Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Tuesday announced Tribal Reform Yardstick (TRY), a new scheme for improving the health of people living in the tribal areas, and establishing a health valley in Araku.
Addressing the Nava Nirmana Deeksha programme organised here on Tuesday via a video conference from Vijayawada, he described the tribal people as “mattilo manikyalu” (gems of the soil). “They are innocent and kind-hearted, but lack of education and poor health is coming in the way of their progress,” he observed.
Besides a district-level hospital in Paderu and area hospitals in every ITDA, a health valley, ‘Araku Medical and Rehabilitation Infrastructure Township (AMRIT)’, would be developed to promote medical tourism, the Chief Minister said.
Health parameters and development in the tribal areas would be brought collectively through several departments and measured under the TRY. The implementation of various activities under the TRY would be reviewed once in every three months.
“Tribal youth can scale great heights, provided they are given a little encouragement, and that’s why I have adopted Pedalabudu village,” he said.
He recalled how 14 tribal and SC children had scaled the Mt. Everest and brought laurels to Andhra Pradesh and the nation. The Chief Minister said he rewarded those who scaled the peak with ₹10 lakh. A sum of ₹5 lakh was given to those who made an attempt. Some tribal students had also made it to the Civil Services and IIT, he said.
Giving details of various welfare schemes, Mr. Naidu said tribal students were being sent abroad for higher studies. He spoke on the efforts being made to improve communication network in the tribal areas and development of agriculture, including coffee and pepper. He complimented the villagers of Pedalabudu for their effort in making it open defecation-free.
