidding.

Installing 125 -feet statue of Dr. BR Ambedkar
Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy took up a prestigious project of installing a 125 -feet statue of Dr. BR Ambedkar. The foundation stone was laid at the Swaraj Maidan in Vijayawada. The previous government made a tall talk on the issue but backed out. However, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy put it back on track and shifted it from the remote Inavolu village to the heart of Vijayawada city and taking it ahead as a major tourist attraction, where a beautiful park will be developed on a 20-acre site, with the 125-feet statue in addition to setting up a library, museum, and a gallery.

YSR Jagananna Housing scheme
People moved courts on even flimsy grounds and the smear campaign continued though the detractors were proved wrong time and again. At one point it appeared as if the Opposition has been fighting the battle elsewhere instead of the intended avenue. But the State has stood its ground and has been carrying out the welfare agenda which is evident from the mini referendum on the housing scheme where over one lakh people opted for Jagananna houses and a solitary person going for the other option. Yet the distribution of houses was stalled in many places, including Pulivendula and other places where government lands were to be distributed. At Amaravati, TDP sympathizers moved the court citing demographic imbalances as the ground to stall the distribution of house sites.

Quick response in times of crisis, emergencies and calamities has been the watchword of the YS Jagan Mohan Reddy government that has acted quickly and effectively during lack of movement of agriculture produce in times of Covid, distribution of fee ration during lockdown, immediate help after Vizag Gas leak and the mystery illness at Eluru among others.

Governance has been visible to everyone in the form of village and ward secretariats, volunteers calling home to deliver social security and informing every detail of government decisions.