'Chai pe Charcha': IPAC's long political journey in the past 10 years

On November 7, the Andhra Pradesh government concluded a 45-day, five-phase Jagan Anna Aarogya Suraksha health camps across the state, screening 40 million people for seven tests, such as blood pressure and haemoglobin, with government health workers administering 70 million tests free of charge. Subsequently, the government held over 12,000 camps where 7.5 million people received free consultation and medicines.

In July, the state organised 15,000 camps to enrol beneficiaries for its dozen-odd welfare schemes. In the run-up to the holding of these camps, over 250,000 government ‘volunteers’ armed with smartphones and biometric devices fanned out across the state, visiting 10 million households to collect data, identify potential beneficiaries of these schemes, and assist them with putting together the documentation. At the camps, from a checklist of 11 certificates — such as birth, death, caste and income certificates— volunteers printed and distributed 9.3 million certificates in 30 days.
 

The quarter million ‘village and ward volunteers’ were crucial to the success of the health and enrolment camps, the latter of which the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) government has organised twice a year — in July and January— since coming to power in Andhra in 2019. These volunteers, each of whom maps 50 to 60 households and is paid Rs 5,000 a month by the government, are the interface of the state government’s social welfare schemes with the people. Nearly 15,000 ‘secretariats’, each staffed by 12-15 people with a physical secretariat office and each overseeing 1,000 households, assist the ‘volunteers’.
 

A team of the Indian Political Action Committee (IPAC), headed by its co-founder and director, Rishi Raj Singh, monitors the backend of the ‘volunteer’ system, whose performance could determine whether Andhra re-elects the YSRCP in the Assembly polls, scheduled to be held along with the Lok Sabha elections in April-May 2024.
 

For Singh and his associates at IPAC, the Andhra ‘volunteer model’ marks a transition of the outfit which, under Prashant Kishor-led Citizens for Accountable Governance, began with organising ‘Chai pe Charcha’ events in 2013 for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s prime ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi. After a decade of burnishing the public images of India’s topmost leaders, hundreds of candidates, and half a dozen political parties of a spectrum of ideological hues, Singh and his team members say it gives them “immense satisfaction” to actually make a difference by shaping policymaking and ensuring efficient rollout.
 

Over the years, IPAC has worked in Bihar, Delhi, Punjab, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh, mostly with political parties that were either incumbents or considered strong challengers. However, in Andhra in 2018-19, IPAC took upon revitalising the YSRCP and rebuilding the image of its leader, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy.
 

The challenge, sources in IPAC told Business Standard, was when the YSRCP won a landslide in the 2019 Assembly polls. Unlike its opponent, the N Chandrababu Naidu-led Telugu Desam Party, the YSRCP lacked a robust structure to offer feedback on the rollout of welfare schemes, which the party had promised in the run-up to the polls.
 

Singh, his IPAC associates, along with ‘JMR’, their acronym for the Andhra CM, brainstormed to shape the welfare schemes and devise the ‘volunteer’ system to ensure delivery. Actor-turned-politician Pawan Kalyan has questioned the money spent on the ‘volunteer’ system and called for it to be scrapped, but it has helped the state government in ground mapping households and getting constant feedback.
 

The ‘volunteer’ system has also meant people don’t have to go to their Members of Parliament, legislators or even government officials to avail government services, reducing corruption and discretion. Public representatives now make themselves useful by organising food and water for the people when they attend government health and enrolment camps, says an IPAC person.
 

“Importantly, the welfare schemes have vitalised rural economy and created rural demand, which is largely responsible in catapulting Andhra to being one of the fastest growing economy in India, ” Singh told Business Standard, recounting how putting money in bank accounts of people increased their spending on purchase of  gold jewellery, motorcycles, and smartphones, which in turn increased the number of such dealers in local markets. Rythu Bharosa, under which 5.2 million farmers have received Rs 13,000 annual assistance, is one of the nine flagship schemes, called ‘Navaratnalu’. Under Rythu Bharosa, the government has disbursed Rs 33,000 crore. Under Amma Vodi, it has disbursed Rs 15,000 annually to 4.4 million mothers and a total of  Rs 26,000 crore in the last four years.
 

“The previous government invested in capital expenditure to create big infrastructure, which put money in the hands of people who spend it in Hyderabad or bigger cities, while YSRCP’s schemes have created rural demand, added to the overall economy,” a YSRCP source said, pointing to Andhra’s improved gross state domestic product (GSDP)  and per capita income. According to the Reserve Bank of India data, Andhra’s per capita income increased from Rs 1.5 lakh in 2019 to Rs 2.1 lakh in 2021-22, the state is now sixth in agricultural growth, up from 27th in 2019. The state is also top ranked in GSDP, up from 22nd in 2019.
 

The decade-long journey of IPAC has also witnessed its mentor, Kishor, taking a direct plunge into politics. Though one of the IPAC teams helps Kishor in Bihar with his Jan Suraj movement, he has not been associated actively with IPAC after the 2021 West Bengal Assembly polls.
 

“He continues to be our guiding light and mentor. While we are connected at a personal level, PK has taken a political plunge and is now on the other side of the table,” an IPAC member said. As for the future, Singh and his team could have opportunities to replicate the ‘volunteer’ system in other states.

The tea party: 10 years since Chai pe Charcha

The new IPAC
 

- Andhra’s ward and village volunteer system

- A govt-appointed ‘gram sachiv’ for every 50-60 households

-  255,000 village volunteers for 16 million households, paid Rs 5,000 a month by Andhra govt

-  Tasked with spreading awareness of govt schemes, enrolments, help with 11 kinds of certificates to 

avail schemes

- Two cycles of enrolling beneficiaries — July-August and January —  resolve problems with  documents

- Volunteers with smartphones, biometric devices to collect household data and ensures monitoring and delivery of services

-  15,000 secretariats, each employing at least 10 people to assist volunteers on the ground

-  IPAC monitors volunteers, assisted in designing govt’s nine schemes, oversees last-mile delivery 

-  The ‘Navaratnalu’ include Rythu Bharosa, Amma Vodi

-  In July, volunteers visited 10 million households, later organised 15,000 camps where 9.3 million certificates distributed free of charge

-  A five-phase, 45-day Jagananna Aarogya Suraksha health camp ended on November 7, involving ASHA workers, nurses, midwives and village volunteers

-  Camps screened 40 million people at their doorstep for seven tests, 70 million tests done, 

7.5 million people visited health camps for treatment

-  Sources say IPAC involved in conceptualisation of both programmes

-  BJP and Jana Sena have alleged Rs 5,000 crore spent on volunteer system, call it unconstitutional 

-  AP govt claims schemes are not sops, contributed to sharp economic and agricultural growth

-  RBI data shows Andhra’s GSDP, per capita income, and agricultural growth improved significantly 

since 2019

-  At 32.8%, Andhra’s debt to GSDP ratio a concern

IPAC@10
 

-  Citizens for Accountable Governance founded in 2013, helped with Narendra Modi’s campaign

-  I-PAC founded in 2015, helped Nitish Kumar in Bihar Assembly polls

n  In 2017, assisted Congress in UP and Punjab, YSRCP in Andhra in 2019, AAP in Delhi in 2020, and TMC in West Bengal in 2021

- Currently works with YSRCP in Andhra, TMC in West Bengal, and one of the teams assists Prashant Kishor with his Jan Suraj movement in Bihar