Collector, SP, ITDA PO visit Maoist-affected tribal hamlet

- This is the first time in 40 years that a District Administrative Head and SP visited the remote Agency village Injari in Pedabayalu mandal
- A medical camp and Revenue Sadassu held at the village
- Collector Praveen Kumar directs officials to disburse old-age pensions and provide monthly ration in the village itself

Visakhapatnam: Collector Pravin Kumar, Superintendent of Police Rahul Dev Sharma and Project Officer of Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA) Ravi Pattan Shetti paid a maiden visit to the most interior, remote and Maoist-infested Agency village of Injari in Pedabayalu mandal on Monday.

No Collector or SP or ITDA Project Officer has so far visited the hamlet during the last 40 years and now the trio have dared to visit the hamlet to assess the needs of the locals at the hamlet located at a distance of 40 km from the mandal headquarters and situated amid thick hills and streams.

The villagers go to the nearby Madhyagaruvu or Busiputtu weekly shandies which are 20 kms away either by walk or by horses to purchase essential commodities.

There are nearly 48 villages under the limits of Injari Panchayat which has no links with the outer world. When members of the rural police had visited the village earlier, as part of community policing, they witnessed the pathetic lives of the villagers. Subsequently, their plight was brought to the notice of the SP and Officer on Special Duty.

Then SP Rahul Dev Sharma chalked out a plan to take the District Collector directly to the village to hear their woes.

The officials reached the village by a copter where nearly 1,000 people gathered and the police arranged a free medical camp and a Revenue Sadassu also at the venue to redress the local issues.

Doctors and medical staff of Apollo Hospitals and Sankar Foundation conducted tests and distributed medicines to the villagers. Collector Pravin Kumar gave a patient hearing to the villagers at the Revenue Sadassu and addressed majority of the issues including old-age pensions, Aadhaar cards and ration cards on the spot by giving specific directions to the officials concerned.

Pravin Kumar further directed the officials to disburse old-age pensions and to provide monthly ration in the Injari village itself. Responding to a plea by the villagers, he asked the officials to set up an Anganwadi Centre at the village within 45 days and to lay a 15 km-long road linking Injari and Madhyagaruvu under MGNREGS.

“If you people co-operate with the District Administration, the government is ready to provide you all necessary civic facilities including roads and transport,” he added.

Later, the Collector, SP, Officer on Special Duty Attada Babuji and ITDA PO participated in a community lunch with the locals at Injari village.

The villagers thanked the officials for their gesture. Paderu DSP Mahendra Mathe, Inspectors A Venkata Rao and Appalanaidu, Sub-Inspectors and staff also participated in the Sadbhavana Yatra.