5,000 cr welfare fund sought for toddy tappers

Malkajgiri: Telangana Kallu Geetha Karmika Sangham held its district-level meeting here at Prashant Nagar community hall here on Sunday. State president of the association Venkata Narasaiah Goud presided over the meeting. State association general secretary NV Ramana was the chief guest.

Speaking on the occasion, NV Ramana demanded that the state government to form a federation for the toddy tappers with Rs 5,000 crore fund. Appreciating various measures taken by the state government for the welfare of toddy tappers, he urged the government to announce 'Neera' policy and allocate 5-10 acres of land for promotion of toddy-related industries.

The government was also urged to pay ex-gratia to disabled toddy collectors apart from the kin of those who died due to accidents in collecting toddy. He also urged the government to provide pension to toddy collectors who are above 50 years. He asked toddy collectors to form societies and association to get their issues addressed.

Goud community leaders Narsimhulu Goud and Mallesham Goud also spoke at the meeting. Among those who attended the meeting include Kurumilla Swamy Goud, Lingam Goud, Prabhakar Goud, Ambala Srinivas Goud, Subhash Goud, Srisailam Goud, Krishnamurthy Goud, Srikanth Goud, Naresh Goud, Jagadish Goud, Mahesh Goud, Yadagiri Goud, Chandra Goud and others.