By SNV Sudhir
Visakhapatnam, Sep 5: The common thing apart the language that the Telugus in peninsula Malaysia have is that they all have their roots in the three north coastal Andhra districts. It’s surprising to know that most of the approximate 3 lakh Telugu populate staying in the country since five generations hail from Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram and Srikakulam districts. Various researches done by some enthusiasts of Telugu speaking people in the country revealed the fact and every Telugu person in Malaysia strongly believe this. Indians constitute seven percent of the population with Tamilians in the lead followed by Telugu, Malayalam and Punjabi speaking people in Malaysia. “The slang used by the Telugus is of typical north Andhra Vizag style to indicate that most of them are from the same region” says Adari Appala Naidu, a 56 year old belonging to the third generation who born and brought up in Malaysia and currently residing in Kaulampur. Naidu who held various positions in the ministries of Trade, Information and Prime Minister’s Office of Malaysia says that the immigrants to Malay who came to work in the rubber or palm plantations in the late 19th Century or early 20th Century hailed mostly from rural areas of north Andhra coastal districts. The lure of steady employment and possible riches in the far Malay pulled many illiterate agricultural laborers into becoming immigrants, says a research paper that was submitted by the Appala Naidu to the University of Malaya as part of his thesis work on sociology and development. He also presented this paper at the International Telugu Cultural Conference and Golden Jubilee of the Telugu Association of Malaysia held on from March 3 to 5, 2006 at Genting highlands in Malaysia. Speaking to this Correspondent from Kaulampur Adari Appala Naidu said that he has been involved with the Telugu Association of Malaysia since his youth as his father was a Telugu school teacher and was the founder member of the Telugu Association which was formed in 1956. “I have attended many Telugu gatherings and meetings personally and know significant number of Telugus here. I have also been personally to most of the estates where Telugus have lived. During the course of meetings and discussions I got the knowledge that majority of Telugus originated from the Port city of Vizag and surrounding areas. I have also collected detailed statistics from the government of Malaysia about the immigrants,” said Naidu whose ancestors belong to Anakapalle. A research conducted by the Professor Emeritus of the Andhra University, Prof Eswara Venkata Gangadharam also says that most the Telugus migrated to Malaysia belonged to the North Andhra districts and embarked the British ships at the Baruva seaport in Srikakulam. “The two big poles near the shore at Baruva indicated that there was a sea port and according to the recordings of the oldtimers it was revealed that from 1895 to 1920 and 30 there was a huge embarkation from the seaport at Baruva.” said Gangadharam who did the research ‘Study of Baruva as departure port for migrants of Malaysia’ as part of the UGC project named “Maritime history of Andhra Pradesh 2002-05”. Apart from the roots another interesting thing is that the Telugus done a lot to preserve the language. Telugu is taught as "Peoples Own Language" (POL Classes) up to the secondary school level in areas where Telugus predominantly live. At present there are two government schools where Telugu is taught and they are located at Bagan Datoh area. At the secondary school level, a class to teach Telugu is organized if more than 15 students demand teaching of Telugu as a subject. Telugu is not taught as a subject at the University level. The fourth generation Telugus excelled in education, and was well endowed with better living and educational conditions. This is a proud generation for Telugus in Malaysia. “With the fourth generation, we can easily say that there are an estimated 500 Doctors, 250 lawyers, 250 Engineers, 150 IT graduates and another 2000 with degrees in various fields. The fourth generation Telugus though have progressed academically and financially, it cannot be denied that their love and allegiance towards their language and culture is not as intense as the first, second and third generation of Telugus. We do not see the fourth generation Telugus participating in Telugu activities with such enthusiasm as the previous 3 generations,” said Appala Naidu. This is partly because of their up-bringing in urban multi-racial environment. Added to this, urban living had not provided many opportunities for Telugu gatherings except at marriages and some Telugu Association functions, Naidu lamented. “It is now a great challenge for Telugu association to bring the fourth generation educated Telugus to their fold and make them members and leaders of the Association and ensure they speak and read Telugu and appreciate their own language and culture” says Appala Naidu. There were also others like D V Sreeramulu, ex secretary general of the association and Mrs Buloka Rao Didi and many others also strongly believe that they all have their roots in north Andhra. “I wonder how Telugus who have migrated to Malay four generations ago kept the Telugu language alive and at the same time I wonder how the Telugu speaking people in America are unable to come to grips about teaching Telugu to their children” said Dr Satyanarayana Gavarasana whose article “Telugu in Malaysia” published in the ‘America Bharathi’, Magazine of American Telugu Association. “My fore fathers are also from Gopalapatnam in Vizag. And most of us are from Vizag and surrounding areas only” said Adduri Venkatesulu the Vice President of the Telugu Association of Malaysia. The Telugu Association of Malaysia (TAM) has also embarked on an ambitious project to construct a Telugu Saamskruthika Nilayam in an area covering 2.5 acres, located north of Rawang town to preserve the Telugu language and culture in Malaysia.
Monday, June 25, 2007
Flood hit farmers want money to migrate
By SNV Sudhir
Nadigam (Srikakulam), Aug 8: Kolavala Mohan Rao, a farmer having 10 acres of land in Nadigam village of Narasannapeta mandal in the district now feels frustrated keeps gazing at his field where he sowed seeds twice in a gap of one month and failed due to the furious floods that hit his village two times. Same is the condition of almost around 10,000 farmers of four mandals Narasannapeta, Polaki, Jalumru, Saravakota. These are the worst hit mandals in the district during both the times. The floods hit around 50,000 hectares of agricultural fields spread in 100 villages under these mandals first on July 2 and on August 3, 4 this year. The annoyed farmers are now say that they are not venturing to sow seeds again as it would go waste and moreover they have no money to invest. “Every year we sow seeds in July and by December we get the harvest and sell the crop in the January. That’s the process and we celebrate the harvest festival with gaiety. But this time there will be no harvest and no festival” said Yerapati Malleswara Rao.The ryots also said they were more annoyed during the latest floods as this time floods coupled with strong winds and rains made them stand nowhere. “Floodwaters came into our houses. When we tried to move on to the roof, rain and strong winds didn’t allow us to stand. We remained confused saw hell on August 3 and 4. The district administration promised us rice, kerosene, money and seeds on subsidy last time only but we didn’t get them even after the latest floods and rains” said Paddenna Chinnam Naidu another farmer. More than the flood relief , now these farmers are just requesting rail reservation and travel charges to Hyderabad and Vizag. “We are now ready to work as construction labourers in Hyderabad and Vizag. I heard one gets a minimum of Rs 80 if we mix cement for construction there. We are planning to migrate. I will board Visakha express and reach Hyderabad as early as possible” said Adivarapu Nookaraju of Kollavanipalem village. Speaking to this correspondent, the Srikakulam district collector, K Nagendra Vishnu, said that they cannot provide rice, kerosene and compensation to everyone. "All of them are asking us to provide them all these without the ration card criteria. But according to the state government's norms we can give them only to the white card holders" said Vishnu. Later he assured all help to the farmers of these mandals who suffered twice in a gap of a month.
Nadigam (Srikakulam), Aug 8: Kolavala Mohan Rao, a farmer having 10 acres of land in Nadigam village of Narasannapeta mandal in the district now feels frustrated keeps gazing at his field where he sowed seeds twice in a gap of one month and failed due to the furious floods that hit his village two times. Same is the condition of almost around 10,000 farmers of four mandals Narasannapeta, Polaki, Jalumru, Saravakota. These are the worst hit mandals in the district during both the times. The floods hit around 50,000 hectares of agricultural fields spread in 100 villages under these mandals first on July 2 and on August 3, 4 this year. The annoyed farmers are now say that they are not venturing to sow seeds again as it would go waste and moreover they have no money to invest. “Every year we sow seeds in July and by December we get the harvest and sell the crop in the January. That’s the process and we celebrate the harvest festival with gaiety. But this time there will be no harvest and no festival” said Yerapati Malleswara Rao.The ryots also said they were more annoyed during the latest floods as this time floods coupled with strong winds and rains made them stand nowhere. “Floodwaters came into our houses. When we tried to move on to the roof, rain and strong winds didn’t allow us to stand. We remained confused saw hell on August 3 and 4. The district administration promised us rice, kerosene, money and seeds on subsidy last time only but we didn’t get them even after the latest floods and rains” said Paddenna Chinnam Naidu another farmer. More than the flood relief , now these farmers are just requesting rail reservation and travel charges to Hyderabad and Vizag. “We are now ready to work as construction labourers in Hyderabad and Vizag. I heard one gets a minimum of Rs 80 if we mix cement for construction there. We are planning to migrate. I will board Visakha express and reach Hyderabad as early as possible” said Adivarapu Nookaraju of Kollavanipalem village. Speaking to this correspondent, the Srikakulam district collector, K Nagendra Vishnu, said that they cannot provide rice, kerosene and compensation to everyone. "All of them are asking us to provide them all these without the ration card criteria. But according to the state government's norms we can give them only to the white card holders" said Vishnu. Later he assured all help to the farmers of these mandals who suffered twice in a gap of a month.
Fashion brands go rural
By SNV Sudhir
Visakhapatnam, Sept 21: It was rightly said by the then Governor of the state Sushil Kumar Shinde a few months back that the best export brands of global apparel market are taking shapes in the hands of Visakhapatnam rural and tribal women. The moment one enters the Training and Technology Development Centre of the DRDA in Pendurthy hundreds of women will be seen busy before sewing machines. Their eyes sparkle, theyc take pride and feel delighted with a mere mention of big brands like Arrow, Combay, Duck Head, EG Wear, Nautiq, D & T, the companies for whom they are stitching the clothes. Now, the rural and tribal women of the Poorest Of the Poor (POP) sector in the district are no more looking for their husband’s income or to go as domestic help in some others houses, but feeling delighted to be a part of the global industry and are getting trained for big brands. With the state government allotting a 4,000 acres of land at Apparel Export Park and another 1,000 acres for the Brandix India Apparel City of Sri Lanks, the pioneer in the garment exporting and manufacturing it is estimated that 1 lakh employment would be generated especially for the rural and tribal women in future. For which the District Rural Development Agency had embarked upon training the women through Self Help Groups (SHG’s) in garment manufacturing, machine embroidery and surface ornamentation to empower them for income generation through fashion technology programme. Till now the DRDA had trained 2,350 women in advanced garment construction, 11,740 in surface ornamentation, and 400 in machine embroidery through 61 centres functioning across the district. These women in the last few months have executed many exports and domestic orders. Approximately 1.5 lakh pieces of export quality garments have already been manufactured in 6 centres like Pendurthy, Anakapalli, Chodavaram, Yelamanchali and so on in the district. Around 2020 trained women are presently executing the job work orders through selected entrepreneurs and very soon 1,500 women are going to join them after the training is completed. Some other had started their own embroidery units near their households.The rural women employed after the training say that the fashion technology changed their entire course of life. “Its like a U turn in my life. After my husband died I waited till 6 months and decided to go out and work as a maid in somebody’s house though ours is not a maid’s family but the situation compelled me as I’m not having much education. While I was in that dilemma I came to know about the training in fashion technology and joined the TTDC a year ago. After I completed my training the Brandix people took me into their company and now giving training in their style. Now I’m getting 1,200 per month as stipend and they said my salary would be around 2,500 after the training” said M Annapurna of Thumpala who is the only earner of her own family and in laws of around 6 members. Same is the tale of every one who are getting trained or got trained and presently employed in the Brandix or working under some entrepreneurs according to the norms of the DRDA. “The DRDA will enter a memorandum of understanding with entrepreneurs. The DRDA is the implementing agency and the entrepreneurs entering the MoU are the executing body. All the women are selected through Self Help Groups and should be between the age group of 18 to 35. Basing on the understanding of creating workforce for the apparel export park and to devise a scheme for the empowering poor and Poorest Of the Poor (POP) SHG women the prospective was born. And also to meet the demand of an estimated 60,000 employment opportunities in the upcoming Apparel Export Park and SEZ. In future Vizag will definitely become hub of garment industry by establishing satellite common production centers all over the district” said the Project Director of DRDA, Kannababu. Already these women are executing branded prestigious orders like Arrow, Combay, Duck Head, EG Wear, Nautiq, D & T, Mike, Swan and so on, added the Project Director. The garment manufacturing giant Brandix, of Sri Lanka has selected 195 candidates for first batch training that started on August 15. They will also select the candidates in phased manner from the DRDA trained women. “Big branded garment companies like Fountain Set, Sara Lee Courtaulds, Victoria’s Secret, Hanes and J C Penny etc are some of our clientele and these women whom we are going to take in will stitch clothes for those companies” said the Manager, Projects, Brandix India Apparel City, Anton Jayawardena. The Brandix will alone recruit thousands of trained skilled women through DRDA once the full-fledged operations of the company starts in the 1,000 acres of land allotted for them in future. K Syamala 28 a young widow was seen excited after knowing that garments that are taking shapes in her hands will go to international markets besides giving her a decent living. Narmada 34 another widow who comes from Chimalapally was delighted to know that she stitched shirts for Arrow earlier so is the case with Ramalakshmi 21 another young widow.
Visakhapatnam, Sept 21: It was rightly said by the then Governor of the state Sushil Kumar Shinde a few months back that the best export brands of global apparel market are taking shapes in the hands of Visakhapatnam rural and tribal women. The moment one enters the Training and Technology Development Centre of the DRDA in Pendurthy hundreds of women will be seen busy before sewing machines. Their eyes sparkle, theyc take pride and feel delighted with a mere mention of big brands like Arrow, Combay, Duck Head, EG Wear, Nautiq, D & T, the companies for whom they are stitching the clothes. Now, the rural and tribal women of the Poorest Of the Poor (POP) sector in the district are no more looking for their husband’s income or to go as domestic help in some others houses, but feeling delighted to be a part of the global industry and are getting trained for big brands. With the state government allotting a 4,000 acres of land at Apparel Export Park and another 1,000 acres for the Brandix India Apparel City of Sri Lanks, the pioneer in the garment exporting and manufacturing it is estimated that 1 lakh employment would be generated especially for the rural and tribal women in future. For which the District Rural Development Agency had embarked upon training the women through Self Help Groups (SHG’s) in garment manufacturing, machine embroidery and surface ornamentation to empower them for income generation through fashion technology programme. Till now the DRDA had trained 2,350 women in advanced garment construction, 11,740 in surface ornamentation, and 400 in machine embroidery through 61 centres functioning across the district. These women in the last few months have executed many exports and domestic orders. Approximately 1.5 lakh pieces of export quality garments have already been manufactured in 6 centres like Pendurthy, Anakapalli, Chodavaram, Yelamanchali and so on in the district. Around 2020 trained women are presently executing the job work orders through selected entrepreneurs and very soon 1,500 women are going to join them after the training is completed. Some other had started their own embroidery units near their households.The rural women employed after the training say that the fashion technology changed their entire course of life. “Its like a U turn in my life. After my husband died I waited till 6 months and decided to go out and work as a maid in somebody’s house though ours is not a maid’s family but the situation compelled me as I’m not having much education. While I was in that dilemma I came to know about the training in fashion technology and joined the TTDC a year ago. After I completed my training the Brandix people took me into their company and now giving training in their style. Now I’m getting 1,200 per month as stipend and they said my salary would be around 2,500 after the training” said M Annapurna of Thumpala who is the only earner of her own family and in laws of around 6 members. Same is the tale of every one who are getting trained or got trained and presently employed in the Brandix or working under some entrepreneurs according to the norms of the DRDA. “The DRDA will enter a memorandum of understanding with entrepreneurs. The DRDA is the implementing agency and the entrepreneurs entering the MoU are the executing body. All the women are selected through Self Help Groups and should be between the age group of 18 to 35. Basing on the understanding of creating workforce for the apparel export park and to devise a scheme for the empowering poor and Poorest Of the Poor (POP) SHG women the prospective was born. And also to meet the demand of an estimated 60,000 employment opportunities in the upcoming Apparel Export Park and SEZ. In future Vizag will definitely become hub of garment industry by establishing satellite common production centers all over the district” said the Project Director of DRDA, Kannababu. Already these women are executing branded prestigious orders like Arrow, Combay, Duck Head, EG Wear, Nautiq, D & T, Mike, Swan and so on, added the Project Director. The garment manufacturing giant Brandix, of Sri Lanka has selected 195 candidates for first batch training that started on August 15. They will also select the candidates in phased manner from the DRDA trained women. “Big branded garment companies like Fountain Set, Sara Lee Courtaulds, Victoria’s Secret, Hanes and J C Penny etc are some of our clientele and these women whom we are going to take in will stitch clothes for those companies” said the Manager, Projects, Brandix India Apparel City, Anton Jayawardena. The Brandix will alone recruit thousands of trained skilled women through DRDA once the full-fledged operations of the company starts in the 1,000 acres of land allotted for them in future. K Syamala 28 a young widow was seen excited after knowing that garments that are taking shapes in her hands will go to international markets besides giving her a decent living. Narmada 34 another widow who comes from Chimalapally was delighted to know that she stitched shirts for Arrow earlier so is the case with Ramalakshmi 21 another young widow.
Temple under Vizag sea?
By SNV Sudhir
Visakhapatnam, June 18: A marine archaeologist from Andhra Pradesh strongly believes that a temple, after which Visakhapatnam has been named, lies underwater less than 2 km off the coast of the port city, and has dedicated his life to locating the edifice. Eswara Venkata Gangadharam, professor emeritus at Andhra University, is looking for financial support of around Rs 20 lakhs from the government to send down divers to locate the temple which he believes is 200 feet under the Bay of Bengal's waters. He cites a list of evidence to show that the temple had existed. "The temple is referred to in a stone plaque with Tamil inscriptions which still exists in the Visakha Museum," says the only scientist who has specialised in marine archaeology in the State. "The temple is also mentioned in a British Gazette in the 18th century," he says. According to legend, a Chola king while on his way to Benares was so enamoured by the locale that he built a shore-temple devoted to the deity Visakha, the god of valour. The temple was named Vaisakeswara."The Shiva temple at the Naval Coastal Battery gives a strong and positive indication of a temple in the opposite vacant land which might have submerged into the seabed due to geological changes," Prof. Gangadharam says with conviction. He also recorded old-timers who recalled their grandparents and great-grandparents talking about the temple located on the shore opposite the Naval Coastal Battery. It is at this place that people even today have sacred baths during the auspicious days of Karteeka Maasam and on Shivaratri. The place was called Theerthapu Rallu in Kulottunga Cholapattinam, the earlier name of Visakhapatnam. The professor says he was inspired by the efforts of Prof. S.S. Rao who found the ancient town of Dwarka under the Arabian Sea off Gujarat. The academic resigned an associate professorship in the geochemistry department at University of Malaya, Malaysia, in 1987. He worked with Prof. Rao to know more about marine archaeology during the mid-1980s when Dwarka was being excavated. His efforts to locate the temple go back to 1987 when the Andhra University set up the Centre for Marine Archaeology. Scuba divers from the Indian Navy made two attempts in 1992 and 2003, scouring the seabed for four days each time to locate the temple. "It at least takes two months for a team of divers to go into the sea regularly to scour one square kilometre. The equipment, too, was then insufficient... so was the money. It will take up to Rs 20 lakhs, which the government is not prepared to spend." the professor laments.
Visakhapatnam, June 18: A marine archaeologist from Andhra Pradesh strongly believes that a temple, after which Visakhapatnam has been named, lies underwater less than 2 km off the coast of the port city, and has dedicated his life to locating the edifice. Eswara Venkata Gangadharam, professor emeritus at Andhra University, is looking for financial support of around Rs 20 lakhs from the government to send down divers to locate the temple which he believes is 200 feet under the Bay of Bengal's waters. He cites a list of evidence to show that the temple had existed. "The temple is referred to in a stone plaque with Tamil inscriptions which still exists in the Visakha Museum," says the only scientist who has specialised in marine archaeology in the State. "The temple is also mentioned in a British Gazette in the 18th century," he says. According to legend, a Chola king while on his way to Benares was so enamoured by the locale that he built a shore-temple devoted to the deity Visakha, the god of valour. The temple was named Vaisakeswara."The Shiva temple at the Naval Coastal Battery gives a strong and positive indication of a temple in the opposite vacant land which might have submerged into the seabed due to geological changes," Prof. Gangadharam says with conviction. He also recorded old-timers who recalled their grandparents and great-grandparents talking about the temple located on the shore opposite the Naval Coastal Battery. It is at this place that people even today have sacred baths during the auspicious days of Karteeka Maasam and on Shivaratri. The place was called Theerthapu Rallu in Kulottunga Cholapattinam, the earlier name of Visakhapatnam. The professor says he was inspired by the efforts of Prof. S.S. Rao who found the ancient town of Dwarka under the Arabian Sea off Gujarat. The academic resigned an associate professorship in the geochemistry department at University of Malaya, Malaysia, in 1987. He worked with Prof. Rao to know more about marine archaeology during the mid-1980s when Dwarka was being excavated. His efforts to locate the temple go back to 1987 when the Andhra University set up the Centre for Marine Archaeology. Scuba divers from the Indian Navy made two attempts in 1992 and 2003, scouring the seabed for four days each time to locate the temple. "It at least takes two months for a team of divers to go into the sea regularly to scour one square kilometre. The equipment, too, was then insufficient... so was the money. It will take up to Rs 20 lakhs, which the government is not prepared to spend." the professor laments.
A sunny revolution in Vizag Agency
By SNV Sudhir
Thammingala (Vizag Agency), May 23: The tribals of Vizag agency came to know about Indira Gandhi’s death, 15 years after her assassination. It indicated the prevailing communication system in the area which is just 180 km from the city. Now they are aware of daily happening through their newly acquired gadget-TV. But the box runs on Solar energy not on the mercy of APTransco which never existed there. The tribals are happy with the hassle free power system and now setting an example for alternative energy sources for the modern man..The villagers of Thammingala, a remote village in the Chintapalli agency mandal, are excited about their new possession. A new 21’ inches colour TV. They never imagined that they would be able to see moving pictures on the small box as they never saw an electric bulb thill three months ago. Thanks to the Barefoot Solar Women Engineers Association of Hyderabad that chose the Thammingala and Pusalapalem villages to install the Solar Home Light System units here. The villages are situated on the Eastern Ghats, about 180 km from the city. As of now, 67 of 88 houses in Thammingala and 26 of 40 houses in Pusalapalem village have these solar units. Each solar unit lights two bulbs..One has to trek all the 15kms from the nearby Annavaram road to reach these villages, as there is no proper road or transport system. Some heavy jeeps pass through but the villagers never prefer to use them. The villagers say the solar home light system had changed their course of life. Earlier they used to depend on kerosene lamps. “We used to get only 3 litres of kerosene that too in quota which is not at all sufficient. We need at least 6 litres of kerosene per month and we used to buy another 3 to 4 litres in black paying 3 times higher than the quota kerosene. We used to spend minimum of Rs 200 only for kerosene to lit our lives,” said Pongi Ramanamma.The solar home light unit has a panel, a battery and some wires. The panel that is fixed on the roof takes the solar energy and transforms that energy to the bulbs through wires and a battery fixed to the unit. Villagers can enjoy one hour of watching TV if they fully charge the battery without using the other lights. Now they watch a daily serial in the DD Sapthagiri channel “Bommarillu.” At the time of serial, the house of the Pothu Rajubabu is full of people. “We eagerly wait 7 to tick on the clock. We all gather before the TV and watch the serial,” says Yerra Chinnamma.The solar energy has been a boon for the students who wrote their 7th and 10th common exams and came out with flying colours. These units were fixed in the beginning of March. Tenth class exams started on March 23 and the seventh in the month of April. Six students wrote their 10th exams and ten members 7th exams from this village. “This time my child worked hard. He was academically brilliant but could not study well as we had to depend on the kerosene lamps. This year he could work hard and write his exams in a better way,” said Jartha Rajullamma whose children Radha and Gangaraju gave their seventh and tenth exams. “We are very happy that our children got the power facility which will bring in happiness in their lives. What else can we give to our descendants” said Yerramma a 60-year-old woman of the village. The projectThe Women Barefoot Solar Engineers Association, an NGO at Hyderabad, which was formed with the help of Rural Technology Park of National Institute of Rural Development, had identified four women, two from the villages of Thammingala and Pusalapalem of the Chintapalli agency mandal. They gave training to these women Papayyamma, Pravallika from Thammingala and Santoshamma, Kumari from Pusalapalem village in making the solar lamps and in small repairs for 6 months. The two women are now taking care of the units in their respective villages. A home light unit costs around Rs 13,500 of which they collected Rs 1,000 per household and deposited it in a bank by forming Village Energy Environment Commitees in both the villages. They will also collect Rs 100 per month from every household to repay the remaining cost of the unit and salaries to the trained women from the villages who are taking care of the units. “We were given training at the Rural Technology Park of National Institute of Rural Development at Hyderabad in making different varieties of solar lamps and repairing them. Now we know each and every thing about these lamps. We are now ready to repair any lamp,” said Papayamma. These units need very less maintenance except distilled water for the batteries fixed to the unit now and then. “The people who trained us at Hyderabad were in turn got training from Social Work and Research Centre an NGO in Rajasthan. Now we are ready to train other women also in making and repairing of the lamps. We will go to other villages to inspire them” said Pravallika. This correspondent could see some of the iron poles erected by the government for the supply of power in 1991, during his 15kms trek. “Officials forced us to work in erecting these poles. We took these poles all the way from Annavaram, dug them and erected. But what’s the use. Till now we were not given power” said an irate Pothu Ramulu. Speaking to this Correspondent, Assistant Professor with Rural Technology Park, Hyderabad, Dr Valentina said that they train rural people in new technologies for better living. She visited Thammingala and Pusalapalem villages for 5 times and was instrumental in installing these solar units. “This is only under first phase and in the second phase we will make the trained women setup a 1 Kilo Watt solar power plant near the village. Fifteen street lights and two community TVs will work through this plant” said Valentina. She added that their experiment was success and they would take this technology to other remote villages of the state. “These are the only villages in the state having solar power supply” said the Assistant Professor.
Thammingala (Vizag Agency), May 23: The tribals of Vizag agency came to know about Indira Gandhi’s death, 15 years after her assassination. It indicated the prevailing communication system in the area which is just 180 km from the city. Now they are aware of daily happening through their newly acquired gadget-TV. But the box runs on Solar energy not on the mercy of APTransco which never existed there. The tribals are happy with the hassle free power system and now setting an example for alternative energy sources for the modern man..The villagers of Thammingala, a remote village in the Chintapalli agency mandal, are excited about their new possession. A new 21’ inches colour TV. They never imagined that they would be able to see moving pictures on the small box as they never saw an electric bulb thill three months ago. Thanks to the Barefoot Solar Women Engineers Association of Hyderabad that chose the Thammingala and Pusalapalem villages to install the Solar Home Light System units here. The villages are situated on the Eastern Ghats, about 180 km from the city. As of now, 67 of 88 houses in Thammingala and 26 of 40 houses in Pusalapalem village have these solar units. Each solar unit lights two bulbs..One has to trek all the 15kms from the nearby Annavaram road to reach these villages, as there is no proper road or transport system. Some heavy jeeps pass through but the villagers never prefer to use them. The villagers say the solar home light system had changed their course of life. Earlier they used to depend on kerosene lamps. “We used to get only 3 litres of kerosene that too in quota which is not at all sufficient. We need at least 6 litres of kerosene per month and we used to buy another 3 to 4 litres in black paying 3 times higher than the quota kerosene. We used to spend minimum of Rs 200 only for kerosene to lit our lives,” said Pongi Ramanamma.The solar home light unit has a panel, a battery and some wires. The panel that is fixed on the roof takes the solar energy and transforms that energy to the bulbs through wires and a battery fixed to the unit. Villagers can enjoy one hour of watching TV if they fully charge the battery without using the other lights. Now they watch a daily serial in the DD Sapthagiri channel “Bommarillu.” At the time of serial, the house of the Pothu Rajubabu is full of people. “We eagerly wait 7 to tick on the clock. We all gather before the TV and watch the serial,” says Yerra Chinnamma.The solar energy has been a boon for the students who wrote their 7th and 10th common exams and came out with flying colours. These units were fixed in the beginning of March. Tenth class exams started on March 23 and the seventh in the month of April. Six students wrote their 10th exams and ten members 7th exams from this village. “This time my child worked hard. He was academically brilliant but could not study well as we had to depend on the kerosene lamps. This year he could work hard and write his exams in a better way,” said Jartha Rajullamma whose children Radha and Gangaraju gave their seventh and tenth exams. “We are very happy that our children got the power facility which will bring in happiness in their lives. What else can we give to our descendants” said Yerramma a 60-year-old woman of the village. The projectThe Women Barefoot Solar Engineers Association, an NGO at Hyderabad, which was formed with the help of Rural Technology Park of National Institute of Rural Development, had identified four women, two from the villages of Thammingala and Pusalapalem of the Chintapalli agency mandal. They gave training to these women Papayyamma, Pravallika from Thammingala and Santoshamma, Kumari from Pusalapalem village in making the solar lamps and in small repairs for 6 months. The two women are now taking care of the units in their respective villages. A home light unit costs around Rs 13,500 of which they collected Rs 1,000 per household and deposited it in a bank by forming Village Energy Environment Commitees in both the villages. They will also collect Rs 100 per month from every household to repay the remaining cost of the unit and salaries to the trained women from the villages who are taking care of the units. “We were given training at the Rural Technology Park of National Institute of Rural Development at Hyderabad in making different varieties of solar lamps and repairing them. Now we know each and every thing about these lamps. We are now ready to repair any lamp,” said Papayamma. These units need very less maintenance except distilled water for the batteries fixed to the unit now and then. “The people who trained us at Hyderabad were in turn got training from Social Work and Research Centre an NGO in Rajasthan. Now we are ready to train other women also in making and repairing of the lamps. We will go to other villages to inspire them” said Pravallika. This correspondent could see some of the iron poles erected by the government for the supply of power in 1991, during his 15kms trek. “Officials forced us to work in erecting these poles. We took these poles all the way from Annavaram, dug them and erected. But what’s the use. Till now we were not given power” said an irate Pothu Ramulu. Speaking to this Correspondent, Assistant Professor with Rural Technology Park, Hyderabad, Dr Valentina said that they train rural people in new technologies for better living. She visited Thammingala and Pusalapalem villages for 5 times and was instrumental in installing these solar units. “This is only under first phase and in the second phase we will make the trained women setup a 1 Kilo Watt solar power plant near the village. Fifteen street lights and two community TVs will work through this plant” said Valentina. She added that their experiment was success and they would take this technology to other remote villages of the state. “These are the only villages in the state having solar power supply” said the Assistant Professor.
Tribal women launch anti-arrack movement
By SN V Sudhir
GK Veedhi (Vizag Agency), Oct 26: The tribal women of the Vizag Agency , upset with the excise sleuths who always gave a deaf ear to their several pleas, trained their guns on the arrack brewers in the Agency. Interestingly the tribal women who brewed and sold the arrack themselves until a few months ago to eke out their living had also joined hands with the anti arrack campaign launched by a small group of women in a tiny village Asarada in this Agency mandal a few months ago. These women formed into small Sanghas and launched a movement to create awareness among the women and also started demolishing the brewery dens. The fire that was first ignited in Asarada fast spread to around 80 surrounding villages. And women belonging to the neighbouring Chintapalli, Koyyuru mandals are also planning to join the movement by forming their own Sanghas and demolish the illicit brewery dens. “It all started one day when we were all vexed up with our husbands who come home daily in a drunken state and beat us up. Our husbands also often used to get into arguments with people in drunken conditions making us feel embarrassed. And one day all the women in our village who are under DWCRA group wanted to discuss this issue seriously. We devised a strategy and launched this movement” said Gullela Parvathamma of Alluri Seetaramaraju Gramaikhya Sangham in Asarada who spearheaded the agitation. The women went door to door in the village having around 150 houses for a month and requested all the women to join them. They also surveyed the key dens of the brewers for 15days. And finally in the last week of February they blew the conch and started demolishing the dens. In a row without giving a chance for the brewers, they demolished around 15 to 20 such dens in the village. After giving a gap for some 15 days they again struck hard on the brewers who slowly tried to resume their operatons.“What else can we do? My husband earns around Rs 50 per day and spends Rs 40 for consuming the arrack daily. How can he feed us? I still remember those days wherein we used to starve due to his filthy habit . Now my husband does not have a chance to consume the arrack as it’s is not available in our village. Not only in our village but in the surrounding villages also. And he cannot afford to go to the other mandal daily to have it. That’s it” said Jurra Vijaya Lakshmi of Asarada. Taking a queue from the Asarada village, the women of the surrounding Pedavalasa also launched the agitation impressed with the success story. “It was a massive movement I have ever seen. Around 250 women including younger and older joined their hands and used to go to every liquor manufacturing place and demolish them. They marched the whole village for around one and half months and knocked down the brewery dens. And after looking to their enthusiasm and concern towards us I got a lesson and gave up drinking” said Srinu of Pedavalasa. An active woman of Pedavalasa, Kannepeti Nirmala said that they have approached the excise sleuths with their pleas to destroy the breweries but they never responded, she added. Now the families in around 80 villages in this mandal are happily living. But the women of Devarapalli had to face some strong resistance from the brewers in their village. Later they were successful in destroying the arrack warrens. It was reported that these brewery dens are working in around 100 villages and the women were successful in 80 such villages. On the other hand the Circle Inspector of the Prohibition and Excise station at Chintapalli covering Chintapalli and GK Veedhi mandala, P Appalachary said that they have been booking cases on such offenders who were brewing the arrack. “What can I do? There are around 250 villages in both mandals. And we are only three which includes me and two other constables. It’s a Herculean task to cover these villages in the Agency which are mostly dominated by the outlawed Maoists Even then we are doing our best” said the CI. Interestingly the excise police station in Chintapalli was not having power supply for the past 10 months. If the excise sleuths nab any offender they have to guard him with a gas light during the night.
GK Veedhi (Vizag Agency), Oct 26: The tribal women of the Vizag Agency , upset with the excise sleuths who always gave a deaf ear to their several pleas, trained their guns on the arrack brewers in the Agency. Interestingly the tribal women who brewed and sold the arrack themselves until a few months ago to eke out their living had also joined hands with the anti arrack campaign launched by a small group of women in a tiny village Asarada in this Agency mandal a few months ago. These women formed into small Sanghas and launched a movement to create awareness among the women and also started demolishing the brewery dens. The fire that was first ignited in Asarada fast spread to around 80 surrounding villages. And women belonging to the neighbouring Chintapalli, Koyyuru mandals are also planning to join the movement by forming their own Sanghas and demolish the illicit brewery dens. “It all started one day when we were all vexed up with our husbands who come home daily in a drunken state and beat us up. Our husbands also often used to get into arguments with people in drunken conditions making us feel embarrassed. And one day all the women in our village who are under DWCRA group wanted to discuss this issue seriously. We devised a strategy and launched this movement” said Gullela Parvathamma of Alluri Seetaramaraju Gramaikhya Sangham in Asarada who spearheaded the agitation. The women went door to door in the village having around 150 houses for a month and requested all the women to join them. They also surveyed the key dens of the brewers for 15days. And finally in the last week of February they blew the conch and started demolishing the dens. In a row without giving a chance for the brewers, they demolished around 15 to 20 such dens in the village. After giving a gap for some 15 days they again struck hard on the brewers who slowly tried to resume their operatons.“What else can we do? My husband earns around Rs 50 per day and spends Rs 40 for consuming the arrack daily. How can he feed us? I still remember those days wherein we used to starve due to his filthy habit . Now my husband does not have a chance to consume the arrack as it’s is not available in our village. Not only in our village but in the surrounding villages also. And he cannot afford to go to the other mandal daily to have it. That’s it” said Jurra Vijaya Lakshmi of Asarada. Taking a queue from the Asarada village, the women of the surrounding Pedavalasa also launched the agitation impressed with the success story. “It was a massive movement I have ever seen. Around 250 women including younger and older joined their hands and used to go to every liquor manufacturing place and demolish them. They marched the whole village for around one and half months and knocked down the brewery dens. And after looking to their enthusiasm and concern towards us I got a lesson and gave up drinking” said Srinu of Pedavalasa. An active woman of Pedavalasa, Kannepeti Nirmala said that they have approached the excise sleuths with their pleas to destroy the breweries but they never responded, she added. Now the families in around 80 villages in this mandal are happily living. But the women of Devarapalli had to face some strong resistance from the brewers in their village. Later they were successful in destroying the arrack warrens. It was reported that these brewery dens are working in around 100 villages and the women were successful in 80 such villages. On the other hand the Circle Inspector of the Prohibition and Excise station at Chintapalli covering Chintapalli and GK Veedhi mandala, P Appalachary said that they have been booking cases on such offenders who were brewing the arrack. “What can I do? There are around 250 villages in both mandals. And we are only three which includes me and two other constables. It’s a Herculean task to cover these villages in the Agency which are mostly dominated by the outlawed Maoists Even then we are doing our best” said the CI. Interestingly the excise police station in Chintapalli was not having power supply for the past 10 months. If the excise sleuths nab any offender they have to guard him with a gas light during the night.
Farmers land in trouble
By SNV Sudhir
Bhamini (Srikakulam), Oct 10: Now, the farmers in around 5 to 6 villages of Bhamini mandal in Srikakulam are scared to enter their own fields. They are in a grip of fear that the outlawed Maoists would brutally kill them if they try to till their own land. Around 60 farmers of the village are still in a state of shock after they recently received a final warning in written by the Secretary of the Kondabaridi Area Committee of the CPI (Maoists) Prakash listing the acres of land each farmer has to leave for the local tribals of around 5 villages. Two years back the farmers received similar warnings but the Maoists did not execute their threat at that time, as there was no crop due to severe draught conditions. These farmers who were in joyous mood and excited a few months ago due to sufficient rainfall are now in a state of nervousness. “It was all fine till two months ago. We were happily cultivating our lands but suddenly in the end of July they called a group of farmers and asked us to give away some part of our lands to the local tribals. I have only 5 acres and they asked me to give away all the 5 acres belonging to me as I’m working out on 10 acres on lease. We suffered for around 3 years due to severe draught conditions and when we thought those good days begun for us due to recent rains , this new problem came up. I cannot do anything except listen to them as they will kill me,” said Narayana.These farmers are in a confused state, as they cannot share this information to anyone. “The naxals threatened that they would kill us if we tell this to anyone especially the police and press. What to do now we cannot do anything. Nothing is in our hands,” said another farmer whose son just joined medicine course in Guntur. His son is the first person to join medicine from the in and around villages. “I paid Rs 13,000 for the first year and I send between Rs 2,000 to 3,000 for his maintenance charges at Guntur which is a very meager amount these days. And now I’m not in a position to send him regularly. These lands are the only source of income,” said the farmer. He added that even the outlawed had also threatened five of his other brothers to give away their lands. In first phase the naxals had threatened around 40 to 50 farmers and embarked on distributing around 300 to 400 acres of land spread in Sannayaguda, Vetamguda, Burjaguda, Boddaguda, Moolaguda to the tribals. It was reported that these naxals are planning to grab around 1,200 acres in coming months and ask the tribals to plough it. Due to the recent developments other farmers in the 35 villages under the Bhamini mandal are also tense. “I think they train their guns towards us. Some day or other these incidents may force us to leave our villages,” said another farmer of Bhamini. “Keep the cultivation aside, now we are not even in a position to enter our lands. We cannot do anything against their will. They will kill us. If we seek the police for protection they will not be with us all the time. They cannot accompany each and every farmer while even going for a wash” said Savaraiah. It was on August 15 the first batch of tribals cultivated the lands according to the directions of the Maoists “ Annalu told us to cultivate the lands saying that these lands were ‘liberated’ from the hands of landlords and can cultivate on their own. So we started cultivating them,” said Jajjaru of Vetamguda who threatened that he would harm this correspondent if he captures him in his camera. The Palakonda police under whose jurisdiction Bhamini falls had registered trespassing and land grabbing cases against 24 tribals of these villages following the act of tilling the land as per the directions of the naxals. The police registered the case without any report or complaint. “ We are having some information about these incidents but none came forward to file report or complaint but we have slapped cases upon 24 tribals for the act of tilling the land on that particular land with the support of Maoists. What else can we do? We have some plans to curb these activities in future” said the DSP of Palakonda division P V Krishnaiah. The Revenue Divisional Officer of Palakonda, J M J Babu said that they even had the information about the tribals cultivating in the lands of private persons with the support of the Maoists. He added that from the government side they were planning to distribute some acres of lands in the mandal to the landless in coming months. One acre of land costs around Rs 40,000 to Rs 50,000 and the farmers get an income of around Rs 20,000 per acre for a single paddy crop. And most of the farmers cultivate paddy in this region besides a little cotton. All the lands in these villages are rain fed.
Bhamini (Srikakulam), Oct 10: Now, the farmers in around 5 to 6 villages of Bhamini mandal in Srikakulam are scared to enter their own fields. They are in a grip of fear that the outlawed Maoists would brutally kill them if they try to till their own land. Around 60 farmers of the village are still in a state of shock after they recently received a final warning in written by the Secretary of the Kondabaridi Area Committee of the CPI (Maoists) Prakash listing the acres of land each farmer has to leave for the local tribals of around 5 villages. Two years back the farmers received similar warnings but the Maoists did not execute their threat at that time, as there was no crop due to severe draught conditions. These farmers who were in joyous mood and excited a few months ago due to sufficient rainfall are now in a state of nervousness. “It was all fine till two months ago. We were happily cultivating our lands but suddenly in the end of July they called a group of farmers and asked us to give away some part of our lands to the local tribals. I have only 5 acres and they asked me to give away all the 5 acres belonging to me as I’m working out on 10 acres on lease. We suffered for around 3 years due to severe draught conditions and when we thought those good days begun for us due to recent rains , this new problem came up. I cannot do anything except listen to them as they will kill me,” said Narayana.These farmers are in a confused state, as they cannot share this information to anyone. “The naxals threatened that they would kill us if we tell this to anyone especially the police and press. What to do now we cannot do anything. Nothing is in our hands,” said another farmer whose son just joined medicine course in Guntur. His son is the first person to join medicine from the in and around villages. “I paid Rs 13,000 for the first year and I send between Rs 2,000 to 3,000 for his maintenance charges at Guntur which is a very meager amount these days. And now I’m not in a position to send him regularly. These lands are the only source of income,” said the farmer. He added that even the outlawed had also threatened five of his other brothers to give away their lands. In first phase the naxals had threatened around 40 to 50 farmers and embarked on distributing around 300 to 400 acres of land spread in Sannayaguda, Vetamguda, Burjaguda, Boddaguda, Moolaguda to the tribals. It was reported that these naxals are planning to grab around 1,200 acres in coming months and ask the tribals to plough it. Due to the recent developments other farmers in the 35 villages under the Bhamini mandal are also tense. “I think they train their guns towards us. Some day or other these incidents may force us to leave our villages,” said another farmer of Bhamini. “Keep the cultivation aside, now we are not even in a position to enter our lands. We cannot do anything against their will. They will kill us. If we seek the police for protection they will not be with us all the time. They cannot accompany each and every farmer while even going for a wash” said Savaraiah. It was on August 15 the first batch of tribals cultivated the lands according to the directions of the Maoists “ Annalu told us to cultivate the lands saying that these lands were ‘liberated’ from the hands of landlords and can cultivate on their own. So we started cultivating them,” said Jajjaru of Vetamguda who threatened that he would harm this correspondent if he captures him in his camera. The Palakonda police under whose jurisdiction Bhamini falls had registered trespassing and land grabbing cases against 24 tribals of these villages following the act of tilling the land as per the directions of the naxals. The police registered the case without any report or complaint. “ We are having some information about these incidents but none came forward to file report or complaint but we have slapped cases upon 24 tribals for the act of tilling the land on that particular land with the support of Maoists. What else can we do? We have some plans to curb these activities in future” said the DSP of Palakonda division P V Krishnaiah. The Revenue Divisional Officer of Palakonda, J M J Babu said that they even had the information about the tribals cultivating in the lands of private persons with the support of the Maoists. He added that from the government side they were planning to distribute some acres of lands in the mandal to the landless in coming months. One acre of land costs around Rs 40,000 to Rs 50,000 and the farmers get an income of around Rs 20,000 per acre for a single paddy crop. And most of the farmers cultivate paddy in this region besides a little cotton. All the lands in these villages are rain fed.
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