Andhra Pradesh: Fear of becoming ‘weak’ keeps Konda Reddis away from family planning

Post surgery, we won’t be strong enough to trek hills and work for long hours, say tribals

A 42-year-old Konda Reddi tribal woman, Kechhala Lingamma, is a mother of 11 children, including four girls. Still, she has no thoughts of going for a family planning option.

Four of her children - two boys and two girls - have died due to poor health. The youngest is an year-old baby boy, whom Ms. Lingamma carries with her to the field. The eldest one, Ms. Vijaya Shanthi, has a two-year-old baby. In fact, if the entire family prefers to sleep together on the floor, their thatched house cannot accommodate them.

“I am scared to undergo any surgery (for family planning). It physically weakens me, and if that happens, I will no longer be able to trek the hill for Podu cultivation,” Ms. Lingamma reveals her apprehensions. In Podu cultivation, tribals level the forest cover on the hill to grow crops. 

Her husband Raghava Reddi nods, in agreement with her views on the family planning.

Classified as a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG) in Andhra Pradesh, the Konda Reddi tribe is arguably one of the tribes of India that still has no ‘population plan’. 

At Muntha Maamidi village of Chavadikota panchayat in Alluri Sitarama Raju district, an unwritten population policy, ‘five or more children’, still exists. Ms. Lingamma and Ms. Sandhula Mangamma are the two women who have the highest number of 11 children each in the Naxal-hit village.

“I have never planned for any family planning surgery. The doctors have counselled us to undergo the operation for birth control, but we couldn’t dare to go for it,” Ms. Mangamma tells The Hindu.