No road: Donkada’s kids forced to choose fields over books

Donkada, a remote tribal village in Andhra Pradesh’s Golugonda mandal, faces a dire situation due to its lack of road connectivity. Home to 110 members of the Konda tribe, a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG), the village’s isolation is forcing children into agricultural labour instead of attending school. The nearest school is three to four kilometres away, a dangerous and often impossible journey, especially during the monsoon season. This has resulted in widespread school dropouts, with children working in fields for a meagre Rs 200 a day.
“A proper road is essential for this village,” said Asha worker T Sangeetha. She recounted a tragic incident last year where a baby died because they couldn’t reach a hospital in time, highlighting the devastating consequences of the village’s inaccessibility. Sangeetha also noted that four children have completely abandoned their education, while others attend sporadically, often choosing fieldwork over school.
Adding to their woes, the villagers face severe water scarcity due to a faulty borewell. Pumping water manually is a laborious and often futile task. “It takes a long time to pump even a small amount of water,” the villagers explained, “and on some days, we get nothing at all.”
 The already difficult path to Donkada becomes treacherous during the monsoon. “Travelling becomes extremely difficult,” they said. “The path is full of pits and sharp rocks, which we cannot see when it rains. Still, we have no choice but to continue commuting.”
Despite these hardships, there is a glimmer of hope. In 2023, the Department of Panchayat Raj and Rural Development approved Government Order Route Number 726, sanctioning a 1.5-kilometre road from Karaka to Donkada at an estimated cost of Rs 1.35 crore.
“We hope the road work starts soon,” a villager commented. “Road work for other villages like Chalisingam has already begun, so we remain hopeful that ours will commence as well. Once the road is built, many of our problems will be resolved automatically.” The villagers are relying on this long-awaited infrastructure project to improve their lives and provide their children with access to education, breaking the cycle of poverty.