ANANTAPUR: The network of village volunteers introduced by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy in the State to extend the benefits of various schemes to the beneficiaries at their doorsteps has been widely appreciated by everyone. In one such instance, 50 families of a village in Anantapur district felicitated a village volunteer onMonday, for his hard work and effort to ensure that they receive benefits at their doorstep.

The incident took place at Sirigedoddi village in Gummaghatta mandal in the district.

The family members from the 50 houses in the village got together and honoured Nayakula Rajesh for constantly serving them by observing their needs. Rajesh is working as a Village Volunteer in the Bhutayyadoddi Cluster-7 Division under the Sirigedoddi Grama Secretariat. He ensured that the Government schemes were made available to all those who were eligible in the village as part of his targets. He also went house-to-house and enquired about the welfare of the people in the village.

He was so proactive that he would take it upon himself to solve the problems of the villagers, whenever they had any issues. Such was his dedication that they started treating him like a family member. Commemorating his one year of service as a Village Volunteer, the villagers decided to honour him. Moving beyond party affiliation, the villagers came to the Secretariat building and felicitated him by presenting a shawl and a commemoration certificate.

The village elders also expressed their gratitude to the Andhra Pradesh Government for setting up the Volunteer system. Local Secretariat employees and fellow volunteers congratulated and applauded him on the occasion. MPDO Shivaram Prasad Reddy urged every volunteer to take Rajesh as an ideal while performing their duties. The event was attended by the villagers of Sirigedoddy and Bhootayyoddy.

The AP Government in October last year gave a call to clap for village volunteers and other village secretariat employees to appreciate the selfless service they render. Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy along with Minister Botsa Satyanarayana, Chief Secretary Nilam Sawhney, DGP Gautam Sawang and others clapped at the camp office. The Village/Ward Volunteer and Village Secretariat systems were introduced by Jagan Government on Gandhi Jayanti day in 2018. The Chief Minister said that village volunteers are rendering selfless services without anticipating any profit, so that Gram Swaraj would be achieved. This is an appropriate time to respect their work with claps, he said.