VIZIANAGARAM: The commitment and resolve shown by tribals of a hilltop village in the district serves as a motivation to others to strive for rural development.Vanakabadi is a village panchayat located on a hilltop in Gummalaxmipuram mandal. The village having about 120 families, does not have proper road connectivity and other basic infrastructure. It is 4 km walk for the tribals to reach the nearest village Deruvada for their daily needs.
The Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA) had sanctioned Rs 70 lakh long ago for the construction of a village secretariat and a Rythu Bharosa Kendra (RBK) in Vanakabadi. But no civil contractor had come forward to execute the works as transportation of construction material and other equipment to Vanakabadi is a difficult task and involves a lot of expenditure in the absence of proper road to the hilltop village.
Hence, the villagers under the leadership of the former sarpanch, have taken up the task of constructing the secretariat and the RBK on their own. The village youth and DWCRA women carried construction material to Vanakabadi. Using ropes, they also shifted a concrete mixer to the hilltop village. Members of about 20 families are taking turns to participate in the construction work on a daily basis. They have completed 70% of construction works of secretariat and RBK buildings so far.
Speaking to TNIE, Puvvala Govinda Rao, a villager, said, “We are fed up with the repeated assurances of officials and political leaders to develop our village. We have no road connectivity even seven-and-half decades after Independence. We are dependent on makeshift stretchers to shift patients in case of any medical emergency. As no contractor came forward to take up the sanctioned village secretariat and the RBK fearing loss, we have taken up the works on our own. We will complete the village secretariat and the RBK soon.”
Vanakabadi village secretary S Ramakrishna said the villagers had resolved to take up the construction works on their own at a grama sabha when no contractor came forward to execute the works. Now, the villagers are hopeful that the government will construct a road and develop other basic infrastructure in their village inspired by the determination shown by them in undertaking the secretariat and RBK building works.