Villagers of Kutti hamlet of Rangilisingi panchayat in Dumbriguda mandal boycotted the ZPTC elections on Friday in protest against the lack of basic amenities in the village.
The tribal people gave a letter to the Returning Officer of Dumbriguda on April 9 announcing their decision to boycott the MPTC/ZPTC/Assembly and Parliament elections as the successive governments had failed to provide basic amenities in the hamlet, which has a population of 250.
Viniyogadarula Hakkula Parirakshana Sangam president Vantala Dharmayya said that the successive governments had failed to address their problems. “We have laid a kutcha road from Rangilisingi to Kutti for about 2 km with our ‘shramdaan’. We have no bus facility, no protected drinking water supply and have to fetch water from a distance of about 1 km. We have not been given pattas for our lands and do not have education and medical facilities.”
“Following our representation, the ITDA PO sent the APO last month but there is no clarity on what is being done for our welfare,” said Mr. Dharmayya.
The Returning Officer said that welfare schemes would be implemented under the ‘Adarsh village’ programme. The villagers are, however, not satisfied and are going ahead with their decision. “None of our villagers voted in today’s poll and the same will be the case with the forthcoming polls,” the village leader said.
