Horseback Rally For Ration Distribution Point in ASR District
The tahsildar noted that technical issues with the offline system were complicating rice distribution
Visakhapatnam: Villagers of Madrebu in Ananthagiri mandal staged a protest rally on horseback on Thursday, demanding the establishment of a local ration distribution point. The rally, which covered three kilometres from Madrebu to Tunisibu, highlighted the plight of 29 PVTG Kondu tribal families who currently hold ration cards but are forced to travel 15 kilometres to the Velamamidi GCC depot. This journey consumes an entire day.
The villagers submitted a complaint to the district collector during the PGRS programme at the Ananthagiri MPDO office, requesting that their ration cards be transferred to the nearby Dayarthi depot. In response, the Ananthagiri tahsildar issued an endorsement confirming that the ration cards had been mapped within the Peddakota Panchayat jurisdiction. However, the Dayarthi depot operates in offline mode, allowing rice to be issued to any household member, while Velamamidi functions through an online system. The tahsildar noted that technical issues with the offline system were complicating rice distribution.
Against this backdrop, residents of Madrebu and 30 PVTG Kondu tribal families from Tunisibu joined forces in the horseback protest, demanding a dedicated ration point to serve both villages. Leaders, including CPM district executive committee member K. Govinda Rao and PVTG Sangam leader Kondatambali Narsingarao, urged the Alluri district collector to personally inspect the road for which the Deputy Chief Minister had earlier laid the foundation stone. They stressed that a special ration point in Madrebu is essential to ensure timely access to food supplies for tribal families.
