The tribals of Luttigadda, in the area of Visakhapatnam, want their school back in their village. They are not bothered about the so-called ‘smart-village’ which Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu promised them in 2014.
Their only demand now is that the school, which they lost after Naidu adopted their Panchayat, be reopened immediately. They staged a dharna near Visakhapatnam collectorate on Monday.
The school of Luttigadda was closed as part of the rationalisation of schools in the tribal area. About 45 schools have been closed where the student numbers were not adequate. The officials asked Luttigadda families to send their wards to another school, located 3 km away from the village.
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The children, if admitted there, will have to trek a distance of three km in the forest to reach the new school. Many parents in the area thought it would be prudent to discontinue the schooling rather than sending them to the faraway school through the jungle.
But Luttigadda does not want to take it lying down. They are demanding their school back in their village. Objecting to the application of the rule of plains to tribal tracts, they demanded the reopening of the school.
Luttugadda falls in the Pedalabudu Panchayat in Araku valley which Naidu adopted, promising to build an educated society in valley. He assured that every village would become a smart village.
But, forget the smart village, Naidu, who is busy building his world-class capital Amaravati, has not had time to visit the area in past one-and-a-half years.
“From the time that he adopted the village, the CM has cancelled his visits to the village three times,” said Arjun, a representative of local tribal association.
“The rationalisation of schools has resulted in the closure of 45 schools in the tribal areas and the dropping out of 1000 students. Many of the dropouts fall in the age group of five to 10 year-olds. It is difficult for them to cross the hills and streams to reach their new school. The government should not lose sight of the fact that they are dealing with tribal areas,” said E Surendra, a tribal leader from Vizag over phone.
According to Sundar Rao, Araku Mandal education officer, the Lottigadda school was merged with another school located at Paniranjani as the school strength fell below 10.
Talking to Asianet from Araku village, he said that instructions had already been issued to reopen the school as they had information that the number of students had gone up. “These families may not know the news. The school will be reopened soon. A teacher has also been posted,” Rao said.
Why did Naidu adopt a tribal village?
Thereby hangs a tale. The Pedalabudu panchayat, little known outside the tribal belt, is in the bauxite area.
The village was once hotbed of anti-bauxite mining activities. The people revolted against Congress government led by YS Rajasekhar Reddy, for its decision to exploit the mineral-rich area.
Naidu, as opposition leader, opposed this and visited the village to express solidarity with the tribal people. The proposed bauxite mining was shelved.
But, after assuming office in 2014, much to astonishment of the people, Naidu announced that bauxite mining would be revived for the development of region. The people again raised the banner of revolt. The Opposition YSRC leader Jaganmohan Reddy sided with them. The project has since been shelved for a second time.
It is believed that Naidu adopted the panchayat to silence the people by taking up some development, and that transforming these villages into smart villages is one of the components.
Since the opposition leader there is strong with many tribal MLAs on his side, Naidu is said to have postponed the Pedalabudu development programme as well along with bauxite mining. This, the people said, might be the reason for his diminished interest in even paying a visit to the area.
