Visakhapatnam: District police ease life of farmers in Maoist-affected area

Visakhapatnam: In a move to reach out to the tribals and help them enhance their livelihood, the district police have facilitated a turmeric boiler along with a flour mill machine to the farmers of Galikonda.

With most of the tribals in the Maoist-affected region growing turmeric rhizome and finger millet (ragi), the boiler and the flour processor aim to add value to the products they grow in GK Veedhi mandal.

Elaborating about the facility, Superintendent of Police, Visakhapatnam District, B Krishna Rao, says, "Based on the requests received, we have provided the tribals a turmeric boiler and a food processor to ease their post-harvest activities.

While the turmeric boiler is procured utilising the CSR (corporate social responsibility) funds of the department to the tune of Rs 1 lakh, voluntary service organisations chipped in to contribute to the flour mill machine." Currently, one turmeric boiler is given to the farmers of Galikonda. Next, the district police intend to give away similar product to the turmeric growers in three other villages in Paderu and Chintapalli subdivisions.

Earlier, the locals appealed to the district police to provide them a water tank which was also met.

After completion of hands-on training, farmers will make use of the units independently.

"Normally, high quality turmeric is grown in these hamlets. The boiler will aid in converting the turmeric rhizomes into a ready-to-use product for the farmers here. Earlier, the process was a bit tedious. But not any longer," says ASP of Chintapalli Vidya Sagar Naidu.

With voluntary organisations, including Giri Chaitanya Mitra Societies, extending support to the endeavour, the processing units will come in handy for the turmeric and millet growers at Galikonda, especially in times of the pandemic where they have to outsource such service to make the crops marketable.