Poor health care, polluted water hits tribals in Kanivada
Babu Ramesh, former MLA from Rampachodavaram, said during his term he was unable to visit Kanivada village, in spite of his intentions. The villagers were practically cut off from the rest of the agency area.
KANIVADA, A tiny tribal village in middle of a thick forest area, above a hill, marks the gross negligence of the administration in ensuring access to communication and health care even after six decades of planned economy. Numerous developmental programmes aimed at ensuring access of basic amenities to the tribal population proved to be far from realising their objectives.
The village is only 55 kilometers away from the revenue divisional headquarter of East Godavari district agency area in Andhra Pradesh, Rampachodavaram. But it takes more than two and half hours to reach the village in a jeep. For about 25 kilometers the road is shady, one needs to cross over couple of streams and most of the road is on the verge of hill tracks.
Kanivada gram panchayat consists of 11 hamlets and seven revenue villages, with a total population of over 2,000. A delegation from People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), Andhra Pradesh unit, consisting of its state vice president Ch Narendra and state general secretary Jaya Vindhyala visited the village on January 22, 2011, following a complaint filed by Balu Akkisa, chairman, ‘The Sun’, a non-government organisation NGO working for the tribal population, stationing at Rampachodavaram.
According to his complaint registered with the Andhra Pradesh State Human Rights Commission, 20 Scheduled Tribe people, most of them from primitive tribe groups, died of malaria in this agency area, only in the month of August, 2009.
Babu Ramesh, former MLA from Rampachodavaram, said during his term he was unable to visit Kanivada village, in spite of his intentions. The villagers were practically cut off from the rest of the agency area. Only few jeeps occasionally coms to the village for transport of vegetables, agricultural produce or some raw materials being used for housing programme, are only source of transportation for the villagers.
Most of the villagers had never got an opportunity to visit their mandal headquarter Y Ramavaram, which is about 65 kilometers away from the village. They have to cross divisional headquarter Rampachodavaram, to reach their mandal headquarter for any official work.
According to Pallella Nukamma, who is also working as village assistant for Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), as many as 11 people died due to gastroentitis in their village in the previous year. For any sickness, they have to inform Asha volunteers in Rampachodavaram. As they don’t have any telephone facility or even bus facility, they have to walk for about 25 kilometers to Akumamidikota village to get a bus.
Sadala Sivarami Reddy, who studied up to 10th Class and works in the village as MGNREGS volunteer said polluted drinking water may be the main reason for ill-health conditions in their village. They are depending on a near-by water stream for drinking water. The proposal to construct one water filter point has remained pending with Integrated Tribal Development Authority (ITDA) since a long time.
He said ITDA authorities prepared plans for road facility to their village with an estimation of Rs 87 lakh some five years ago. But that is yet to be materialised. Simply formation of roads may bring a big change in the living conditions of the villagers.
In Rampachodavaram agency area, there are 18 PHCs. Authorities said that almost all PHCs do not have regular doctors and at the mercy of contract doctors. According to Y Kondala Rayudu, community health officer at Bodaluru PHC, the faulty transfer policy of the government discoursing young doctors to prefer postings in the agency area. He has been working in the agency area since 25 years, now at the verge of his retirement, but he is yet to get a posting outside the agency area. He originally hails from West Godavari district.
PUCL has made following suggestions to the government
Kanivada gram panchayat consists of 11 hamlets and seven revenue villages, with a total population of over 2,000. A delegation from People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), Andhra Pradesh unit, consisting of its state vice president Ch Narendra and state general secretary Jaya Vindhyala visited the village on January 22, 2011, following a complaint filed by Balu Akkisa, chairman, ‘The Sun’, a non-government organisation NGO working for the tribal population, stationing at Rampachodavaram.
According to his complaint registered with the Andhra Pradesh State Human Rights Commission, 20 Scheduled Tribe people, most of them from primitive tribe groups, died of malaria in this agency area, only in the month of August, 2009.
Babu Ramesh, former MLA from Rampachodavaram, said during his term he was unable to visit Kanivada village, in spite of his intentions. The villagers were practically cut off from the rest of the agency area. Only few jeeps occasionally coms to the village for transport of vegetables, agricultural produce or some raw materials being used for housing programme, are only source of transportation for the villagers.
Most of the villagers had never got an opportunity to visit their mandal headquarter Y Ramavaram, which is about 65 kilometers away from the village. They have to cross divisional headquarter Rampachodavaram, to reach their mandal headquarter for any official work.
According to Pallella Nukamma, who is also working as village assistant for Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), as many as 11 people died due to gastroentitis in their village in the previous year. For any sickness, they have to inform Asha volunteers in Rampachodavaram. As they don’t have any telephone facility or even bus facility, they have to walk for about 25 kilometers to Akumamidikota village to get a bus.
Sadala Sivarami Reddy, who studied up to 10th Class and works in the village as MGNREGS volunteer said polluted drinking water may be the main reason for ill-health conditions in their village. They are depending on a near-by water stream for drinking water. The proposal to construct one water filter point has remained pending with Integrated Tribal Development Authority (ITDA) since a long time.
He said ITDA authorities prepared plans for road facility to their village with an estimation of Rs 87 lakh some five years ago. But that is yet to be materialised. Simply formation of roads may bring a big change in the living conditions of the villagers.
In Rampachodavaram agency area, there are 18 PHCs. Authorities said that almost all PHCs do not have regular doctors and at the mercy of contract doctors. According to Y Kondala Rayudu, community health officer at Bodaluru PHC, the faulty transfer policy of the government discoursing young doctors to prefer postings in the agency area. He has been working in the agency area since 25 years, now at the verge of his retirement, but he is yet to get a posting outside the agency area. He originally hails from West Godavari district.
PUCL has made following suggestions to the government
- Government should formulate realistic transfer policy by assuring doctors to transfer them after a fixed period of service in agency area. Relive them once transfer orders are issued; without keeping them for long on the plea of to wait till new one takes charge from them.
- `Health screening’ should be followed for three months, from July to September, every year in the agency area.
- Top priority should be given in forming pucca roads with transport facility to all remove tribal villages.
- All pending drinking water schemes should be completed on war-foot in the agency areas.
- Pending housing programmes under Indiramma programme also should be completed on priority.
- Government may consider to declare one year as a `year of medical care’ in agency areas, so that to give first priority for drinking water, roads and medical care facilities, in allocation of funds, keeping aside other areas for time being.
- All the inaccessible tribal villages should be provided at least one satellite phone facility to ensure communication during the period of emergency.
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