Venkateswara Rao, a worker in Sarvepalli, was at his wits’ end on how to feed his family of six ever since he was left without a source of income in the wake of the nationwide lockdown.
Now, he is all smiles as several farmers have come forward to ensure that not a single landless labourer in the village goes to bed hungry.
The farmers said they took the step after realising that the Public Distribution System is struggling to provide food to all beneficiaries in the region for the entire month.
The movement started in a remote village of Golagamudi, where a small group of farmers inspired by saint Venkaiah Swamy decided to pool together paddy and do their best to provide succour to daily wage earners who were rendered jobless in the wake of the Centre announcing a three-week lockdown.
More than one lakh poor families in the Assembly constituency with or without ration are now getting to have three square meals a day, thanks to the farmers’ efforts.
Responding to an appeal by YSR Congress Party MLA Kakani Govardhan Reddy, fellow farmers from Venkatachalam and other mandals in Sarvepalli Assembly constituency chipped in with their contributions.
“Soon, we were able to pool together a whooping 1,100 tonnes of paddy worth ₹2.50 crore for distribution,” said a farmer Venkata Seshaiah who like fellow farmers had a bumper harvest this year thanks to good water storage in the Somasila reservoir.
“Initially, we thought of giving each family 5 kg per family. But we are able to give 10 kg of rice to each family that has more than three members,” said the MLA after distributing rice to some families in Venkatreddipalem village.
Donations pour in
“I was initially expecting to mobilise 1,000 tonnes of paddy, but donations poured in. We will have no problem in extending the rice distribution scheme for a further period,” he said before leaving for Mallur village for rice distribution as the Centre extended the lockdown by three more weeks.
Thanks to better water management, farmers even in the tail-end areas did not suffer due to lack of wetting for the paddy crop this year, said a farmer Subba Reddy, who donated two bags of rice for the cause. The MLA was able to convince the palm oil mill owners in the areas to provide each family with one litre of edible oil.