Malnutrition-related deaths in Palghar in Maharashtra are a pointer to the lack of employment and welfare measures for tribal people to keep the wolf from the door.
TWO-YEAR-OLD SAGAR WAGH DIED OF pneumonia on August 28. He is among the 255 children from Palghar district of Maharashtra who have succumbed to acute malnutrition-related illnesses since April this year. State government figures record 82 deaths in August and 47 in September in the district.
The Palghar deaths are symptomatic of a larger problem in the tribal belt in the State. Every year after the monsoon, the tribal regions see a spate of deaths, particularly among children, because of hunger and malnutrition which increase the risk of diarrhoea, tuberculosis and pneumonia.
Some 17,000 malnutrition deaths, including that of adults, occurred in 2015 across the State, points out a petition filed in the Bombay High Court. Recent figures from the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme say there has been a 5.8 per cent increase in the number of underweight children in the State. According to State government figures, 7,000 children in Palghar suffer from various forms of malnutrition.
Activists say it is only a conservative estimate of the numbers. They say the problem is massive, but it is only when deaths begin to make news that the government rushes in with quick-fix remedies like a few additional meals. This too fizzles out owing to lack of funds.
Palghar and other affected districts are just a few hours from urban centres such as Mumbai, Thane City and Nashik. “It is baffling how hunger can exist when the region is so easily accessible,” says a local social worker. “The obvious reasons lie in the bureaucracy, corruption, unemployment, the neglect of the marginalised, and sheer lack of sensitivity,” he says.
この記事は FRONTLINE の November 11, 2016 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です ? サインイン
この記事は FRONTLINE の November 11, 2016 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です? サインイン
How Not To Handle An Epidemic
The lockdowns were meant to buy time to put in place appropriate health measures and contain the coronavirus’ spread, but they have failed to achieve the objective and heaped immense misery on the marginalised sections of society. India is still in the exponential phase of the COVID-19 infection and community transmission is a reality that the government refuses to accept.
Tragedy on foot
As the COVID-19-induced lockdown cuts the ground beneath their feet in Tamil Nadu, thousands of migrant workers are trudging along the highway to the relative safety of their upcountry homes.
Sarpanchs as game changers
Odisha manages to keep COVID-19 well under control because of the strong participation of panchayati raj institutions and the community at the grass-roots level under the leadership of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
Scapegoating China
As the COVID-19 death rate spikes and the economy tanks in the United States, Donald Trump and his advisers target China and the World Health Organisation with an eye to winning the forthcoming presidential election.
New worries
Kerala’s measured approach to the pandemic and lockdown has yielded results. But it still has to grapple with their huge economic impact on its economy, which it feels the Centre’s special financial relief package does little to alleviate.
No love lost for labour
Taking advantage of the lockdown and the inability of workers to organise protests, many State governments introduce sweeping changes to labour laws to the detriment of workers on the pretext of reviving production and boosting the economy.
Capital's Malthusian moment
In a world that needs substantial reorienting of production and distribution, Indian capital is resorting to a militant form of moribund neoliberalism to overcome its current crisis. In this pursuit of profit, it is ready and willing to throw into mortal peril millions whom it adjudicates as not worth their means—an admixture of social Darwinism born of capital’s avarice and brutalism spawned by Hindutva. .
Understanding migration
When governments and their plans are found to be blatantly wanting in addressing reverse migration, exercises such as the Ekta Parishad’s survey of migrant workers throughout India can be useful to work out creative long-lasting solutions.
Waiting for Jabalpur moment
The Supreme Court’s role in ensuring executive accountability during the ongoing lockdown leaves much to be desired. Standing in shining contrast is the record of some High Courts.
An empty package
The Modi regime, which has been unable to control the COVID-19 infection, restore economic activity and provide relief to millions exposed to starvation, trains its sights on Indian democracy, making use of the panic generated by fear and a lockdown that forecloses paths of resistance.
