COVID19 Relief to Families of Adivasis, Sanitation Workers, Cleaning Staff and Other Needy Residing in and Around Javadhu Hills
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COVID19 relief to families of Adivasis, sanitation workers, cleaning staff and other needy residing in and around Javadhu Hills in Tirupattur District of Tamil Nadu State. 1st May 2020, Kavalur. AHP – Action on Hunger & Poverty Foundation in collaboration with the local panchayat and a local volunteer, Mrs. Sudar Kodi distributed essential dry ration and safety kits to 88 Adivasi families, families of sanitation workers, cleaning staff of Kavalur Observatory and other needy families in and around Javadhu Hills. In addition, buckets and mugs along with hand sanitisers were provided to the local police station and the Government Hospital to install water stations for handwashing. AHP provided dry ration and safety kits to 43 families and the remaining 45 families were covered with the local support received from Mrs. Sudar Kodi. Apart from that, AHP also contributed towards face masks and for the installation of water stations at public places such as police stations and hospitals. ITEMS DISTRIBUTED: 1. PONNI RICE – 4KG 2. WHEAT ATTA – 1 KG 3. THUR DAL – ½ KG 4. COOKING OIL – ½ LIT 5. SAMBAR POWDER – 50 GMS 6. RASAM POWDER – 50 GMS 7. SALT – 1 KG 8. BATHING SOAP – 1 9. RIN SOAP – 1 10. CLOTH BAG – 1 TOTAL COST PER FAMILY: INR 440/- Villages covered: 15 villages (approx.) from Two Panchayats namely Beemakulam and Naickanur Panchayats of Alangayam Block No. of families covered: 88 Mobilising local collaborations in distress relief: We could distribute Safety kits & water stations for hand- washing to the local Police Station and hospital. Police Station: Face Masks: 20 1 bucket, 1 Mug and 1 bottle of sanitiser Chattiram Hospital: 1 Bucket, 1 Mug and 1 bottle of sanitiser AHP collaborated with the local volunteer Mrs.Sudar Kodi, (Headmistress of Kavalur Primary School) and she raised funds locally to support another 45 families. Her husband Mr.Appakutty has provided great support in her efforts. The transport costs were borne by the Panchayat office staff. The local panchayat supported in identifying the needy families from the 15 villages and those families were distributed with tokens, a day earlier to collect the essential items distributed on 1st May 2020 at Beemakulam Panchayat Office in the presence of Block development Officer Mrs. S. Vasanthi and Panchyat office secretary Mr.D.Venkatesan. A local trader was involved to provide the entire groceries at a discounted rate. A brief description about the area supported: The Alangayam Town Panchayat has a population of 18,327 of which 9,059 are males while 9,268 are females as per report released by Census India 2011. Population of Children with age of 0-6 is 2042 which is 11.14 % of total population of Alangayam (TP). In Alangayam Town Panchayat, Female Sex Ratio is of 1023 against state average of 996. Kavalur, the place where Asia's second largest Observatory is situated 8 km from Alangayam. It is in the foot of Yelagiri Hill and Javadhu Hills of Tirupathur district. Alangayam is surrounded by forests which is an integral part of disturbed Eastern Ghats. Kavalur, a small village is in the Javadhu Hills near Alangayam, Tirupathur District. It is a forest area strewn with a variety of tropical greenery, besides several medicinal plants. The Javadhu Hills are an extension of the Eastern Ghats, spread across parts of Vellore and Tiruvannamalai districts in the northern part of the state of Tamil Nadu in south-eastern India. Jamanamarathur is one of the larger villages in these hills, populated with around 10,000. With an altitude of 1957m, it is the second village in height in Javadhu hills. The hills are sparsely populated; a majority of the inhabitants are Malayali tribes, though other castes are also present. Malayali tribes people grow a variety of trees on their patta land, including tamarind, jackfruit, gooseberry, guava, pomegranate, mango, lemon, coconut, plantain, paddy, saamai etc. The trees of the Javadhu Hills also produce a range of forest products. These include millettia pinnata, Smilax regelji, and Castor oil plant. They are noted both for their fruit bearing trees, medicinal and for their sandalwood. Presently, there are no sandalwood trees remaining due to illegal logging. The Javadhu hill range is large, and sparsely populated. Many peaks and valleys have tribal settlements. Jamanamarathur is the most populated in the range, located centrally. Malayali Tribes: The word Malayali means the inhabitants of hills. Malayali is one of the 36 scheduled tribes of Tamil Nadu and the population of the Malayali tribe forms around 54% of the total scheduled tribe population of Tamil Nadu. Most of the malayali tribes have a general knowledge of medicinal plants that are used for first aid remedies to various ailments. They are Tamil speaking hill tribes and are all mostly agriculturist. Their population can be seen in Kolli hills, Yercaud, Jawadhu hills, Yelagiri, and Bodemalai. To collaborate with AHP kindly contact us at: [email protected] or [email protected] or [email protected] visit: www.ahp.org.in .