Reacting to his comments and demanding an unconditional apology, volunteers staged protests against the Jana Sena Party chief.
Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan. (Supplied)
Jana Sena Party supremo Pawan Kalyan is yet again caught in the thick of controversy, inviting the ire of lakhs of ward/village volunteers across Andhra Pradesh. Pawan sparked the row by saying that the volunteers were “helping women traffickers” — and that thousands of women had gone missing in the state.
Reacting sharply to his comments and demanding an unconditional apology, volunteers across the state — actively supported and backed by leaders of the ruling YSRCP — intensified their protests on Tuesday, 11 July, even as the Andhra Pradesh Mahila Commission served notices to Pawan Kalyan.
The YSRCP women’s wing had also approached the state Director General of Police and sought action against the actor-politician.
Following unexpected backlash, Pawan Kalyan had to offer an explanation and stated that his comments were not meant towards all volunteers, but only a few.
On its part, the state government on Tuesday evening issued a statement categorically refuting the allegations made by Pawan Kalyan about missing women.
It said that of the 26,099 persons who went missing in the state in 2019-2021, 23,394 had been traced until December 31, 2021. In the year 2022-23, out of the 2,705 persons who went missing, 500 have been located so far.
The government also said that so far, no case has been registered in any police station against a single volunteer on the grounds of human trafficking.
“It is unacceptable to make such accusations without any evidence against those who are doing special service. Such comments are likely to cause unrest in the state and may lead to peace and security problems… by hurting their (volunteers’) minds, making them anxious, damaging their reputation and personal stability in the society,” the statement said.
“According to the NCRB data for the years 2014 to 2019, there were a lot of incidents of missing women. Not all of them have necessarily been victims of human trafficking. Otherwise, there is a great chance that they will be the victims of heinous crimes. Therefore, depending on the ‘Case Facts’, the case is altered under the IPC sections or the cases are closed after the missing cases are found. Cases under the POCSO Act are filed where girls under 18 years of age have left home for love affairs. Cases of human trafficking are filed under the Immoral Traffic Prevention Act,” the statement added.
The Village Volunteers System is aimed at providing government services at people’s doorstep through volunteers and it was introduced in the state immediately after the YSRCP came to power.
The government has appointed one volunteer for every 50 households and each one of them is paid ₹5,000 as a monthly honorarium.
The volunteer system has often been criticised by Opposition parties, claiming that the volunteers were working for the YSRCP as political agents.
It all started on the evening of Sunday, 9 July, at a road show in Eluru where Pawan Kalyan launched the second leg of his Varahi Vijaya Yatra. While addressing the gathering, he trained his guns at the lakhs of village/ward volunteers in the state.
“There are at least 18,000 women that have gone missing in the last few years in the state and they have remained untraceable even now. Top ranking officials of central intelligence agencies shared with me that the lakhs of village volunteers are collecting information about single, distressed women in the state and are sharing it with women traffickers,” Pawan said.
“There are a few YSRCP top leaders behind these women traffickers. Central intelligence officials asked me to alert the general public here in Andhra Pradesh,” he added.
Reacting sharply to Pawan’s comments, thousands of volunteers, especially women who felt they were insulted, staged protests across the state. They burnt pictures and effigies of Pawan Kalyan. They reminded him that more than half of the two lakh plus village/ward volunteers across the state are women.
In Krishna district, volunteers demonstrated against Pawan Kalyan and said that the actor-turned-politician has insulted the volunteers and, therefore, he should tender a public apology without delay. They said that Pawan is making baseless allegations against the hardworking women volunteers by linking them to human trafficking.
“It’s wrong and unfortunate that Pawan Kalyan said this about the volunteers. We have been providing services to every household and aiding them in seamless provision of government schemes,” said Shyamala, a volunteer from the 42nd division in Vijayawada.
“During the Covid pandemic, even when everyone was scared to step out, we went to every household and rendered services. We warn that we will hit Pawan Kalyan with our footwear if he continues to talk ill about us. He should immediately tender an unconditional apology,” Shyamala told South First.
YSRCP Ministers Botsa Satyanarayana, Gudivada Amarnath, RK Roja, and other senior leaders of the party had also come down heavily on Pawan Kalyan on Monday.
By Monday evening, addressing party workers in Eluru, Pawan Kalyan offered an explanation for his comments, stating that he was not against volunteers and the system, but he believes it is important to limit the disclosure of unnecessary information.
Pawan criticised the state government for exploiting the youth by offering a meagre payment of ₹5,000.
Reiterating his previous allegations about missing women, Pawan Kalyan said that central intelligence agencies are indeed investigating the alarming number of women who have gone missing in Andhra Pradesh.
“For just ₹5,000, the Jagan government had given access to every household in the state. Some volunteers are collecting sensitive information. Why is there a need for them to collect sensitive information about single and distressed women?” he asked.
“I am not saying all the volunteers doing this. One rotten fruit among a bunch of fruits is enough to bring bad name to the entire bunch. I really don’t understand why the volunteers system has been brought in when there is already a Panchayat Raj system. It’s nothing but a parallel system brought in as a political force to aid the YSRCP,” Pawan Kalyan added.
However, Varalakshmi, a volunteer from Rajahmundry, said that they never collect any sensitive information. She said that they only collect information that is related to the governments schemes to ensure hassle-free and seamless implementation.
The Andhra Pradesh State Commission for Women has taken suo motu cognisance of the controversial remarks made by Pawan Kalyan against the ward volunteers and served notices to him.
Commission Chairman Vasireddy Padma in the notices sought an explanation from Pawan Kalyan and also asked him to share with them specific details about the missing women in Andhra Pradesh, and the role of volunteers behind it.
She also said that several aggrieved ward volunteers and women organisations have approached the commission to file a complaint against Pawan Kalyan’s controversial remarks.
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