NREGS brings prosperity to people of Kallumadi village

Anantapur: Kallumadi is one of a drought stricken village in Anantapur district and it has been transformed into a clean, green and prosperous one. The village located in Singanamala mandal had been facing severe water scarcity and its people had been suffering due to poverty until 2016-17. However, the revolutionary NREG scheme had transformed the fate of hundreds of villages like Kallumadi from barrenness to bountifulness.

The village with a population of 3,921 people and 951 families had taken advantage of the NREG scheme of boosting the precarious ground water table through a plethora of water harvesting structures that revolutionised farming in the once sleepy village.

DWAMA Project Director Jyothi Basu stated during an interaction with 'The Hans India' that NREGS project helped a lot for the development of the village in several aspects. The DWAMA's initiatives heralded an era of water conservation measures by digging as many as 65 farm ponds and 16 water harvesting structures to conserve rainwater.

These rain harvesting structures helped to bring 1,150 acres of agriculture land under re-cultivation. The 715 labourers found a guaranteed wage employment under the NREGS programme.

Ramanjaneyulu's success story is a reflection of the redefined village by the NREGS. The farmer, who at one time was a migrant labourer and who could not raise any crops due to defunct bores and rock bottom underground water levels, is today the most successful farmer.

The break-through for the village came in 2016-17 with the launch of the farm ponds digging.

Ramanjaneyulu dug a farm pond of 15x15 feet size and despite a weak monsoon that year, he filled his farm pond with bore-water and started farm operations.

He raised paddy in 2.5 acres of land and cotton crop in another 2.5 acres of land. He earned a huge profit of Rs 1,62,200 out of the total income of Rs.3.12 lakhs in the 2017-18 year. Currently he is digging another farm pond f 20x20 dimension and is now going for Pisciculture as fish rearing gives huge profits.