The Hindu Business Line : Visakhapatnam girijans suffer exploitation by money-lenders

IT is a familiar sight in the agency (tribal) areas of Visakhapatnam district, herds of donkeys transporting forest and agricultural produce to the plains.

Behind it lays a tale of human greed, exploitation and callousness.

These donkeys are employed by the traders in the plains to bring agricultural (and forest) produce from the eastern ghats. The animals are the means of cheap transport and the Girijans have no choice but to depend on the traders to eke out a livelihood.

The traders lend money to the Girijans on the condition that the latter sell the produce only to them at the rates fixed by them (the traders).

As the co-operative banks, commercial banks and the Girijan Co-operative Corporation are out of their reach, the Girijans are left with no choice.

At the end of the season, the traders hire village washermen in the plains for transporting the produce. The animals are treated ruthlessly and many of them die of sheer exhaustion on the way. They are abandoned midway.

Mr Ajay, the convener of an Anakapalle-based organisation working for the welfare of Girijans, says, "Both the Girijans and the dumb beasts are subjected to gross exploitation. Many of these tribals have migrated from Orissa to Andhra Pradesh. They were displaced by the Hirakud Dam. The authorities have taken no steps to rehabilitate them."

He says his organisation is planning to form a co-operative with contributions of Rs 100 each from Girijans in 15 villages.

"Some NRIs have come forward to give donations. We want to start the co-operative and free the Girijans from the clutches of money-lenders," he said.

Mr Ajay, however, feels it is for the Government to initiate a large-scale effort through integrated tribal welfare programmes to save the Girijans. "The donkeys too should be spared the drudgery. The public should be sensitised. The authorities should become sensitive, responsive first," he pleads.

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