MULUGU: Weekends and government holidays might be the only chances that most people get to spend some quality time with their dear ones and take a break from an otherwise busy life. However, its not the same for 35-year-old Tasleema Mohammad who works as a Sub-Registrar in the Registration and Stamps Department in Mulugu.
Despite being a senior official in a government department, Tasleema takes up farm work on her weekends and government holidays to earn some extra money which can be utilised for helping tribals living in the agency areas and are deprived of even the basic needs. A mother of two kids, Tasleema still travels around 50 km daily from her home, at Hanamkonda, to her office, in Mulugu, on RTC buses to save money, which can be utilised for some better purpose.
When she’s not working in her office, Tasleema can be spotted toiling in the fields and sharing a meal with her fellow workers. Her social work and services as a government employee have even won her the Best Administrator Award from the State government. When Express interacted with Tasleema, she said that her part-time farm work is an attempt to highlight the fact that farm labour is not an easy job and yet they don’t get paid enough.
“My father was a Communist and was murdered by Maoists. I lost my father when I was two-years-old. We were five children and my mother has struggled a lot to raise us. She was a farm labourer and I learnt it from her. I did my MSc in organic chemistry at Kakatiya University (KU). Now, we own an agriculture land at Ramchandrapur village in Mulugu district,” Tasleema said.
She also pointed out that she is pretty aware about the hardships faced by ryots, which is exactly why I use my free time to work on the fields.“I use the money earned from the fields for the welfare of tribals, especially for the education of tribal students,” she added. She also requested the youngsters to come forward and lend a helping hand to the farmers.