Merged mandals cry for facilities

Highlights:

• With Andhra Pradesh State government yet to implement R&R package, the tribals of the mandal feel themselves in no man’s land
• 34,000 families in 211 tribal villages are facing severe problems due to absence of roads, medical care, education and even cooking gas supply
• Unemployed youth are prevented from appearing for teacher tests, terming them as non-locals

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Bhadrachalam: As the deadline for completion of Polavaram fast approaching, tribals in seven mandals transferred from Telangana find themselves in no man’s land with the Andhra Pradesh government not yet implementing relief and rehabilitation (R & R) package for them.

Further, they are not being ensured basic services like healthcare and education. The State and Central governments have been expressing their strong resolve quite often to complete the multi-purpose dam before 2018.

According to Babji, of National Alliance for People’s Movement (NAPM), households in the seven mandals were not even getting cooking gas after the merger as gas agencies in AP refusing supply since Telangana has not transferred the data of consumers yet.

Betterment of roads and improvement of connectivity appear to be a distant dream in the face of alleged skewed government priorities in favour of project beneficiaries at the expense of oustees. In Kukunur, there is not even an ambulance for transporting patients in need of emergency services. Delivery cases and snakebite victims have been facing risk to lives in the absence of ambulance. Area hospital is located in Jangareddygudem, 70-80 km away from the merged mandals.

For inhabitants of Parentalapalli, located on the banks of the River Godavari, boats are only mode of transport to reach the primary health centre at Yelerupadu via Koida which will take more than five hours.

Health, education and infrastructure development in 211 villages with 34,000 households falling under Chintur, VR Puram, Koonavaram, Yetapaka, Kukunur, Burgampad and Veleru Padu mandals seem to have forgotten by the government, laments former CPM MP Mudiyam Babu Rao, who represented Bhadrachalam in Lok Sabha before the State’s division.

There is a widespread prevalence of anaemia among tribals, especially among children. It is alleged that though children are entitled to receive ration, which includes eggs and milk on a daily basis under the women and child development programme, the entitlements are left at the mercy of Anganwadi workers, leading to poor quality in the food material and irregularities.

Rampa Chodavaram MLA Vanthala Rajeswari lamented that the staff crunch was affecting the health services in the agency, especially in the merged mandals. This resulted in a surge in diseases like malaria. She urged the government to take measures to fill the doctor vacancies immediately.

V Gandhi Babu, of Agriculture and Social Development Society, a non-profit organisation based in Rekhapalli, said there was a huge gap in the number of medical posts required and existing posts. He emphasised the need to establish a nurse training institute somewhere in the merged mandals.

Babji observed that the educated youth from the adivasis were also denied equal opportunities in the merged mandals. The jobless youth were barred from taking part in the DSC (District Selection Committee) test for teacher recruitment on the ground that they were ‘non-local’, he added. He said it was incumbent upon the AP to accord local status to the tribal people with Telangana origin.

SAMSON RAJ