The Program started with me (Chowdary) and Shravan leaving from Hyderabad on 20th Jun’03 to Kurnool for a night halt at Kurnool. We were to receive Mr Gangireddy a Faculty in Ruaral Industries NIRD appointed evaluator by CAPART, who was on another assignment in TADIPATRI and will arrive at arround 12:00 am night.

The next Morning was a freshness all around away from the cities pollution. At about 5:45 am we started off to the Gokavaram village. The Team Included Myself Shravan and Sri GangiReddy Faculty Rural Industries NIRD accompanied (who has come all the way from Hyderabad to evaluate the Awareness Campaign for Chenchus Conducted by SEVABHARATHI and Funded by CAPART) were Sri Rajeswar Reddy Coromandel Fertilisers Ltd, Zonal Marketing Manager (Retd), Sri RaghuRamaiah the President Sevabharathi Kurnool Unit. We Reached Gokavaram at about 8:45 am to meet the Project Director and Vice PresidentSevabharathi Sri Mallikarjun Sharma. After a brief of the terrain and the local conditions we started to the CHENCHU gudems (habbitations) ofcourse after a light breakfast. We were joined here by Sri Vasudevreddy a co-ordinator of the Tribal aid and Research Project, also was Sri Mallikarjuna Sharma the Director of the Above Mentioned Programme. Our Program was to visit the Beneficiaries of the Awareness programme funded by CAPART, evaluate the impact on them, also to Pre-evaluate the fresh proposals submitted to capart.

The First leg of our evaluation programe started with musallamadugu hamlet inhabited by 15 families. When we got down the vehicle we could see nobody in the school but for the smoking kitchen (under the midday meal scheme) but by the time we got near it there were half a dozen children. Three women attended the AWARENESS PROGRAM from the place. The woman nagamma has started shouting and complaining on bad quality of food as soon as we started asking if the school was running regular and the PHC is accessible. The village has water facility potable. Power was not a problem as there were ILLEGAL power points and Decks with latest Telugu Film Songs were being played. The Women who attended the Awareness program activly came forward and wanted their kids to be joined in the Gurukulam run by sevabharathi. Vasudev reddy has been recognised and people flocked to him. Shravan was enquiring of the childrens health they were complaining of frequent fevers and no food. No SHG has its presence in the hamlet.

The headman was pullanna a SC appointed as VSS President and VTDA incharge (Duplicated as ST in the official Records). We visited his home there was his son who revealed that his brother was studying MPC Junior college in a Private institution in Kurnool. The villagers go to picking the Forest produce if not for the mud and soil transportation illegally carried out by the contractors.

The next leg of the program was Yerramatham a village shifted from the banks of river Krishna to the place now it exists. The Chenchu gudem also named Yerramatham is just 1 and half km from the village. The first sight we saw of the hamlet was some women buying sarees they stood up to wish vasudevreddy and Sri Gangireddy. The hamlet was full of ruined pukka houses, with big houses built by the govt of AP only to be inhabited by goats, sheep and hen. We were curios as to why they left the concrete pukka houses and live in small huts. Their response was the pukka houses collapse and we do not like to be killed. Then the tribals were curios if we would give them some loans to buy buffaloes and Goats so that they can sell the same and have something to eat. Mr Gangireddy was curious to know what next after three months of selling the cattle. Then the woman yellamma wanted water as the villagers were exploiting the bores specially drilled by the govt for the tribals. She also demanded for immediate distribution of medicinal plants to grow them and earn thir living. There was a bore and engine room but the machine was seen nowhere but a pipe connected to the engineroom went all the way to the village. The hamlet survives on the
Suganda pal a medicinal herb in high demand in the area for making the cooldrinks locally branded. They also collect tamarind and a special type of Gum that is taken as a dish when cooked with oil. There was a SHG once but today nobody wants to save as theres no income at all. All the tribals were of praise to Sri Chinna veerabhadrudu as he was visiting the gudems frequently and mingling with the locals.

The third and final was the Janala hamlet we had to cross the Krishna (drained due to drought) by the vehicle and we could witness a magnificient temple of Sree Sidheswara (Lord Shiva) it is sumerged most of the time and in the summer only it could be seen. This Shivrathri there was a glorious worship and celebration to please the rain god. The temple they say is a complex of temples (15) but most of them shifted because of the backwaters taking them. Our journey continued on a tideous curvy and difficult terrain for over half an hour and we reached the janala hamlet inhabited basically by fisherman. The people chenchus there are exploited by the landlords / big farmers, in the migration that took place when the back waters were increasing in intensity many of them the marginal and large farmers went away after claiming their compensation to the loss. But now again the same farmers have come back to claim their lands as they say. When asked of why not protest for their right the Chenchus earnestly denied saying they want peaceful living and not quarrel. There were lots of dumped fishing nets and fishing boats now useless also there were the harvesting and small farm machinery supplied by the dept of tribal affairs. One glaring instance of insensitiveness towards their needs was the Borewells that were dug in the river bed which shall by all means get submerged in the Krishna when the water is full. Even otherwise the bores are pretty faraway. Out of the seven bores only 3 have water in them and the other dried but the three are in the riverbed. When asked what they would do if the bores submerge the simple reply was we should drink the Krishna.

The plight of the Chenchus was too much to see but none to act towards their upliftment. On paper there is so much development and they say Chenchus are developed So the Govt has shifted the ITDA now to Nellore to work for the yerukala.

We were back to Gokavaram ofcourse not before we had a breakdown of the vehicle and then you could imagine what sort of a terrain it was that the vehicle had to be abandaned and we went by bus to the Residential hostel or the GURUKULAM as it is called. We had to wait till 12 in the night before our vehicle was up and ready to transport us. Mr Gangireddy was curious of the details of the GURUKULAM.