In his Weekend Comment programme, ABN Radhakrishna raised a pointed question about the practicality of Chandrababu Naidu’s P4 welfare scheme. The initiative, called Public-Private-People Partnership, aims to have the top 10% of economically well-off individuals, referred to as Margadarsies or mentors, support the bottom 20% of the poorest families, known as Bangaru Kutumbams or golden families. The Chief Minister has himself pledged to support 250 families in his Kuppam constituency.
While the goal of eradicating poverty is commendable, the way the programme is being implemented is drawing criticism. The state has not released concrete data on the total number of families living in poverty, though at least one crore families benefit from various welfare schemes.
Out of these, only 11 lakh families have been chosen for the first phase of P4, leaving out the remaining 89 lakh, which could cause resentment towards the government. Welfare measures, critics say, should be applied equally to all in the same economic group to avoid alienating those left out.
Questions also arise about the fairness of this selection process. In Kuppam, Chandrababu Naidu has adopted 250 families, but what about the others in the constituency? Moreover, charity is ideally a voluntary act, yet under P4, officials have been given targets to identify Margadarsies.
Reports suggest that to meet these targets, wealthier individuals are being pressured to participate against their will, which could damage the government’s public image.
There are further allegations of political bias in the selection of golden families, with MLAs reportedly recommending their own associates. A survey has found that 26% of selected families may not even qualify for the scheme.
With many of the unselected families expressing their dissatisfaction, ABN RK suggests it may be wiser for the government to take this feedback seriously and reconsider, if not entirely drop, the programme to avoid further backlash.
