Tribals Press For ITDA Meet In Parvathipuram Manyam

Visakhapatnam: Parvathipuram Manyam district, which was separated from Vizianagaram on April 4, 2022 and is headquartered in Parvathipuram town, could not host its first ITDA governing body meeting.

The 74th meeting, the last such meeting for the region, was held in the erstwhile Vizianagaram district on December 24, 2021.

The Integrated Tribal Development Agency plays a crucial role in ensuring that basic amenities and fair commodity prices are provided to tribal communities. However, many villages in the Manyam region continue to lack access to education, healthcare and road services. Doli rides remain a challenging reality in remote areas where roads and vehicular traffic are lacking.

Tribal activists and also CPIM leader Kolli Sambamurthy say that neither ITDA officials nor local political representatives have shown interest in convening the governing body post-bifurcation. It is alleged that successive governments led by YSRC and Telugu Desam have neglected the cause of the tribals.

“We have not been able to hold even a single governing body meeting despite three tribal welfare ministers serving in Parvathipuram ITDA district,” said Imaraka Rama Rao, leader of Andhra Pradesh Girijana Sangham. He also alleged that ITDA funds were diverted to other programs run by the district collectorate.

Rama Rao criticized leaders who fought for tribal rights when they were in opposition but now failed to fulfill their promises after coming to power. He drew attention to the inequality in crop prices.

While the price of cashew nuts goes up to $200 per kg in Srikakulam, middlemen in Manyam offer tribals only $95 per kg. Sambamurthy, who has over 65,000 acres of cashew orchards spread across eight mandals, said the cashew revival plan has not been fully implemented in the district. He said this was an injustice to the tribal people.

Since the establishment of the region, two collectors and three ITDA project managers have worked. “These officials left our problems unaddressed,” tribal leaders said.

They urged collector Prabhakar Reddy, ITDA PO and joint collector Yaswanth Reddy to immediately convene the governing body meeting and ensure proper allocation and utilization of tribal welfare funds.

Contacted by Deccan Chronicle, Yaswanth Reddy said, “I took over recently. I will check why the ITDA meeting was not held for so many years.”