December is the follow-up month at TNM where we go back to headlines of the past for a status update. In this series, we strive to bring focus back to promises made by governments, revisit official investigations that should have been completed by now and exhume issues of public interest that lost steam over time.
In September this year, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy claimed in the state Assembly that his government had provided 6.16 lakh jobs in three years. However, only 2.06 lakh of these were regular jobs in the public sector. Similarly, in June 2021, the Andhra government had released advertisements in major newspapers in the state, claiming that more than 5 lakh jobs had been filled since June 2019, a month after the Yuvajana Shramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) assumed office. On closer examination, it is apparent that only 1.54 lakh of these are regular jobs. The larger share of the jobs projected as employment generated in the CM’s speech and the government ads are volunteer posts.
The CM had stated in the Assembly that 3.71 lakh of the 6.16 lakh jobs were generated through outsourcing. From the data projected in the ads, it is evident that a significant number of posts – 2.66 lakh – are that of volunteers working under the state government’s village secretariat system introduced in 2019.
The CM inaugurated the state-wide village secretariat (decentralised administrative centres) system in October 2019. An ordinance was promulgated on Wednesday, December 7, to provide a statutory framework for the system. A number of graduates and postgraduates work as volunteers in the secretariats, even though the minimum qualification required is only class 10. Additional requirements include the applicant to be between 18-35 years old and a current resident of the ward for which they are applying. Each volunteer is assigned a minimum of 50 households and paid a monthly honorarium of Rs 5,000. The system was hailed by the CM as a significant step towards keeping his election promise of decentralising administration.
Telugu Desam Party (TDP) national spokesperson Koduru Pattabhi Ram pointed out that the CM himself had initially said that these volunteer posts will not be considered full-time jobs. “The government is paying honorarium, which is not salary. They are not employees and hence their salaries can’t be increased. But the government is using these numbers in newspaper advertisements to boast about the employment provided,” he alleged.
K Anuradha, an activist from Human Rights Forum (HRF), a human rights organisation based out of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, said, “What does it mean when people are ready to work for so little pay? It means that there is dire unemployment in the state.” According to the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) annual report for 2019-20, the unemployment rate in Andhra Pradesh was 4.7%, only marginally lower than the national average of 4.8%. This rate is calculated in a way that if a person engages in any economic activity for 30 days or more during the 365 days preceding the survey, they are considered employed. However, weekly status data for the April-June 2022 quarter showed that Andhra’s unemployment was at 21.2%, higher than the all-India rate of 18.9%. Government employment exchange data accessed by the media showed that the state had 6.16 lakh unemployed youth who had registered themself until January 2022.
KV Jagannadha Rao, vice president of HRF, said, “The government had planned to use the secretariat system to make unemployed youth work, instead of paying them an unemployment allowance. It is a volunteer job, which means that you are volunteering to do service and do not expect pay, but the government is paying.” TNM spoke to some of these volunteers to understand their working conditions, three years after the launch of the system.
CM Jagan felicitated volunteers at a public gathering in Narsaraopeta, Guntur on April 7, 2022 (Twitter/RajivKrishnaS)
Mounika (name changed) is a volunteer at a ward secretariat in Vijayawada. Volunteers like her are responsible for assisting citizens in filing requests and collecting documents for various government schemes. Despite having completed a Bachelors in education in 2011, she chose to volunteer in the ward secretariat as it makes it convenient for her to look after her child. “I could have found a better job if I had somebody to look after my child. The salary is not commensurate with the kind of work we do, but I have no choice. Will husbands always give money to wives?” asked Mounika, who enrolled as a volunteer in 2019.
Another volunteer, 25-year-old engineering graduate Ram Prasad (name changed), has been working at a village secretariat in Guntur district for more than two years now. He said he chose to become a volunteer as it gives him time to prepare for competitive exams. “The government recently released the notification for police constable and sub-inspector appointments. I have to clear the exams for these,” he said.
In the villages, the youth manage farming and volunteering simultaneously as the latter is flexible. Laxmi (name changed), a graduate from Vizianagaram district, has been working as a volunteer for more than a year. When asked why she is working for so long for such a small amount of money, she answered, “Since I have to work only three days a week, I work in a junior college nearby and help them maintain accounts. I manage both the jobs as they are in the same locality. We all hope that they will increase our salary next year.” The government is expected to offer a hike next year, ahead of the Assembly elections in 2024.
When the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, the volunteers found themselves managing testing, surveillance, quarantine, and vaccination of huge populations. The services of volunteers made them accepted like a family member in many households. Laxmi said, "During the pandemic, everyone was scared to go out. We volunteers looked after several families that were not in a position to step out. I was scared that I would be infected so I sent my child to my parents’ house. The families I look after call me to ask my opinion when they are about to buy something, even home appliances. It gives me a sense of satisfaction.”
Manikanta (name changed), is a Masters degree holder who works at a ward secretariat in Vijayawada. He looks after 64 households in his area, which was more than what he was initially briefed. “We were told that we will be allotted 50 households, but I was allotted more. Many of us have been given similar allotments,” he said. Manikanta, who is looking for full-time jobs but does not wish to move to Hyderabad in neighbouring Telangana, said, "We hope the IT industry will grow in our state also.”
Note: Some names have been changed to protect identity.