Jagan Vows to Revive Volunteer System if Re-elected, Blames Naidu for Pension Deaths

TIRUPATI: Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy on Thursday vowed that his first signature “after being sworn-in again as CM on June 4 will be for reviving the volunteer system.”

Despite the system’s effectiveness, it faced stiff resistance from the Opposition, allegedly out of a fear that it was boosting the ruling party’s image.

Addressing the ‘Memantha Siddham’ public meeting in Naidupeta of Tirupati district, Jagan Mohan Reddy said reinstating the volunteer system, halted by the EC recently, would be his top priority after retaining power.

The system involves deployment of volunteers to deliver welfare services at people's doorsteps. "On June 4, my first ever signature as Chief Minister will be bringing back the volunteer system," Jagan Mohan Reddy declared.

The Chief Minister blamed Opposition leader Nara Chandrababu Naidu for the tragic deaths of 31 elderly pensioners over the past 48 hours due to the avoidable strain they faced in collecting the pension amounts.

He accused Naidu of being singularly responsible for these deaths as it was he who tried from the front to scrap the volunteer system. "Chandrababu Naidu's evil path of opposing our Direct Benefit Transfer scheme has led to the death of these 31 elderly pensioners," he said.

Framing the 2024 elections as an epochal Kurukshetra battle between his pro-poor, anti-feudal forces and Naidu's alleged "discriminatory, corruption-ridden" rule, the Chief Minister contrasted his government's welfare model with Naidu's previous tenure.

He listed flagship schemes like English-medium government schools through Nadu-Nedu, distribution of 31 lakh free houses for the poor and the Direct Benefit Transfer system.

"This is a battle between the arrogant ideology that demands people to stand in queues, pay bribes for pensions, rations, certificates and our government that comes to your doorstep smiling," Jagan Mohan Reddy asserted.

The Chief Minister also trained his guns on Naidu for a slew of unfulfilled promises in the past, ranging from farm loan waivers and weaver society loan waivers, to girl child benefits and unemployment allowance.

"After so many deceptions, do you people still want such deceptive politics of manifestoes," he asked.

In an appeal cutting across caste and class lines, Jagan Mohan Reddy said, "For me, my people are SCs, STs, BCs, minorities, the poorest. They are my brothers, sisters, grandparents who bless me, and the little ones who call me Jagan mama."

Earlier, Jagan Mohan Reddy's roadshow in Srikalahasti town saw a grand welcome with cranes holding huge flower garlands for his convoy. Addressing auto and tipper drivers in Chinna Singamala, the YSRC chief said his party “is the first to allot a ticket to a driver, Mannepakula Veeranjaneyulu, for the Singanamala constituency, considering the community's requests to have their own representative to take their problems to the Assembly.”

Veeranjaneyulu, the tipper driver from the Madiga community with an MA Economics and BEd, has been working for the party for a long time, the CM said.

The CM stated that 3,93,655 people earn their livelihood through autorickshaws and taxis. The government has been providing them with `10,000 annually, amounting to `1,296 crore over the past five years.

In Tirupati district alone, 18,000 families benefited from the Vahana Mitra scheme. They got `61 crore across seven Assembly segments. “If re-elected, the scheme would be extended to those who buy their own tippers and lorries. Suggestions from drivers would be taken into account,” he said.