3 Years of YS Jagan’s Rule: Snapshot of YSR Congress Govt’s Achievements

The YS Jagan Mohan Reddy government will complete its 3 years in office on May 30, 2022. In these three years, the Andhra Pradesh government has changed the face of public welfare in the state. Lakhs of people belonging to various communities have benefited from the state government’s welfare schemes. The implementation of public welfare schemes were satisfactory as beneficiaries were discriminated against based on caste, religion and region. You will find more than one beneficiary in each household. Even in the Covid-19 pandemic times, the beneficiaries were not deprived of the benefits of the welfare schemes. 

Despite facing hurdles, the state government is focused on completing the Polavaram project. The YS Jagan government’s two pronged strategy - public welfare and development, is helping the administration to significant progress in these three years. 

They say time flies. Time never stops for anyone. Whether you do productive work in the given time or waste it, the wheel of time never stops running. The YSR Congress government has been working day and night for the development of the state without wasting a single day. Let’s take a look at the achievements of the YS Jagan government during the past 3 years of rule.

Under the leadership of YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, YSR Congress formed a majority government. Having got a massive mandate and the election of 151 MLAs and 22 MPs, the party enjoys tremendous people’s support in the state. 

With the unwavering support of the people, the chief minister YS Jagan started the first day of his government by fulfilling the promise made in the election manifesto. He put his first signature on the pension file. He increased the pension of elderly people from Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,250. He promised to increase the pension by Rs 250 year on year.  

YSRCP manifesto: Work in progress

An election manifesto is a plan and document of assurance given by the party’s president to the people that if his party comes to power, the party will fulfill the promises. Chief Minister YS Jagan kept each and every word he had given to the voters at the time of elections. 

The schemes and programmes mentioned in the manifesto were announced one by one. The YSR Congress government paid special attention to their implementation. To ensure successful implementation of the public welfare schemes, the state government introduced a new system of Village ward secretariats for the screening and selection of beneficiaries.

With the help of thousands of volunteers at the Village ward secretariats set up across the state, the YS Jagan government's schemes were successfully rolled out in a phased and transparent manner. 

TDP ruled the state after the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh. The Telugu Desam party chief Chandrababu Naidu had made 600 promises to the voters in the 50-page manifesto that remain unfulfilled. Naidu remained in the seat of power for five years but never cared about the tall promises he made to the voters of the state. The TDP leadership soon realised that the promises cannot be fulfilled, so they removed it from the party’s website. 

When the TDP came to power the state was bifurcated and there were many administration related issues to be resolved. Those who claimed that Naidu with his leadership and administrative skills would steer the state clear of post-bifurcation challenges forgot about it later.  

Cash-for-Vote scam

After getting caught in the cash-for-vote scam in 2015, the TDP leader moved the capital city from Hyderabad to Amaravati. Hyderabad was supposed to be the temporary capital of Andhra Pradesh for 10 years as per the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014. The TDP chief failed to implement programmes listed under the post-bifurcation of state. The former TDP regime announced that an international capital was being built in Amaravati. In the name of establishing a global city, the TDP party supremo travelled to foreign countries to discuss the design and plans of the new capital city. He spent millions of rupees from the public exchequer on these official trips and in the end managed to erect only two or three temporary structures. And to hoodwink the people of the state, Naidu went on a PR drive and the yellow media latched on to it and amplified the then government’s work.

The TDP leader didn’t stop at that. He encouraged defections from the opposition (YSR Congress) MLAs and gave them ministerial berths.  The opposition YSR Congress leader YS Jagan Mohan Reddy stood like a rock and criticised the TDP government’s corruption policies. He raised the people’s voice both inside and outside of the State Assembly. When the TDP chief ignored public issues, the YSR Congress supremo YS Jagan launched a Praja Sankalpa Padayatra to expose the Chandrababu's anti-people policies.

YS Jagan embarks on padayatra 

The YSR Congress party President YS Jagan Mohan Reddy embarked on padayatra (walkathon) on November 6, 2017 from YSR Ghat in Idupulapaya to Ichchapuram in Srikakulam district, near the Odisha border. He covered a distance of 3,648 km in 341 days, the longest padayatra by any politician in the country. 

During his padayatra, YS Jagan interacted with over two crore people from various sections of the society. He shook hands and interacted with everyone he met along the way. These meetings translated into overwhelming support for Jagan and the party. After the padayatra, the YSR Congress leader held a series of discussions with the political, social and economic experts to decide on the people-friendly initiatives needed for the development of the society. In a couple of days, the YSRC party was ready with a manifesto. 

Implementation of Navaratnalu 

Unlike the TDP regime, the YSR Congress president YS Jagan didn’t put the election manifesto on the back burner. He kept it as his diary. As soon as the YSRCP party formed the government, YS Jagan started fulfilling the election manifesto’s Navaratnalu — the nine welfare schemes covering farmers, women, medical and health, education and Special Category Status (SCS).  The state government didn’t lose focus of issues not mentioned in the manifesto. The chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy laid special emphasis on education, medical and agriculture sectors and to develop these sectors he introduced several unique schemes in these areas. 

The YS Jagan government announced a slew of schemes in the field of education like through Amma Vodi, Vidya Deevena, Vasathi Deevena, Vidyakanuka, Gorumudda, Sampoorna Poshan and Kanti Velugu.  

Also Read: YSRCP Ministers to Gear Up for Social Justice Bus Yatra from May 26

Arogyasri, a flagship healthcare program, introduced by the former chief minister Dr YS Rajasekhar Reddy got a boost in the current dispensation. The people of the state can also avail the healthcare services in the neighbouring states under the Arogyasri scheme. To strengthen the medical infrastructure in the state, medical colleges are being established in every district. Medical facilities in the state have also been strengthened during the Coronavirus pandemic.

Gaining Rythu Bharosa

Similarly, the state government launched the Rythu Bharosa scheme to provide crop support to the farmers in the agriculture sector. The YS Jagan government has opened over 1500 Rythu Bharosa Kendras (RBKs) across the state. Through these Rythu Bharosa Kendras, various services are being provided to the local farmers. 

Priority is being given to tenant farmers in the Rythu Bharosa Kendras who were neglected in the past. The authorities are making every effort to ensure tenant farmers avail all the agricultural benefits. Crop loans are being provided to the farmers through the YSR Zero Interest Loan Scheme. Unlike in the previous regimes, the input subsidy is being offered before the end of the season.

DBT and access to housing 

Under the chief ministership of YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, women empowerment and women’s safety are being given high priority. The state government has come up with several schemes like Amma Vodi, which provides aid to women to send her children to school from class 1 to 12 and total fee reimbursement, besides Vasathi Deevena and Sampoorna Poshana and Sampoorna Poshana Plus for pregnant women and YSR Cheyutha and YSR Aasara. In addition to this, women of DWCRA and Self Help Groups (SHGs) are being provided financial support under the YSR Zero Interest Loan Scheme. 

Under the housing scheme, the poor people are being given access to housing. The house sites are being registered in the name of women beneficiaries and the government has urged the banks to provide loans for women from low-income backgrounds to construct houses.

Politically too, the YS Jagan Mohan Reddy's government in Andhra Pradesh is proving to be one of the best gender-sensitive governments ever in the history. Women are being given better representations at all levels in the governance. 

Protection through Disha Act

To check crimes against women and ensure women’s protection, the state government enacted the Disha Act which has significantly brought down the investigation from 100 days to 42 days. Under the Disha Act, police stations and response vehicles were set up in the state. Prioritising women's safety, the government has launched a Disha mobile phone app which connects the woman in distress to the nearby police station. 

Covid-19 crisis management

The YS Jagan government is completing its 3 years of governance soon. In these three years, the Coronavirus pandemic confined the whole world indoors for two years and a near recession-like situation emerged across the world. In India too, all the states including Andhra Pradesh suffered huge losses as the state governments and people lost their earnings. Even in this crisis of global scale, the chief minister YS Jagan continued to help the people from low-income backgrounds and weaker sections of the society through the direct benefit transfer scheme. 

The chief minister YS Jagan came into power to work for the betterment of society and to develop the state. He gave priority to fulfilling the promises made to the people during the election time and also advised the same to his cabinet colleagues, MLAs and senior officials.

It’s been three years since he gave this instruction to the party leaders and the result is obvious as the government has launched various people-friendly schemes and development programmes across several various sectors in the state.

Despite facing challenges from Covid-19 pandemic, the YS Jagan government kept marching forward and continued to give a befitting reply to the opposition Telugu Desam Party by fulfilling its promises. The YSR Congress party manifesto, an outcome of the ground report from YS Jagan’s walkathon in 2017, is being implemented without delay. The welfare schemes are being introduced in a transparent manner. Of the 129 promises made in the YSR Congress party manifesto, the state government has succeeded in implementing a record 123 poll promises in such a short time and nearly 95 per cent of the programmes have been implemented.

YS Jagan Mohan Reddy assumed charge on May 30, 2019. Usually it takes about six months for any government to take stock of the situation. However, the chief minister wasted no time in providing good governance to the people and implementing its people-friendly programmes. 

Within a few months into the government, the chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy faced a unique and global challenge as the Covid-19 pandemic started raging across the countries and India especially the Andhra Pradesh state came in the throes of it. The Covid-19 outbreak exposed the poor healthcare infrastructure in the country. 

“The Covid-19 pandemic was crumbling healthcare systems across the world and India. The global economy was receding into recession. Despite all the odds, the YS Jagan government took corrective measures which proved effective in combating the deadly coronavirus pandemic in the state,” says Vijayababu, a former RTI commissioner. 

The state government’s welfare schemes and its benefits to the beneficiaries remained unaffected despite the Covid-19 challenges. Prabhakar Reddy, a retired IAS officer, says the chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy is implementing the direct benefit transfer system very well.

“The chief minister took a balanced approach to deal with the crisis. On one hand, he focused on strengthening the public healthcare system while on the other, he ensured the smooth governance so beneficiaries of government welfare schemes do not get affected in these testing times,” Prabhakar Reddy said.

While the senior journalist Bhandaru Srinivasa Rao appreciated the people-friendly initiatives by the YS Jagan government, saying " the YSR Congress government has achieved a lot during its three years of regime."