more-in Be it the Naxalbari uprising in West Bengal or the Srikakulam peasant movement in Andhra Pradesh in 1967-70 or for that matter the peasant revolution a decade later in the Telangana region that gave birth to the Naxalite movement in the country, the reason for the unrest was the same. It was the conflict between the peasants and the landlords or zamindars, whom the Naxalites had referred to as class enemy. But that was not the reason for the tribals in the Agency areas of Visakhapatnam or East Godavari to toe the Maoist line. The tribals inhabit the Schedule V areas and as per the Constitution the land they till and the produce they grow belongs to them. But despite that Naxalites, now called the CPI (Maoist), have gained considerable ground and been able to gain confidence among a large number of tribals in the region, the reason being exploitation by middlemen or contractors. The innocent tribals, who grow minor forest produce, trek over 10 km to 15 km to the nearest shandies to sell their produce on a weekly basis. They are cheated by middlemen, who hail from the plains, both in terms of quantity and minimum support price, says DIG of Visakhapatnam (Range) Ch. Srikanth. As a step to get closer to the tribals and to see that they get good price for their produce, the district police have taken up an initiative to install electronic weighing machines in about 15 shandies that will benefit about 1,200 tribals. “The programme is being initiated under the programme ‘Chethana’ and we are covering the interior villages in mandals such as Pedabayalu to begin with. Earlier, the middlemen would cheat the tribals by installing faulty machines or just giving them a rough estimate. Now the weighing will be done in front of our men posted there and the adivasi will get the due price for the correct weight,” said Mr. Srikanth. This apart, the police have also set up a board to announce the minimum prices at the shandies so that the tribals get the right price for the full quantity. “Based on the feedback from the government departments, we will showcase the MSP at the shandies to keep the middlemen at bay,” he said. This apart, the police have also given a tractor for tilling the land as part of a pilot project under ‘Ryhtu Nestham’. According to Superintendent of Police Rahul Dev Sharma, the tractor was given to farmers in Kummariputtu village of Kumada panchayat in Pedabayalu mandal and is being used by five families to till close to 4.5 acres. In the next phase, seeds will be distributed on a trial basis and if things go the right way the initiatives will be taken further across all mandals, Mr. Sharma said. The police have initiated schemes such as Sadhana, Munduadugu and Sadbhavana. Free eye camp called Darshini benefited the tribals immensely, he added. Ambulance Mr. Srikanth said the police had also given an ambulance under the ‘Thalli-bidda’ scheme to cover the areas of Korukonda, Balapam, Kappagondhi, Nimmapadu, Kotagunaalu, Cherapalli and Bennavaram. From July 1 to 8, the ambulance ferried about 70 sick persons, including 11 children, from the villages to the area hospitals, the DIG said. More than 2,500 tribals across 300 villages had got treated under the scheme and more than 100 surgeries had been performed, said Mr. Srikanth.

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