Telugu Desam offers insurance cover, discount in bills to activists
TD has come up with innovative ideas to attract more people in TS
ADILABAD: In a bid to gain ground in Telangana state, the Telugu Desam has come up with innovative ideas to attract more and more people to the party.
The party has introduced a first of its kind membership drive offering an accidental insurance cover of '2 lakh to those getting enrolled as active members. This apart, they will also get reimbursement of medical bills of '50,000 and '10,000 financial aid towards education of two children for one time, if their parents die accidentally.
The insurance cover will applicable in case of a snakebite, attack by forest animals, train and plane accidents and will be valid for two years. It will be applicable to the candidates who had taken active membership from January 1, 2015.
One can become an active member of the party by paying '100 and for the general membership, the fee is '10. People can get enrolled as members of the party online also. However, there was no mention of the name of the insurance company and no clarity on whether the party itself would pay the premium.
The TD membership drive will be launched both in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh from November 3.
The TD also promised to offer more to the active members like up to 50 per cent concession in medical bills for both in and out patients in the identified 27 corporate and private hospitals in Telangana and AP and 10 per cent discount if they travel by Kesineni Travels.
The insurance cover to party’s active members is the brainchild of Nara Lokesh Babu, son of TD president N. Chandrababu Naidu. This will make TD the first political party in the country to introduce insurance cover and other benefits to the party members.
The party authorities have decided to use tablets for membership enrolment. Two tablets would be given to each municipality and one for each mandal.
The party membership cards will be seeded with Aadhaar and voter identity cards. The party has a special wing which takes care of welfare of activists and their family members, education and health of the family members and it also provides other support, if necessary, to stabilise the party members financially.
Party politburo member Ramesh Rathod said the insurance cover being offered by the party proves that party gives priority to the welfare of the members, unlike other parties in the country. “There are plans to start party membership drive in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Orissa, Chhattisgarh and Goa, where there is presence of Telugu people. Efforts are on to secure recognition as a national party,” he said.