Telangana assembly elections 2018: Kumaram Bheem’s granddaughter works as cook at school

JODEGHAT (KB ASIFABAD): Tribal legend

Kumaram Bheem

’s kin survive on meagre salaries.

His

granddaughter

, Jangubai, has been working as an outsourcing employee with a satellite

school

.

Though outsourcing is a political hot button with the unemployed, it seems to have not brought succour to the kin of the tribal legend.

Apart from cooking, Jangubai also serves food to 166 students, mostly adivasis of nearby gudems (hamlets), of the satellite school.

Bande Rao, an attender, guides visitors to the galleries at the museum, explains tribal customs and traditions and the fight put up by adivasi leaders, who fought the Nizam’s Razakars. He seldom reveals his identity, but grins broadly when someone asks specifically about the kin of the adivasi firebrand.

Bande Rao survives on a salary of ₹8,000 and stays in a traditional house at the entrance of Jodeghat, which is now a gram panchayat. Similarly, his 35-yearold brother Yadav Rao gets just ₹3,000 for his gardening chores at the memorial built for his great grandfather.

During the rejig of districts in 2016, the Telangana government split Adilabad district into four and named the Asifabad segment after the adivasi leader. Though all political parties exploit Kumaram Bheem’s name and use it for their vested interest, his kin, including grandchildren, continue to live in penury.