Kolapaka Suryakiran and G. Arjun, both belonging to particularly vulnerable tribal groups (PVTG), at the Araku coffee outlet on the premises of Visakhapatnam airport. more-in For the youth from the interior tribal areas, adopting themselves to the sophisticated demands of marketing and sales pitch is a challenge. But at the same time, it also opens up an opportunity to prove themselves provided they are equipped with the necessary skills. Helping the tribal youth rising to the occasion, the Visakhapatnam-headquartered Girijan Cooperative Corporation (GCC) has picked up two of them belonging to particularly vulnerable tribal groups (PVTG) from the remote G. Madugula and Chintapalli mandals of the district. Hailing from Boithili in G. Madugula, Kolapaka Suryakiran recalls that the tar road ended at Maddigaruvu, just before his village. “Police used to go past his village into the interior areas as a part of anti-Maoist operations. But with good marks in the BiPC group, I always looked forward to getting a job as my parents were involved in agriculture. I chose hotel management thinking that it would offer better employment opportunities,” he says Belonging to Kondadora tribe, he had gone through several phases of training including skill development and finally a three-year course in hotel management at Chintapalli and in the city. Internship programme During the six-month internship with the AP Tourism Development Corporation (APTDC), he and Gemmele Arjun, worked in Araku Valley and later got exposure at Beenz in MVP Colony, Coffee Day, Daspalla Hotel and Saipriya Resorts. They have been picked up by the GCC . Both now run the GGC counter selling the famed Araku coffee and other products at the Visakhapatnam international airport. “We explain the varieties of coffee available, including mixing proportions, and highlight the fact that Araku coffee is organic,” says Suryakiran. Mr. Arjun from Veeravaram, close to the extremist hotbed of Balapam panchayat, belongs to Kondu tribe. He had his high school education at Lotugedda and studied Intermediate at Chintapalli. “Maoists used to visit our village.After they would leave, police would come. I used to go home for only three days and return to Chintapalli,” he says. Being able to speak Hindi and Odiya, he says besides coffee, salted cashew is much in demand. “In nearly a month of opening this outlet, we have registered a sale of ?1.27 lakh,” says GCC MD T. Baburao Naidu. GCC plans 100 more outlets In an attempt to promote Araku coffee, the Girijan Cooperative Corporation (GCC) is all set to open around 100 outlets more across the State and in places such as New Delhi, says its Managing Director T. Baburao Naidu. “Arrangements are in place to open the outlets at the State Secretariat in Velagapudi and Bhavani Islands near Vijayawada. The GCC also had got the go-ahead ahead to start outlets at the Collector’s Office in West Godavari district and at the rythu nazara,” he says. Plans are afoot, Mr. Baburao Naidu says, to open Araku coffee outlets on the premises of the Supreme Court, Shastri Bhawan and the North-East Bhawans in New Delhi. Each outlet will provide employment to three tribal youth. “We want to adopt guerilla marketing and utilise all opportunities available to open the outlets by November this year,” says Mr. Baburao Naidu.

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