Flood Victims Crowd Grievance Cell at NTR Collectorate

 Vijayawada: The Public Grievance Redressal System (PGRS) set up at the NTR district collectorate was overwhelmed today as thousands of flood victims affected by the recent Budameru floods flocked to the facility to submit their grievances. Many were seeking relief packages that had been announced by the state government but not received.

More than 2,000 victims from 32 wards within the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) and surrounding Vijayawada rural areas visited the collectorate. Due to the high turnout, grievance petition applications—which are usually provided for free—ran out, forcing some victims to purchase them from nearby Xerox shops for prices ranging from Rs 20 to Rs 30.

Taking advantage of the situation, private document writers outside the premises charged Rs 20 to assist illiterate applicants in completing their applications and attaching the necessary documents before submission.

“Officials came to our homes and assessed the damage, and we submitted applications at the ward secretariat as well. Yet our names were not included on either of the beneficiary lists published by the government. We worry that entering incorrect information on the grievance application will completely exclude us from receiving aid,” said Y. Kondamma, a flood victim from Vambay Colony, who paid a document writer to help fill out her application.

Many flood victims expressed concern about the potential consequences of incorrectly entered details, prompting them to seek assistance from document writers.

Srinivas from Kabela Centre criticised ward volunteers for conducting an inaccurate flood survey and failing to properly document the extent of their losses. “Our tenants, who live on the ground floor, were recorded as first-floor households and received only Rs 10,000 instead of the Rs 25,000 relief package. Meanwhile, the households living on the actual first floor were completely omitted from the beneficiary list,” he complained.

Most number of victims who visited the PGRS cell lived on the ground floor but received only Rs 10,000 because officials mistakenly classified them as first-floor households. Some victims also reported receiving relief packages for their vehicles, but not for the damages to their homes.