Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jaganmohan Reddy has defended the decision of his government to go in for the reverse tendering process to curb corruption in the State.

Jaganmohan Reddy was delivering the Independence Day address here on Thursday morning. He said there was a lot of unnecessary hue and cry over the reverse tendering move. He added that it would control corruption and substantially bring down the cost of many projects.

He said his government is emphasising on delivering services at the doorstep of people. To do so, village volunteers (2.5 lakhs) have been appointed with an honorarium of Rs 5,000 a month. Each volunteer would look after 50 families. In the urban areas, ward volunteers have been appointed and they would start functioning from August 15.

He also said that village secretariats would start functioning from October 2. The village volunteers, in co-ordination with the secretariats, would ensure that the beneficiaries under various welfare schemes are properly identified and the services are made available to them. A call centre, with the number 1902, is being set up to address the complaints of the people. Each village secretariat would give jobs to ten people from the village.

He spoke about the various welfare schemes launched by his government such as Rythu Bharosa (giving Rs 12,500 financial assistance per annum to each farmer family), enhancement of pension to the aged (above 60), Amma vodi (giving financial assistance to mothers who send their children to schools) and several others.

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