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Treading the rough road

Photo: C.V. Subrahmanyam

For the people Ravi Rebbapragada

It is believed that inspirations can take a man a long way. Coming to the practical world, only a few dare to walk in that direction, especially when the road ahead seems to be tough one. For the rest, the inspirations get locked in the photo frames in their lavish living rooms or bedrooms. For Ravi Rebbapragada, securing a job in a multinational company was no big deal, considering his qualifications, experience and family clout. But he chose the path of serving the marginalised tribals of north coastal Andhra Pradesh. Deriving inspiration from two contrasting icons, one an apostle of peace - Mahatma Gandhi, and the other who believed in liberation through the barrel of the gun- Che Guevara.

“Their ideology never seemed to confuse me as their final goal was the same- liberation from all bondage,” says a confident Ravi.

For his dedicated service spanning nearly two decades, Indian Institute of Management –Lucknow has bestowed upon him the Lakshmipat Singhania Young Leader award in the community service and social upliftment category this year. He will be receiving the award some time in the month of February alongside Anand Mahindra and Gautam Thapar (business), Madhavan Nair and B.K. Das (science and technology) and Tulasi Munda (community service). The award was initiated four years ago and the list of recipients includes Ratan Tata, N.R. Narayana Murthy, Kumar Mangalam Birla, Sunil Bharti Mittal, Swati R. Piramal, Anil Kakodkar, K. Kasturirangan, Rajendra Singh and Ela R. Bhat.

Retracing his work over the years, Ravi tells The Hindu in an informal chat that his love for the hills and the greens was sowed right in his childhood. “My father was a forest officer and I grew up in the wilderness. Wildlife in its natural settings and tranquillity of the green hills had a lasting effect on me. But it was during my study on rural development at Madras Christian College that I realised its true essence. For my dissertation paper, I lived amidst the rural folks for nine months at the estuary near Vasupadu. After my study, I joined K. Subrahmanyam Tilak of Lohia Socialist Party to work in the agency area of Chintapalli. The first hand experience with the primitive tribals was an eye opener for me and I decided that this would be my area of work. Their economic and social issues, displacement of tribals due to mining and other industrial activity and degradation of the pristine environment, concretised my thoughts,” says he.

In his initial exposure, he trekked for 21 days in the agency area of Visakhapatnam to learn the problems of the tribals. “Acceptance is a major factor in the tribal world. To get accepted, I ate and drank whatever they gave and slept in their huts or on the courtyards. I realised that the basic problems were centred round the alienation of native land and numerous false cases against them under the guise of being naxal informers. My first major assignment was to reclaim 283 acres of tribal land in Bourwaka village in Prathipadu mandal in East Godavari District. The success turned the tide for me,” says he.

So far, he and his team could reclaim over 3,500 acres of land to benefit around 800 tribal families and could rehabilitate about 3,800 families under the social forestry scheme in 49 villages in the agency areas of Visakhapatnam and East Godavari.

In 1990, Ravi started his own NGO, Samata, to pursue his dreams, his way. He started the organisation to relocate tribals and train them on legal rights. The legal rights area pushed him into the world of illegal mining. “The moment, I took up the issue of illegal mining, I was caught in a crossfire between the police, naxalites and affluent corporates like the Birlas. Mining in tribal areas is banned by the Constitution under Schedule V. We lost the case in the AP High Court but the Supreme Court gave a judgement in our favour and that came to be known as the Samata Judgement. The judgement came to be effective in nine states. The fight against mining is on, though the state governments and the corporates are trying to amend the constitution to their favour,” says Ravi, more popular as `Samata’ Ravi.

Today, he finds himself in a precarious situation. The State Government suspects him of being a Maoists’ sympathiser and on the other hand the Maoists are after his blood for his gaining popularity in the tribal belt. The rift between him and the Maoist reached such a peak that they brutally killed two of his associates. “They considered my work as encroachment of their area and they did not like my idea of helping the tribals with the establishment of law. I think they were envious of my popularity,” says the social worker.

Today, Ravi and his core team of 25 members at Samata are working in different areas concerning education, water, legal aid, environment and media advocacy.

“We run about 40 primary schools at different villages in the agency areas of Visakhapatnam. Over 1,000 students are benefited. We also set up two 24-hour protected drinking water projects at Killoguda and Rallagaruvu. These apart, we are into social health programme and are advocating for patient rights. We also have plans to initiate health referral community,” says he.

He has also launched a national alliance for people affected by mining under the name M.M and P, runs a magazine on tribal issues called Dhimsa and has initiated another NGO by name Crynet to provide support to the girijan youth.

“This is just the beginning; still there is a long way to go. Whatever, I achieved, was possible only with the support of my family members, especially my wife Bhanumathi who is also a social worker,” says Ravi with a smile.

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