Mallareddy Palli village in AP has an Army man in every household

Mallareddy Palli is a village in the Komarole Mandal of Prakasam district, where about 90 families live. The villagers are fond of the motherland, and the youth prioritise a career in the Army rather than any other regular profession.

The Mallareddy Palli is a habitation that came into existence when a farmer named Mallareddy constructed a home to look after his farm. Later, one family after another joined them and formed a village. Finally, however, the extended families of Mallareddy left the village, leaving the name and the families that came for work behind, and the village became a complete Muslim habitation.

The Giddalur area in the backward Prakasam district is a region that was cursed by drought and had no running water source. So the farmers of the barren lands encouraged their youth to go to other places as migration. However, most of the youngsters chose to serve the country and then work for any other person. That is why nearly fifty thousand people from the Giddalur, Komarole, and other nearby Mandals joined the Army for more than 50 years. Some of those people who inspired the youth of this soil for five decades are from Mallareddy Palli.

Due to the uncertain conditions, youngsters like Shaik Madar Vali joined the Indian Army in 1970. Madar Vali fought with Pakistan in the 1971 War and returned home after retirement from service to settle as a farmer in 1994. His three sons, Mahaboob Vali, Shafi, and Salim, have joined the Army and are in service now. When The Hans India asked him why he joined the Army, Madar Vali said they chose death at once instead of dying daily in poverty. He explained that being poor and struggling for food daily, they wanted to die for the country with dignity. He said that the agriculture in the small bits of land they possess is dependent on rain, as the government also neglected the area to connect with irrigation canals. So, he concluded that working in the Army gives them a life with dignity, a pension after retirement, and a job at least as a security guard.

Shaik Mahaboob, who retired in 2002 after 24 years of service in the Army, also joined his two sons Khalil and Jilani in the Army. He said that the Army prefers people with fitness and talent, and the career is dependent on performance but not on the reservations the candidate possesses. He added that the Indian Army provides better opportunities to the Muslims than in the state and central governments in their departments. Shaik Hussain Peera, who joined the Army in 1979 and retired in 2002, also sent his two sons Shaik Jani Basha and Shaik Mahaboob Jani to serve the country. He said that he joined them just because he experienced the respectable lifestyle and dignity with the career in the Army. He said that even after serving the country for a few years, the Army men get the reservation in government jobs and preference in employment to spend their time busy even after retirement.

Being Mallareddy Palli, a Muslim-dominated village, the resident wants their children to study Urdu, and regular academics. So they arranged a Madrasa in the village by pooling funds for a teacher. As the residents of the Mallareddy Palli, the villagers are requesting the government to establish an Urdu medium primary school in the village; as the people served and serving in the Army, they want one of the 100 new Sainik schools announced by the union government established in Giddalur area.