Woes of tribal children in getting caste certificates

Anakapalli: Tribal children residing in Rayapadu, Peddagaruvu, Ajayapuram, P Kotnaballi of Ravikamatham mandal in Anakapalli district are facing a trouble in getting admissions into schools.

Despite crossing five weeks in a row after applying for the caste certificate through Mee Seva centres, they are yet to receive any from the officials concerned.

With this, they are experiencing problems in not just getting admission into the schools but also availing other government facilities. This includes availing SC/ST reservation. In recent times, many of the authorities concerned in the Revenue department have been transferred.

Owing to which, the tribals point out that their applications and grievances were left pending for a long time. Most of the tribal children are yet to receive caste certificates from the Revenue Divisional Officer, Narsipatnam. "We applied for caste certificates weeks ago. However, we have not received the certificates," rues Pangi Bhaskara Rao, a parent of a student in the village. Around 50 such tribals have been facing the problem.

While the revenue officials claim that there are no applications pending with the office, the tribals maintain that they are yet to receive their caste certificates.

Sharing his woes, another parent in the village Padi Bennaiah says, "On one hand, the schools have reopened. But our children are yet to get admitted to the institution. We have no clue when the authorities concerned would issue us the certificates." Notwithstanding running around the concerned offices for weeks, the tribals demand that the District Collector should intervene and resolve their issue at the earliest so that their children in the nondescript villages can gain access to education and other welfare measures.

Meanwhile, leaders of Andhra Pradesh Girijana Sangham warn that they would stage a dharna if the authorities concerned turn a deaf ear towards their pleas.