River is their home, fish is their food...

Manuguru: Strange and sad is the plight of these children. What comes as one of the caprices of fate, they eat only fish but no other nutritious food. They are the children of migrant fishermen of Chinaravigudem village of Manuguru mandal of Bhadradi Kothagudam. They play on the sand islands in the middle of the river.

Schools are something that they never even think of. In fact, there are 40 children in all 30 migrant families together. Though these fishermen seek admission to them in a residential school for their bright future, their plaints go unnoticed.

These migrant fishermen are living in fear they are feeling insecure about the future of their wards and are seeking extension of benefits under one government scheme or the other, ration cards, subsidised rice supplied through the PDS, houses under weaker-section housing scheme, Aadhaar cards, Arogyasri cards, bank loans and other amenities.

They lament that the Revenue and other officials seek their help at the time of blood in transporting the people to rehabilitation centers but pay no attention to their problems. “When our boats and nets are damaged, we get no help from the state government,” they complained stating that they are always at the receiving end.

The fishermen, who have migrated to here from Rajamahendravaram five decades ago, have been leading a secluded life, away from civilization. They complain that the politicians want their votes and ignore them once the elections are over. Governments come and go but there is no change in their lives, they lament.

Their children grew up in the lap of River Godavari, they said adding that education for them would mean practicing the family vocation of making fishing nets and catching fish. They have been appealing to the government to bring sheen in the lives of at least their children by extending free education to their wards.

By A Chandrasekhar