Andhra Govt To Proceed Legal Action Against Pawan Kalyan Over His Remarks On Village Volunteers

The Jagan Mohan Reddy-led government said it sanctioned the public prosecutor to file a complaint against the Jana Sena Party chief in court after a "careful examination" of his statements.

The Andhra Pradesh government issued a Government Order (GO) on Thursday, initiating legal action against Jana Sena Party (JSP) chief Pawan Kalyan for making "objectionable comments on the ward and village volunteers" during a public meeting in Eluru on July 9. The Jagan Mohan Reddy-led government said it sanctioned the public prosecutor to file a complaint against the Jana Sena Party chief in court after a "careful examination" of his statements. The GO references Pawan Kalyan's speech in Eluru, during which he stated that volunteers were the sole reason for the disappearance of 29,000 women in Andhra Pradesh, based on NCRB data.

As per the order, "He further alleged that mainly single women are being targeted, and information is being collected in the name of welfare schemes, which is then forwarded to anti-social elements, amounting to human trafficking. He also alleged that the volunteer system and network developed by the AP Government is involved in human trafficking and claimed that volunteers, who have complete data on people, targeted women with financial difficulties and pushed them into trafficking. According to him, out of the 29,000 missing women, only 14,000 were traced by the police, and the remaining 16,000 women were untraced."

The GO stated that the implementation of the village/ward volunteer system in the state was part of the decentralisation of administration to the village level, following Mahatma Gandhi's Gram Swarajya, with the noble objective of delivering government services and welfare benefits to the poor at their doorsteps transparently, without corruption or middlemen.

It noted that Pawan Kalyan's defamatory statements caused substantial damage to the reputation of the volunteer system, as well as to the state government in the eyes of the public, particularly causing insecurity among women in distress.

"After careful examination of the matter and in exercise of the powers conferred under Section 199 (4) (b) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, the government hereby accords sanction to the concerned public prosecutor to make a complaint before the competent court against Pawan Kalyan for making defamatory, derogatory, and venomous statements," the GO concluded.

Meanwhile, Pawan Kalyan stated that he was not afraid of the cases and declared his readiness to go to jail if required. He wanted to know where the 23-point data collected by 2.5 lakh volunteers was being stored.