RDO assures 'lost' hamlets of welfare

Visakhapatnam: The Visakhapatnam district administration responded within a day of a report carried on May 26 in this paper about the plight of the Kondus, a particularly vulnerable tribal group (PVTG), in Pasuvulabanda and Jeelulova villages under Ravikamatam mandal in the district.

An officer of the rank of revenue divisional officer ( RDO ) visited the villages on Wednesday and assured that the residents’ issues would be resolved within a week.

Sixty residents in the two villages do not have an Aadhaar card, ration card, pension while 18 children are without birth certificates. Tribals in the villages have resided here for 50 years and received pattas under the Forest Rights Act but the villages was later removed from the limits of Ravikamatam mandal.

It will be recalled that tribals staged a half-naked protest against the district administration this Monday, covering themselves with only ‘addakulu’ leaves, demanding welfare benefits.

On Wednesday, Narsipatnam RDO K Sivadevi Jyothi and Ravikamatam tehsildar P Kanaka Rao, with revenue staff, visited the villages and enquired about the living conditions and problems faced by the tribals. The RDO instructed the tehsildar to collect applications for Aadhar, ration cards and housing schemes from villagers, besides making them eligible for government welfare schemes. She also instructed officials to provide nutritious food to pregnant women and children in the villages and ensure minimum support price to turmeric cultivators in the villages.