'Need amenities nearby, our kids have to travel 18km to high school'

CHINTAPALLI: In the heart of Kotagunnalu hamlet within the Kudumusari panchayat, the life of Pangi Rambabu, 40, is shaped by the string of challenges that his family has endured in the past — and continues to grapple with. Situated within Andhra Pradesh’s Araku Lok Sabha constituency, the region had long been hit hard by Maoist insurgency.

Rambabu, a school dropout, vividly recalls the landmine blast on a bridge a few metres away from the village that killed seven police officers two decades ago. However, recent years have seen a steady decrease in violence.

With general elections approaching, the family’s aspirations are tinged with hope for change and development. Rambabu, who belongs to the Khond tribe — a particularly vulnerable group — is compelled to undertake seasonal migration for four to five months every year in search of sustenance. His mother Sonai, wife Prameela, and kids Pavani and Tharun remain in the hamlet during that period. “I have no option. I have to go out,” he said.

The family owns a threeacre piece of land in Kudumusari, some 200km away from Visakhapatnam city. But the scant returns from paddy, turmeric and millets, due to their dependence on erratic rainfall, drive Ram-babu to seek out agrarian and miscellaneous labour. He ventures to the Godavari or Krishna delta regions to work in shrimp farms, which secures him a monthly income of Rs 15,000.

Rambabu’s son Tharun has to walk 2km to reach the nearest primary school, while the family must trek an additional 4km to get to the closest public health facility in Lothugadda hamlet. Equally challenging is the 4km walk to exercise their electoral rights at the Kudumusari polling booth. “Everything is so far away,” he said.

In all this, the one good thing is that his mother gets her social pension at home through the village volunteer system in Andhra Pradesh. “And, yes, we receive timely rations as well. And we recently started getting electricity as well.”

All in all, though, the going is tough for the family. “Life is hard for us, but we realise that education for our children is of great importance. It is the only way to escape the cycle of poverty,” Rambabu said. Children living in the village must journey 18km to attend a high school, or junior college, in Chintapalli. “Access to education should be easier.”Rambabu said, “The modest revenue from our threeacre farm hardly meets my family’s needs. That is why I have to undertake off-season migration. Concurrently, we face significant hurdles in obtaining fundamental services such as education and healthcare. The local MLA has visited our hamlet only once in the past five years. It seems no one is concerned about our welfare.”

He had a request for the govt. “The number of working days under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme must be extended. Poor folks like us shouldn’t be forced to leave home for such meagre earnings. Also, there ought to be better marketing and logistics facilities for local produce such as coffee, turmeric, tamarind...”