Hyderabad: Ruthu Maddela’s life unravelled between 2020 and 2025. She lost her parents to the pandemic, her husband to a brain haemorrhage, and her brother during the August floods last year. Then, the 37-year-old single mother of two teenage daughters found herself with a failing heart, depleting savings and vanishing hope.
Working part-time at a beauty salon a few kilometres from a suburb on the outskirts of Vijayawada, she could barely afford two square meals, let alone her daughters’ education or her own medical treatment.
But, in July 2025, an unexpected friendship at the salon changed everything.
Sajini, a government employee on the Vijayawada Central P4 initiative team and a regular customer, realised Ruthu had missed enrolment as a Bangaru Kutumbam (beneficiary) when Andhra Pradesh launched the initiative in March 2025 because she was hospitalised at the time. Soon after, Sajini enrolled Ruthu under the ‘Fund a Need’ model.
Within months, Ruthu was matched to Vamsi Heart Care Institute for free treatment. As her health improved, Ramesh Katuri–a Margdarsi (mentor) who runs the Gunaditya Integral Foundation–set up a beautician training centre for her.
Ruthu started small, training five to 10 women in the mornings and continuing working at her salon post-noon. Now, she trains up to 30 women and works part-time at the salon. Her daughters are pursuing degree programmes in separate colleges, thanks to the increased income.
“I don’t know if I am crying because I am happy or because I have been able to overcome so much grief,” Ruthu said, trying to hold herself back from sobbing.
“Ramesh Sir is my God; Sajini madam is my inspiration, and if not for her, I wouldn’t be here,” she added, holding onto the edge of Sajini’s saree in one hand and clutching a Goodday biscuit packet in the other.
Ruthu’s story exemplifies the quiet impact of the Public-Private-People Partnership (P4) initiative—Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu’s latest attempt to make Andhra Pradesh poverty-free by 2029.
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Key interventions
Fifty-year-old carpenter P. Subramanyam’s recovery tells a similar tale. A skilled craftsman from the Vishwakarma community—whose family members work as goldsmiths and carpenters—Subramanyam’s family of six depended on his furniture contracts. But the August flood damaged his tiny shop, machinery and wares beyond repair. With his daughter’s wedding fixed, he found himself with no money and a shop “smelling of punky wood”.
Then came G.S Chakravarthy, owner of one of Vijayawada’s most famous publishing houses, who was paired with Subramanyam through P4. Chakravarthy funded the shop’s repairs and gave Rs 1 lakh for new machinery from Hyderabad. Subramanyam borrowed additional working capital for tools, re-employed his two workers, and married off his daughter.
“Life feels back on track now,” he said.
“Here is where the P4 Initiative signals an evolving focus in the government’s intent to enhance livelihood, address poverty and create a more equal society,” said Cherukuri Kutumba Rao, vice -chairman of the P4 Initiative, noting that while Subramanyam wasn’t in abject poverty, the floods nearly pushed him to that threshold.
“It gives people agency to make better decisions, helps them benefit from the network of benefactors, and nurtures hope and aspiration, which are crucial for people to step out and stay out of poverty,” Katuri, who helped Ruthi, said.
He added that the society could partly shoulder the responsibility of eliminating poverty even if not equal partners with the government.
The zero-poverty concept
Launched on 30 March 2025 during Ugadi (the Telugu New Year), P4 was unveiled alongside the 10-point action plan under the Swarna Andhra Vision 2047, which aims to transform the state into a $2.4 trillion holistic and sustainable economy by 2047.
P4 was designated the first action item.
The participatory governance model connects affluent individuals and institutions (Margadarsi) to the economically underprivileged (Bangaru Kutumbam) through a mobile application, portal, and website. Benefactors can choose from three support options: ‘Adopt a Family’, ‘Adopt a Village or Community’, or ‘Fund a Need’. The initiative is open to individuals, public and private institutions, and the Telugu diaspora.
The government’s role in this programme is limited to being a facilitator. While it does not extend any monetary support through P4, it keeps track of accountability through periodical reviews to check if the aid promised is being given.
“The larger goal of the P4 initiative is to ensure that every family, regardless of their background, has a chance to thrive and contribute to a collective, sustainable future,” Naidu had said during the launch.
Nearly 6.06 percent of Andhra Pradesh’s 5.3 crore population is classified as poor by NITI Aayog.
Mapping needs to resources
Under the programme, a Margadarsi supports different needs for different people. An exhaustive needs assessment survey conducted by the state government revealed that 21 lakh families in Andhra Pradesh required financial and non-financial assistance and handholding. About 32 needs have been classified as primary and secondary, ranging from jobs and skill-training programmes.
“This was a first breakthrough for us because we were able to identify who resided at the bottom 20 percent of the population pyramid. Now, all that was left to do was map them to 10 percent of the affluent to the poor,” said Vijayalakshmi, director planning and CEO of Smart Andhra Pradesh Foundation (SAPF), the organisation that implements the P4 programme.
In nine months of the programme’s implementation, 10.42 lakh families have been mapped to 1.03 lakh benefactors. Officials hope to complete mapping the remaining 10.5 lakh families in the next six to nine months.
The diversity of support is striking. Villagers from a mandal in Eluru district received RO-water plants for their community halls. In NTR district, a dargah received a fresh coat of paint. A village off the Krishna river got new electrical fittings for a community hall meant for scheduled castes, courtesy of a US-based Margadarsi.
“Having been part of this platform for three months, I can say that anyone with the intent to support and uplift families in need can become a Margadarsi. I am an NRI living in Australia, and I am so delighted to have contributed to my state and my village in my own little way,” said Somasekhar Muthyala over the phone.
By March 2026, when the initiative turns one, Team P4 believes the impact will be substantially higher.
Lingering concerns
The celebration of P4’s achievements is punctuated by concerns from seasoned administrators who have pioneered welfare programmes since Naidu’s first term as chief minister in 1999.
Reddy Subrahmanyam, a retired Andhra-cadre officer who had served as secretary for higher education and social justice and empowerment in the Union government, questioned whether P4 addresses all dimensions of poverty in the state.
“The burden of lifting the state out of poverty is the government’s job. It is part of the directive principles. Sustainable income over a prolonged period is crucial to eliminating poverty, and this goes far beyond crisis redressal. A sustainable livelihood includes considering the key aspects of existing assets, skill status, aspiration level, market condition, and the support required for any initiative to succeed,” he said, calling for a more structural approach whilst commending public participation.
The 2023 multidimensional poverty index (MPI) survey by NITI Aayog placed Andhra Pradesh ninth, just below Telangana. While the state has reported declining poverty levels over two decades, issues of child malnutrition, child and adolescent mortality, maternal health, and poor sanitation persist—areas P4 does not directly address.
S.P. Tucker, former chief secretary, offered a more optimistic view of P4, describing it as a
“disruptive change to address a problem that has long-accompanied humanity”, though he too agreed that institutionalising the process would yield better outcomes.
The P4 team acknowledges these challenges. It is an “evolving matrix” and the first year’s impact survey will be closely studied to “fix all the bugs—technical, social, and structural as we go ahead”, said Harika, member of the project management unit of P4.
(Edited by Prerna Madan)
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