The district administration of Palnadu in Andhra Pradesh, has started a grievance redressal mechanism called Navodayam to resolve the problems faced by the marginalised people in the district. It is a platform where problems faced by the SC-ST communities are heard. It also provides opportunities for jobs in the fields of education, employment, entrepreneurship and empowerment. Not only this, but the grievance redressal system also covers land disputes and pension issues.
It was started on 14th September 2022 and till now has evoked very good response from common people. Administration got more than 2400 applications in only three months. The brain behind this initiative is 2013 batch IAS officer and District Collector of Palnadu, Mr. Siva Sankar Lotheti who sincerely wanted to help the marginalized people.
Most of the people wanted financial assistance for higher studies and bank loans to set up small scale businesses. Officials from various departments also participate in the registration process and gave them right advice.
Speaking with Indian Masterminds, Mr. Lotheti said, “We sponsored higher education of five meritorious students from the marginalised communities. We received over 2400 applications from marginalised people. This scheme has given opened new vistas for them.”
NAVODAYAM
The grievance redressal meetings would be held at the district, Block and village-level on the 14th of every month. Mr. Lotheti said that date was selected to mark the birthday of Dr BR Ambedkar.
Every month, people come to the village, block and district and register their problems. They received 620 applications in October, 850 in November and about 900 in December.
Official mostly offer the solution on the spots. If the issues is not complicated and could be handled at local level, then, the block level officer solves it, otherwise refer it to the district. Administration has involved banks, NGOs and some private companies in this scheme.
Mr. Lotheti said, “Women are also coming forward with their grievances. This is really a good development.”
FUTURE PLANNING
Overwhelmed by the good response to this initiative, Mr. Lotheti is has planned to conduct job melas in near future. He said, “We will invite private companies and local industries encouraging them to hire people according as per their requirements. State Skill Development Corporation will also conduct training programmes to make them eligible for better jobs.”
BADI BATA
This is not the first time that Mr. Lotheti has taken such steps for marginalized people. Earlier, he launched ‘Badi Bata’ scheme for dropouts children. Through this, he enrolls 950 children back into schools after counseling their parents. He said that there were over 30,000 dropouts in Palnadu district, mostly from the SC and ST communities.
