The ‘yellow brigade’ in the TDP at the ground level is all poised to become ‘smart’ in the wake of initiative by the party president and Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu to give the party apparatus a touch of web-enabled services, beginning with membership drive online.
The party functionaries are busying opening e-mail accounts in their names, a basic requirement for everybody to enrol themselves as party members. For the party leaders entrusted with heading the drive, it is a grim battle to learn the basic functioning of the tablets and laptops with which the online membership is to be undertaken. Although the party observer Bonda Umamaheswara Rao formally launched the membership drive in the district here on Monday, it is likely to a few more days to take it off at the grossroots level.
The tablets/laptops dispatched by the party State head office reached the district party office on Tuesday. A master trainer was also deployed to the district by the State party leadership for training the local leaders on use of the gadgets in enrolling members online. The gadgets will be made available to all the mandal ad hoc committee conveners who are entrusted with the membership enrolment. According to information, the party organisers were facing teething problems while handling not less than half a dozen gadgets on the first day. The mandal ad hoc committee conveners are directed to take up the membership drive under the direct supervision of their respective MLAs.
Mr. Prasad said the district party was aimed to enrol 2 lakh active members over 1.5 lakh in the previous year. The party has decided to dispense with the second layer of membership (ordinary) this time. The moment somebody is enrolled online as an active member on production of voter ID card and Aadaar card, an instant SMS with acknowledgement is generated on the applicant’s mobile and sent to his or her mail ID subsequently, Prasad said.
The incentives that go with the party membership include a 10 per cent concessional travel in private bus services for which the top brass is in talks with bus operators and an insurance cover of Rs. 2 lakh in case of death.
