Visakhapatnam: Their long wait for ID cards finally sees a happy end

Visakhapatnam: A four-decade-long issue came to an end as the district authorities have come forward to resolve it at Bandulu Panuko village.

For several years now, the inhabitants of the hamlet in G Madugula mandal were deprived of identity cards. They include Aadhaar card, voter identity card, MGNREGA job card and ration card.

Responding to The Hans India story 'A hamlet cries for identity' published in October, a team of officials from G Madugula mandal visited the village and collected details of the villagers last month. The story brought the challenges faced by the inhabitants for over 45 years to the fore.

But now, they flaunt the Aadhaar and ration cards they received recently from the officials concerned. "Today, we not only received the identity cards but are also eligible to avail government welfare schemes. Though we are eligible for various schemes, many of our applications were rejected earlier as we could not produce our identity cards. But now, we do not have to worry about it any longer," says G Appa Rao, a resident of the village.

The inhabitants expressed happiness over the article published by The Hans India and added that the Project Officer of the Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA) S Venkateswar responded positively to address their woes.

However, the villagers are requesting the authorities concerned to conduct a survey in the forest land and consider concrete steps to issue land pattas for cultivation under the Forest Rights Act.