Andhra Pradesh Girijana Cooperative Corporation (GCC)
Visakhapatnam: Andhra Pradesh Girijana Cooperative Corporation (GCC), established to advance the welfare of tribal communities by supplying goods needed by them or purchasing their produce, has 70 warehouses to store these products. But the condition of several of these storage houses has deteriorated and they need repairs. Andhra Pradesh Bharatiya Adivasi Samakhya has raised concerns, particularly in the Killoi Colony of Mandasa mandal, and Himagiri and Lothur villages of Palasa mandal.
Samakhya member G. Ramalakshmi said despite authorities distributing essential goods to tribals from these warehouses, no action has been taken to address their evident disrepair. In this regard, she mentioned the numerous GCC cooperative godowns in Gummalakshmipuram.
GCC had built these warehouses in 1968. But they have become unusable due to a lack of timely repairs. Tribal communities have pointed to the usefulness of these structures to meet the needs of GCC.
For example, the corporation used these godowns previously used to store forest fruits purchased from tribals before transporting them to other areas. However, GCC has reduced its purchases, which has made them redundant. Forest areas have decreased and many tribals are not interested in agriculture. Many lands that tribals had developed by working hard have been sold by them in times of distress.
As a result, tribal communities are not producing goods that can be stored in the warehouses. This has pushed these into a state of disrepair.
U. Mahendra Kumar, divisional manager of Parvathipuram Manyam district GCC, told Deccan Chronicle that they sent proposals for repairing these warehouses yp superiors three years ago. But the funds they have sought are still pending. Because of this, goods kept in these godowns are getting spoilt, which is harming the interests of the tribal people.
( Source : Deccan Chronicle )
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