Poverty haunts Challa Yanadis

Nellore: Still, they are rat eaters and exploit the commensals that store food for rainy season. They don’t have pucca house, no ration card, no proper Aadhaar registration and away from progress of the contemporary era. These nomadic tribal population-popularly known as Challa Yanadis- are highly vulnerable to poverty leading to leprosy, malnutrition, skin diseases, diarrhea, tuberculosis and anemia.

There were many Pre-Dravidian Tribal communities in South India amongst whom the Yanadis, whose origins are very unclear, they were found living in utter poverty and undeveloped state. With the invasion of the Dravidians they lost their identity, language which got mixed with the local people who subdued them. They consequently they forgot their special traits too.

The district is having around 2.85 lakh population of in which around 21,000 families are from Challa Yanadis who are aloof, not ready to mingle with others and even don’t ask for food though they starve from hungry. Yanadis have been classified into four sub-castes such as Reddy-Yanadi, Challa Yanadi, Kappala Yanadi and Adavi Yanadi. Amongst them, Challa Yanadis are the most backward.

Within 100 years period Yanadi population has steadily been increasing. Yanadi tribes are found more in Nellore district than Chittoor and Prakasam districts. The population was around 1.21 lakh in 1901 and now it increased to 2.85 lakh according to latest surveys.

They live in huts constructed on the banks of canals, tanks, and other huge water bodies unconnectedly relying on fishing and catching crabs villages without access to drinking water, electricity, schools and healthcare. They hunt for food in the habitats of rats in the agriculture lands and also catch them. They eat rats and fish that has been causing malnutrition.

Majority Challa Yanadis are living in Indukurpet, Allur, Kovur and Rapur mandals and some are found in coastal mandals like Vakadu and Kota mandals. “A survey has been conducted and a plan was also prepared for Challa Yanadis in 2013. Still, it has been on papers sans implementation. A special GO was also issued in August of the same year for providing advance payment of wages under NREGS to these vulnerable communities and has not been implemented till now.

Unless their livelihood sources are improved this development activity would be futile,” said Mr. Basheer, chief functionary of Association for Rural Development, a non-government organization working in Gudur division. Development of these primitive tribes was not being done effectively by ITDA since financial allocations were being directly made to concerned departments for taking up works even though the Agency prepares budget and plans for activities. The state government has started three residential schools for both boys and girls and another is yet to be started.

“Other Yanadis who are called Manchi Yanadis work as agricultural and domestic labourers for the upper caste families for repayment of loans availed at very high rates of interest. The women of the community are sexually exploited by other communities when they work as servant maids and the children are also forced to work. Some people work as scavengers,” said V Gangi Reddy of IRDS, a NGO.

A senior official from the ITDA admitted that they were having some technical problems for taking activities. Still, they were doing best for their welfare, he added. He said the district collector is planning to take up cluster based activities for welfare of Yanadis in the district.

By PV Prasad