By The Hindu Bureau

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Minister for Tribal Affairs, Gummadi Sandhya Rani, conducted a review meeting with officials of the Girijan Cooperative Corporation (GCC) on Tuesday. During interactions she urged officials to expand the Araku Coffee outlets and establish exclusive GCC stores in every constituency to make tribal products easily available to the people.

She reviewed production and sales, shops maintenance, issue of ‘Bery Borer’ pest infestation affecting coffee farmers in the Agency and other issues.

The Minister highlighted that Araku Coffee has already earned global recognition and stressed on the need for a special action plan to enhance profitability and sustainability in the sector. She directed officials to intensify GCC activities.

Addressing staffing concerns within the GCC, she directed officials to recruit new staff and suggested them to temporarily utilise personnel from the Sachivalayams until permanent staff are appointed.

Speaking on the ‘berry borer’ pest affecting coffee plantations in Chintapalli region, the Minister assured full government support to tribal farmers. She directed officials to conduct field inspections and urged them to take preventive measures. She also instructed the GCC officials to purchase the affected coffee beans at standard rates from the farmers to help them financially.

Later, speaking to the media, the Minister said that around ₹1,300 crore has been spent on road construction in the Agency areas of Alluri Sitharama Raju (ASR) district. She also said that efforts are ongoing to eliminate the usage of ‘dolis’ and to control the spread of the seasonal fevers.

The meeting was attended by GCC chairman, Kidari Sravan Kumar, along with MD Kalpana Kumari and others.