The ruling YSR Congress Party leaders are using a novel technique to keep newly appointed Grama Volunteers in their tight grip for the next five years. These leaders are taking ‘prior resignation letters’ from Volunteers forcibly. They want to use these letters if any Volunteer turns against their party interests in future. The YCP leaders are doing this all over the state as they are afraid that after becoming government employees, these Volunteers may slip out of their control.

During the previous TDP rule, there is no such problem. There were Janmabhoomi Committees on which there were Mandal level officials in addition to local people’s representatives. Because of this, only the ruling TDP leaders’ influence worked at that time. Now, the YCP is also trying to retain a firm grip on rural administration and distribution of welfare sops through the Grama Volunteers. For this, the ruling party leaders are now forced to follow illegal and objectionable methods like getting advance resignation letters.

This has become a subject of debates within the government employees’ unions. They are asking where is the need for all these Grama Volunteers amid lot of publicity when they have no minimum job guarantee. Though these appointments are taken up through DSCs, there are rumours that almost all Grama Volunteers jobs are filled at the recommendations of local YCP leaders.

Engineering, degree, inter and 10th class qualified candidates have also applied for Grama Volunteer tests in Andhra. There is so much demand for a post that gets Rs. 5,000 per month in village and ward levels. The demand is because of so much influence that this post will bring. Whatever, these appointments and their tests have become a matter of laughing matter everywhere. Even the officials conducting interviews are confused about their real role in deciding the successful candidates.

Like never before, the so-called government posts of Grama Volunteers are going to be selected based only interviews. The officials on interview board will award marks and send the lists of candidates along with marks to the higher authorities. The final list of selected candidates will be decided at a higher level.

The marks secured by a candidate in his qualifying examination will not be the criterion for selection. There is no guarantee whether the interviewing officials’ marks will be really considered to select the candidates. There is a lot of suspicions even among applicants that all these interviews are simply a farce as the local MLAs and ruling party leaders have already their own candidates for Grama Volunteers. This is why many applicants have stopped attending interviews as well. Officials are also saying there is no legality or sanctity for these jobs being given only based on interviews.