Swipe your ID card for top post in TDP!

Published on 5/11/2007  

VV Balakrishna

Hyderabad, May 10: Just one swipe with your ID card and you could win top posts in the Telugu Desam Party (TDP)! TDP leaders who want to be in the good books of the party president N Chandrababu Naidu and want their services recognised have to swipe their identity cards at the party headquarters, NTR Bhavan, here. Punch card system for all functionaries of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) will be introduced at NTR Bhavan after the silver jubilee celebrations later this month. Party chief Naidu sees many merits in the system. It inculcates a sense of responsibility among senior leaders. He can keep a track of each party activist and watch how much time he spends in the party office and what he is doing. The overall quality in the party’s work may improve and ultimately it will help Naidu in selecting the right person for the top post in the party. As is the case everywhere even party leaders and functionaries will have to punch their electronically made identity card before entering the office and leaving it. The punch cards will be issued to about 400 party functionaries including members of affiliated bodies. Besides, around 50 staff members of the NTR Bhavan too would get cards, instead of manual attendance registers. ‘‘Naidu’s idea was to make the party office a paper less one,’’ party sources say. On a trial basis the punch card system was introduced in the party office prior to Assembly elections in 2004, but was not fully used for various reasons. The NTR Trust Bhavan, currently houses, a dormitory, library, yoga and dhyana centres. The library which has around 5,000 books is the largest one owned by any party office in the state. Around 100 activists participate in Yoga and Dhyana classes daily at the party office. Of late, the party has been relying on SMS system to convey important messages to leaders across the state whenever agitations were taken up. The SMS system is also being utilised to create awareness among 20 lakh party activists on important issues and policies. It may be recalled that Naidu, when he was the Chief Minister, introduced the punch card system for the Ministers at state Secretariat