3rd
Fact-Finding Report on “Nagada Village- Epicentre of malnourished children”
under Jajpur district, Odisha
Introduction
Eight Months
passed, since the issue of death
of 23 malnourished
children in Nagada village under
Jajpur district, Odisha touched headline of media in July 2016 and later on generated huge
reaction and public protest
against Govt. negligence and indifferent attitude towards food security
and welfare of the tribal children
in a small village which is just 15 kms
away from Tata Mines area i.e., mineral rich belt of the state. After
public protest, the State Govt. constituted
a Task Force under chairmanship
of Dr. A.B.Otta, Revenue Divisional Commissioner , Central Division and undertook a lot
of programme / activity like
distribution of water filter to each family, conducting medical camp, providing nutritious food to the children, distribution of ration card under
AYY to all the families, distribution of
forest land patta to the deserving families, distribution of food materials, setting
up of Solar Light, supply of pipe water
and dug-well, opening Anganwadi centre and primary school, construction of road etc. to save the people from hunger and food
insecurity.
It is
needless to mention here that When
the issue of death of children was highlighted in media, a fact-finding Team
of Right to Food Campaign, Odisha had immediately visited
Nagada village on 15th
and 16th July 2016 to
assess the situation of alleged infant death due to malnutrition, reason
of infant deaths and rise of hunger and
malnutrition in said village,
socio-economic condition of Juang
tribes, status of implementation of food
security Programme and necessary steps
required to be taken up in future to combat the problem. The Team has made a lot of recommendations to
the State Govt. along with filling complaint to NHRC seeking its intervention in
order to give justice to Juang tribes. Then, on 5.8.16, a 7-member Fact-finding Team had
visited Nagada village to monitor performance of Govt. officials and their
intervention to address the issues of hunger and malnutrition, development
work, if any taken by Govt. for the
socio-economic development of Juang tribes. During that time, the team observed
that though the Govt. had put some
effort, it was far from
satisfaction. However a Monitoring
Report was presented to State Govt. and RDC to take further steps to save tribal children from
malnutrition and huger.
Visit of Fact-Finding Team
A 4-member Fact-finding Team of
Right to Food Campaign, Odisha had
visited Nagada village, habitation of Juang tribes ( Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group) on 17.2.17
with the objective to assess
the socio-economic condition of Juang Tribes,
health condition and nutritional standard of the children, status of development work, changes, if any in the life
of the people after intervention of the Govt. etc. The Team members were Pradip Pradhan, Smt. Sanjukta Panigrahi,
Sri Kalanadi Mallik, Dalit Activist, Debendra Rout, local volunteer. Earlier, the road
to Nagada was rocky and inaccessible. But during visit of the team, there is
little bit improvement in the communication
to the village due to construction
of new road by the Govt. However,
The Team takes two hours to reach Nagada village. The Team members visited Tala Nagada, Majhi Nagada, Upara
Nagada, met villagers, interacted
with women, inspected Aganwadi Centre and health condition of the
children, assessed impact of the Govt. programme, their food
security situation etc.
Findings of the Team
A. Malnutrition
– Still looms large
The public outcry
following death of 23 Juang children in Nagada due to malnutrition forced the State Govt. to intervene in order to
check malnutrition among Juang children and ensure food security to the
tribals in the month of August ,
2016. The intervention of the Govt. and
private agencies to address the problem
of the people includes opening special health
camp in Nagada village,
distribution of ‘Energy Dense Nutrient Rich Food’ to the children,
special treatment of malnourished children
by medical staff, engagement
of number of ICDS officials to monitor health and nutritional status of
the children, conducting awareness programme on health etc. Malnutrition was found checked and health
condition of the children improved during that time. Before going to Nagada, the fact-finding Team
has pre-conceived the idea of looking at nutritional status of the children
which was area of concern for the State Govt. But during visit, the Team members noticed a number of malnourished
children in the village. The team
members enquired to know from the villagers about food and other support
service given to the children to increase their nutritional status. Sukei
Pradhan, one of the women interviewed who was holding her malnourished child said that her child was getting 8 egg
and two packet of Chhatua per month
through Anganwadi Centre. If the children are receiving their
entitlements under ICDS programme, then why the children are still
malnourished. Team members also thought of why the child is
still malnourished, if THR (Take Home Ration) is properly provided to him. When enquired about consumption of food by
them in their home, Sukei said that they were taking just rice and salt as
food. Due to lack of food, she could not provide required nutritious food to
her child. So it was observed that
supply of the food by Anganawadi centre is not enough to increase nutritional
standard of the children in Nagada village.
While visiting households, the team members noticed six children
suffering from acute malnutrition. Similarly,
the Team members also met Goura Pradhan, aged around 70 and asked him about
food consumed by them. He said that they were consuming only rice ad salt, as
they do not have anything to eat. Due to lack of employment and income, the
tribals could not take required food. Supply of 35 kg rice under TPDS is no doubt a
boon for them. Somehow, they manage to
live with only rice and salt and occasionally vegetable which is considered as
their staple food. As the parents could
not take good nutritious food, the children will obviously suffer from
malnutrition.
While
interviewing with CDPO, Sukinda block, she said that presently there are four each severe acute malnutrition (SAM) and Moderate Acute Malnutrition (MAM) in Nagada village. Responding
query about steps taken for special
treatment of malnourished children, she said that the parents had been advised
to get their children admitted in NRC (Nutritional Rehabilitation Centre), they
were unwilling to bring their children
to NRC.
2. Functioning of Aganwadi
Centre
The State Govt. has opened two Anganwadi centre
in Uppar Nagada and Tala Nagada. The Team members visited both the centres and found that it
was running in their houses. No infrastructure
has been developed for running Aganwadi Centre in both hamlets. Two Anganwadi
Worker-cum-helpers namely Laxmi Pradhan and Kamala Pradhan have been appointed
to prepare cooked food and feed to the enrolled
children in the centre and distribute THR (egg and chhatua). The activity of the Aganwadi centre is
confined to only providing food to the children. Anganwadi Worker staying in Deogaon
village occasionally visits for monitoring of the centre in a month. No
pre-school education is provided to the children. The
Team did not find any complaint from the parents about quality of food served
to the children.
3. Problem of food security-
Still ignored by the authority
Food
insecurity is the biggest problem for the villagers of Nagada. The tribals use
to remain half-fed or in hunger and face acute food scarcity due to lack of employment
and income. During first visit of the fact-finding team of
Right to Food Campaign, Odisha in July 2016, it was observed by the team
that they used to consume rice, salt and jungle leaves as food item. Vegetables
hardly find in their food menu. The Team was of the view that unless food
insecurity of the tribals is addressed, malnutrition cannot be checked. While submitting
report to the Govt., the team has
made recommendation to take steps to ensure food security of the
people through income generation
activity, employment generation, promotion of agriculture and horticulture, cultivation of vegetables, allotment of land
to them, supply of subsidised or free food items atleast for one year etc. At
the primary stage, the State Govt. has distributed rice, dal, oil to each
household free of cost from august 2016.
It continued for two months and closed. All the households have been
allotted ration card under Antodaya Anna Yojana and receiving 35 kg rice per
month. No agriculture promotion activity
has been undertaken by Govt. in the
village. The Team did not find any
income generation activity for the people in the village. Rather Goura Pradhan
complained that many labourers who had
worked in construction of road three
months back, have not been paid of their
wages till yet. There is absolutely
no income generation activity undertaken by the Govt. in order to provide
employment to them.
4. Distribution of Forest
Patta- Patta with no land
As per Forest
Rights Act 2006, each tribal family residing in and around of the forest area and depending on forest for livelihood is entitled
to get forest land. Juang tribes, PTG of Nagada village living in forest areas
for decades together deserve to get the
forest patta land. But the State
Govt. had not allotted any forest land Patta to the families in the
village. After the child death issue
cropped up and allegations made against Govt., the district administration took
steps to distribute forest land
patta to the families. During visit, the
team came across the people holding
forest land patta. But they do
not have idea about land which has been allotted to them. Neither the Forest
officials nor Revenue officials have demarcated and identified the land meant
for them. They are holding patta without owing any land.
5. Drinking
Water- Still problem persists
While on the
way to Nagada, the team came across a dug-well at Naliadhaba which
has been repaired and looks good.
But while testing water, it was found giving very bad smell. On query
about use of water, the villagers said that they were not using dug-well water for
drinking purpose. Similarly, in Nagada
village, the team across a number of pipes spread over the village for supply
of water to the Households but found defunct.
The people are still depending on
stream water for drinking purpose. So,
tall claim of the State Govt. supplying drinking water to Nagada village was found false.
6. Status of Primary School- Still not
functional
On the way to Tala Nagada, the Team members met Sushant Satapathy,
Assistant Block Education Officer (ABEO), Gobardhan Pradhan, ABEO and
Chandramani Mohanta, Cluster Resource Centre Coordinator (CRCC) who had come to
monitor the function of Alternate Primary school opened in the village.
Responding query about status of primary school, they said that total no. of 79
out of 99 children have been enrolled in the school. Two teachers Dillip Dandapath and Jaganath
Tudu have been appointed in the school. The school is running in temporary
shelter. Though six months have passed, the authority has not been able to
construct permanent school building in the village. As reported by the
villagers, the teachers are not regular in attending the school.
The school is not full-fledged
school but alternate primary school
being operated under Primary School, Deogaon.
7. Road connectivity- Why
high profile road in Nagada?
Absence of
road connectivity to Nagada was biggest
problem for which the Govt. officials and people’s representative hardly
visit this village. When the issue of malnutrition was raised, the Govt.
officials, media and Civil Society organisations face a lot of difficulties to go to Nagada. At the primary stage, there was demand to
ensure road connectivity to the village at the earliest. During visit, the Team inspected on-going construction of road leading from
Deogaon to Nagada. Two lane high profile road with sanctioned amount of
Rs. 15 crores is being constructed to Nagada by a private Hyderabad-based company Hygriba Construction Private limited .
Million-dollar question is raised why such a huge fund has been sanctioned for construction of road to a particular
village which is never shown in any tribal area of the state. There is apprehension that in the name of
road connectivity to Nagada , this road
is constructed in the interest of
Mining companies in order to facilitate
mining operation in this area. Similarly,
Around 12 lakh rupees have been spent
for road connectivity from Upara Nagada to Majhi Nagada and Tala
Nagada. During interaction with the
villagers, the Team members received allegation of denial of wage to the villagers
who have worked as labourer in
construction of road work.
8. Kerosene Ghotala
While
inspecting six ration cards, the team members found that each family has been given 3 to 5 litre of
kerosene per month since September,
2016. On query about receipt of
kerosene, the villagers like Manguli Pradhan said
that due to financial crisis, they could not purchase kerosene. The Team is of the view that the dealer has misappropriated
the kerosene by manipulating the ration card.
As per rough calculation, around Rs. 50,000.00 has been misappropriated
by dealer in the name of distribution of kerosene to the HHs within period of
six months.
Analysis and Recommendations
A.
It is fact that food insecurity
leads to malnutrition and chronic hunger which resulted in starvation death. Due
to abject poverty, Juang people of Nagada village continue to suffer from
hunger and malnutrition. That’s why most of the children were found malnourished
in July, 2016 and died due to malnutrition. The primary task of the Govt. was to address issue of malnutrition and ensure food
security of the tribals which was demanded by Civil Society Groups and media. To check
malnutrition, the State Govt. took numerous steps starting from special
treatment to providing nutritious food to the children. No doubt, the number of
malnourished children got reduced. To
ensure food security of the tribals, the State Govt. provided free of cost required
quantity of rice, dal, Chuda, Guda etc.
to each family for two months. Now
it is closed. During visit of the team,
on query of food consumed by them, they said that rice, salt and jungle leaves
are only food item in their food basket. Due to lack of income, they do not have
purchasing power to purchase any vegetables or
other items for consumption. It shows
that food insecurity still looms large. So in view of this prevailing situation,
the team recommends to State Govt. to undertake income generation activity through promotion of agriculture and horticulture programme and employment generation through NREGA to
ensure food security of the tribals.
Goatery, poultry and other agriculture-based activity
should be taken up to ensure income of the villagers.
B.
As the village still witnessed number
of children suffering from malnutrition,
the team recommends to Govt.
to provide special nutritious food
barring THR provided under ICDS i order to increase nutritious standard of the
people.
C.
Though huge money has been spent, the
villagers are not getting safe drinking water.
The concerned Govt. agency should be directed to ensure it and disciplinary
action should be taken against the officials responsible for it.
D.
Infrastructure should be
developed for running Anganwadi Centre and Primary school in the village.
E.
Forest land allotted to the people
should be identified and demarcated at the earliest and physically handed over
to the people. It is recommended that each Household should be allotted atleast
five acres of land for their livelihood.
F.
Huge quantity of kerosene has
been misappropriated by manipulating ration card of the villagers. It should be enquired and money to be recovered from dealer and block officials.
Signature
of Team Members
Pradip
Pradhan Sanjukta
Panigrahi
State
Convener Social
Activist and member
Right
to Food Campaign, Odisha Right
to Food Campaign, Odisha
M-9937843482 M-
9238598756
Kalandi
Mallik Debendra
Rout
District
Convener Social
Activist
Right
to Food Campaign, Odisha M-7381939027
M-
9938618390
