Narsipatnam RDO Ronanki Govinda Rao and officials of the revenue and tribal welfare departments crossed streams and trekked 7 km to the hill for more than three hours to meet the tribal villages of Jeelugulova in Chimalapadu panchayat of Ravikamatham mandal on Wednesday.
Jeelugulova village, located on the hill, is inhabited by 10 families and 50 members belonging to the Kondhu tribe. Of them, 14 children have not been issued birth certificates and hence could not obtain Aadhaar cards. Only three families have ration cards. They do not have employment assurance cards for work under the MGNREGS. None of them have voting rights, according to the villagers.
The villagers depend on stream water for drinking. They have to go to the PHC, 15 km away, for any health issues. They are being denied various facilities as the village is ‘non-existent’ in the records. In the absence of electricity, the tribal people live in constant fear of attacks by wild animals.
