Kurnool: The ongoing Yogandhra 2025 household survey in Andhra Pradesh to promote public participation in International Yoga Day activities is turning burdensome for sachivalayam employees, particularly across urban areas.
The secretariats are already understaffed, yet tasked with routinely collecting data like Aadhaar details, phone numbers and real-time OTP verification as part of their work. Amid this came the state government’s directive to conduct a month-long awareness campaign ahead of International Yoga Day on June 21. This has compelled district administrations and civic bodies to organise various yoga-related programmes. On top of this, has come the state government’s order that a door-to-door survey be taken up.
Sachivalayam staff, particularly those in municipalities, are feeling overwhelmed.
Each sachivalayam office typically serves 1,000 to 1,200 households with a population of 4,000–5,000 people. A sachivalayam has no more than 10 staff across all its service wings. They are already burdened with tasks, such as resolving citizen grievances received via Pura Mitra and WhatsApp governance channels. The
Under the door-to-door Yogandhra survey, the staff now have the technical task of collecting Aadhaar and phone numbers from each household, verify their willingness to participate in yoga activities, and input an OTP sent to the individual’s phone for confirmation. For families with multiple members, this task is becoming a time-consuming process, especially when OTPs are delayed or denied.
Previously, a network of village/ward volunteers—introduced during the YSR Congress regime—handled such door-to-door outreaches, including conducting such surveys and distributing pensions. However, that system stands dismantled. As a result, the full weight of data collection and fieldwork has fallen solely on the sachivalayam staff.
Significantly, staffers are reporting resistance from public. “People are reluctant to share their personal details, citing previous allegations of political parties misusing such data,” said one employee who wished to remain anonymous.
Incidentally, the Telugu Desam Party, while in opposition, had been vocal in criticising YSRCP-led data collection drives. It questioned how citizen’s personal data could be used.
Staff members say as yoga participation is voluntary, the state government should focus on enabling app-based self-registration, rather than pushing civic workers into another door-to-door drive.
“We are public servants, not campaigners,” one official said, pointing out that people are unwilling to commit when asked whether they will participate in the mass yoga programmes.
“The whole exercise appears to be another example of administrative overreach,” remarked another staff member.
