KHAMMAM: A 19-year-old tribal girl from a remote village in Bhadradri-Kothagudem district, studying in Hyderabad, has stalled her studies to single-handedly take up cultivation of cotton after her entire family was laid low by Covid-19. Karam Ramya, from Ramachandrunipet in Dummagudem mandal, is pursuing a physical education training course at AV College in Hyderabad. She is ploughing the one acre land belonging to her family with the help of oxen and is planting cotton seeds.
Ramya’s efforts have been hailed by the villagers, who say she has become a role model for others. After clearing Intermediate at a tribal college in Dummagudem, Ramya joined a PET course at AV College. Recently, she was informed that both her parents Karam Laxmaiah and Nagamma and her sister had all got infected with Covid.
She immediately rushed to the village and helped her parents and sister get treatment. As her parents were not in a condition to work in the fields, the cultivation of cotton in their land had stopped. Laxmaiah owns only two acres of land and its produce is the sole source of income for the family.
The teenager understood the gravity of the situation, stepped into the field, ploughed the land and planted cotton seeds and also nurtured a paddy nursery. Speaking to Express over the phone, Ramya said, ‘’My parents are very poor. Due to Covid, all of them are bedridden. I have given up my studies temporarily as I am busy with cultivation.’’