Volume 7, No. 2, February. 2006

- Ayan

Every year a large number of rural people particularly, tribal and dalit people, succumb to the disease born out of hunger. This gruesome reality has been continuing to exist despite a flood of promises and tall talk about the planned development of the economy. While people are starving and hunger stalks though-out the country, especially, in rural India, the mainstream political parties and their sycophants are busy painting a rosy picture of future prosperity. A large number of people are being denied the right to food which is not only a basic human right but also a basic human need. Even then, these barefaced mainstream politicians do not hesitate to project the success of the Indian democratic system! The fact is that this is a system which ensures the right of the exploiting classes (both indigenous and foreign) to usurp the fruits of toiling masses and destroy their livelihood. Since the last decade people have been facing more intensified exploitation due to implementation of the new economic policy. Despite the promise of the UPA Govt. to give a ‘human face’ to new economic policy people are starving, suffering from malnutrition and gradually heading towards death. The promise has turned into a cruel joke!

The administration of all governments – be it a Congress, BJP, SP, BSP or ‘Left’ front – do never acknowledge a starvation death. Whenever the issue of death due to hunger and starvation is placed before them they follow the British Legacy, a legacy to prove that the death is caused due to some sort of illness. It is of course a fact that many deaths are reported under dysentery, diarrhea, and enteric group of fever’. Starvation also results in such diseases. Prof. Amartya Sen explains, in the Bengal famine, it was common to die of starvation through diarrhea as well as dysentery, partly as a result of eating uneatable objects (Poverty and Famines). Moreover, poverty and starvation cause malnutrition, undernourishment and as a consequence, such people become more vulnerable to so many diseases. Thus while starvation is the underlying cause of death, the immediate one is, in general, due to infection as a consequence of lowered immunity.

Some of the recent incidents are placed here to realize the effect of present inhuman face of unrestricted ruthless exploitation which has been destroying the rural economy and taking away hundreds of lives. Death is caused either due to starvation, undernourishment, malnutrition or due to impoverishment entailing huge amount of loan burden leading to suicides.

Death due to starvation is a regular feature in the Sahariya tribal belt of Baran district of Rajasthan. A team led by the senior advisor to the Supreme Court Commissioner in the Right to food case, reported that as many as 25 persons had died due to starvation in this tribal belt. The team visited the district during the last week of September, 2004. The study of the team revealed the deplorable condition of the tribal people. According to their finding a large amount of population is suffering from chronic malnutrition and hunger. The nutrition intake is so poor that 100 percent girls are gradually proceeding towards death. This team visited five villages of this district and had to report of starvation deaths from every village.

They have neither agri-land nor have enough employment opportunities to maintain their livelihood. Before coming to power the BJP created a hue and cry on the starvation death issue of this district. Now it is the Congress and other parliamentary parties that raise the issue to discredit the BJP Govt. Amid this nasty parliamentary politics the plight of these tribal people is becoming more and more deplorable.

The plight of tribal people is no less despicable in Udaipur and Dugnarpur districts. A survey conducted by the New Delhi based Centre for Environment and Food Security has revealed that in the above mentioned districts at least 48 persons died of hunger and disease between mid July to mid September of this year (2005). A team led by the State Advisor to the Commissioners appointed by the Supreme Court in the right to food matter have also confirmed the fact. It has also been stated in the survey report that hunger and food insecurity are rampant in these areas. During 2004 about 99 percent of the tribal families had to suffer from hunger and food insecurity. It has further been stated that 28.3 percent of the sample households (i.e. 500 households in the two districts) lived by eating just one distress meal-a-day. 99.8 percent of these families could not afford two square meals even for a month during the entire period of last year.

Patalgarh is predominantly a tribal village of Sheopur district. In February, 2005 twelve children from this village died due to post-measles complications compounded by malnutrition. Though the Chief Medical and Health Officer of the district could not arrive at a clear conclusion, other doctors studying the death did not hesitate to state that is was malnutrition, which led to measles, even in those children who have been vaccinated against the disease.

The Right to Food Campaign Madhya Pradesh Support Group published a report titled "Children in Danger – Malnutrition Disaster in Madhya Pradesh". It states that 50 percent children in the state have been suffering from malnutrition and there have been deaths due to malnutrition in Ganjbasoda district. The report presents a gruesome picture of Chronic hunger which pervades districts like Sidhi, Sheopur, Badwani and Khandwa. The State Commissioner, Women and Child also admitted that the problem had become a serious one. According to the Regional Medical Research Institute of Tribals in Jabalpur, 93 percent of tribal children are victims of severe malnourishment and 15 percent of them are almost on the verge of death.

Despite this devastating condition of the people no positive step has been taken for development of the economy to provide better livelihood. Lands remain barren for want of water. There are no irrigation facilities. Acute joblessness continues to exist. Their only means of livelihood is to collect forest produce. That too lasts only four months in the summer. In such a wretched condition they have to live on seeds of a wild grass called sama which look like very fine rice but have little nutritive quality. This very condition leads to malnutrition and hunger.

Every where in the country people of tribal communities are being deprived and exploited causing poverty and hunger haunts them. They suffer from malnourishment and become vulnerable to disease that even leads to death. Andhra Pradesh State is no exception.

It is reported that in the Integrated Tribal Development Agency areas of Visakhapatnam district on an average 312 tribal people die every month. (Frontline, September 9, 2005). This is nothing uncommon in the life of these tribal people who inhabit the hills around Araku Valley. The infant mortality rate is about 165 per 1000 while at the state level it is 95 per 1000. And under-five mortality is as high as 50 percent (approx.) while the percentage of the children suffering from anemia and under-weight is 80 and 55 respectively. These are the clear expression of the extent of under-nutrition and hunger.

Most of the tribal people collect or cultivate firewood, jackfruit, mangoes, honey, tamarind like forest produce and these are their main sources of income. But they are cheated by the traders and contractors in various ways, and earn a very meager amount which is even far short of their minimum requirements. Some of the tribal families who collect leaves for making plates can earn only Rs. 350 to 450 per month.

This meager income causes severe poverty and they have to take loans from moneylenders at a rate of 5 percent or more than that, per month. It is further compounded by the same percentage once every 3 months. They are being fleeced by the money lenders in case of default and forced by the moneylenders either to sell their produce at a price lower than the market rate, or to sign a contract for bonded labour for a year.

A study by the Tribal Cultural Research and Training Institute revealed that the average income per year of a tribal family was Rs. 4,327. Out of this meager income, they spent 20 percent of that on health care. Moreover, they have to pay back loan-money along-with interest! How do they maintain their families?

Moneylenders enjoy democracy to charge exorbitant rates of interest and exploit them in various ways. Traders have the democracy to dupe them. Contractors, MNCs and landowners have the democratic right to loot the forest produce, rendering devastation to their livelihood. But these tribal people are being deprived even of their right to food, the very basic need of a human being!

Ever increasing input prices without a corresponding increase in output price of agri-products have rendered farming non-viable and a loss sustaining profession. The agricultural community has become a happy-hunting ground of rapacious moneylenders. Farmers have to pay minimum 5% interest per month for their loan. A considerable section of farmers have to pledge even their crop to the moneylenders. Among the borrowers the small and middle farmers constitute the largest group. Farmers’ indebtedness has become a common phenomenon. The amount of loan ranged from Rs. 10,000/- to Rs. 3,00,000/-.

Amid this gruesome condition, govts. on the one hand continue to befool farmers with one after another promises and on the other provide more and more scope to indigenous and foreign exploiters for their reckless plunder. Farmers do not find any way out. They toil hard to somehow maintain their families. But that too is not possible for them. To free themselves from huge amounts of loan burden they kill themselves, this killing spree continues!

This heart-rending plight of farmers prevails throughout rural India. Despite this terrible condition of the rural people and devastation of agrarian economy, the govt. continues to project the growth rate of the economy. This growth impoverishes the toiling masses, destroying their livelihood and help exploiters amass wealth.

The restive people are now airing their voice against this injustice. They are protesting against this inhuman exploitation that robs them of their fruits of hard toil. They are gradually breaking their silence and becoming more and more violent, particularly in the rural India. This is now very much conspicuous throughout the country. These people need a firm leadership to expose the hollowness of mainstream politics and lead them to resolve their problems.

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