Tribals forced to travel 60 km to cast votes

Paderu: Tribal voters in remote villages of Alluri Sitarama Raju district are facing severe hardships in exercising their franchise, as they have to travel long distances, crossing neighbouring districts, to reach their respective panchayat centres. Around 40 tribal families, comprising 80 voters, live in Rokati Thammapuram (RT Puram) village under Rompilli panchayat of Ananthagiri mandal.

To cast their votes, they have to travel nearly 60 km to reach the panchayat headquarters, passing through Bondapalli, Gajapathinagaram and Mentada mandals in neighbouring Vizianagaram district.

Villagers said they have to spend hundreds of rupees and undergo considerable hardship to exercise their voting rights.

They alleged that by the time they reach the polling station after such a long journey, someone else has already cast votes in their names, forcing them to travel to the polling centre a day in advance.

The villagers are also facing difficulties in accessing ration supplies.

Earlier, ration rice was delivered to their village through mobile distribution vehicles, but the facility has reportedly been discontinued.

They appealed to the collector to arrange transportation for voters and restore doorstep delivery of ration supplies.

Similarly, around 30 Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG) Kondh families in Jajulubanda village under Moolapeta panchayat of Koyyuru mandal have to travel 20 km to reach their panchayat headquarters, crossing Rolugunta and Golugonda mandals in Anakapalli district. Demanding transport facilities to reach polling stations and a ration distribution point in their village, residents of Jajulubanda staged a protest with doli (traditional tribal palanquins) on Monday.

Village elders Somulu Appalaraju and Kosuru Apparao, along with CPM district committee member K Govinda Rao, urged the officials to recognise the difficulties faced by voters in both villages and take immediate measures to provide transport and ration facilities.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Deekshitula Subrahmanyam

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Deekshitula RV Subrahmanyam is a Staff Reporter with The Hans India, covering the erstwhile East and West Godavari districts, along with Alluri Sitarama Raju and Polavaram districts. A journalist with experience of over three decades, he began his career as a Telugu mofussil reporter in 1991. He writes extensively on politics, tribal affairs, rural development, tourism, development, and human-interest stories He is the author of the six-part Telugu prose Ramayana Sitarama Kathasudha and has received several literary and journalistic honours, including the JCI Young Writer Award, Vadlamudi Rammohan Rao Memorial Award and Madduri Annapurnayya Memorial Award.

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