Nourishment is a far cry for tribal kids

NGO study reveals none of the 600 children of 15 tribal villages in Sanjay Gandhi National Park is adequately nourished

A recent study about the nutritional health of children residing within the tribal settlements of the Sanjay Gandhi National Park by NGO Jaag has revealed some shocking facts.

Had the authorities taken the findings seriously, life of six-month-old Aarti Kaule who died of hunger and fever two weeks ago could possibly have been saved.

The survey revealed horrific facts — not one out of the 600 children from 15 tribal villages was found to be adequately nourished. About 25 of them were found to be in the grade-IV of malnourishment that easily means they are in the verge of perishing any day. “Most of the children survived on rice and dal and at times without it,” said Vitthal Lad of Jaag. 

Aarti’s name had also featured in the list of 20-odd children who were found to be in grade IV of malnutrition. Both her brothers Nilesh and Akash were also found to be in grade IV and III of malnutrition respectively.

 “All the 600 children were in some or the other grade of malnourishment,” said Lad. The survey was compiled by Jaag about two months back. The death of Aarti has rekindled the underlying malnutrition debate in the financial capital of India but activists have little faith in promises made by the state government or the civic authorities. 

A little probe into the lifestyles of the tribals showed that problems faced by them are multi-faced and not solely about nutrition probably. It was only in rare occasions that the families ate two meals in a day. Hygiene, sanitation, nutrition, education almost everything was compromised. “Tribals in Mumbai are the only ones stuck in urban limits,” said Lad. 

 “They want to relocate us but where do we go leaving our lands behind,” said Janu Patil Habale, village head of Akrachibhatti, one of the tribal padas inside the Sanjay Gandhi National Park. “So whenever we demand for basic needs like water and roads, the civic authorities want us to settle in the slums,” he added. Most of the tribal families survive on vegetables they cultivate in their backyard. “We cannot settle in urban areas as agriculture is all we know,” he said. 

In these isolated tribal areas, education still remains a distant dream for many. Children from the padas have to climb down the hill and walk for at least 30-45 minutes to come anywhere closer to the school. Sachin Ramchandra Bhoir is appearing for SSC next academic year from the Matrabhoomi School but many of his friends have dropped out long back. “Some paras are very far and students have to walk for more than two hours to reach the school,” he said.

Most of these paras do not have any access roads. “And, it becomes a very easy excuse for our grass root workers to say that they could not access a particular area and communicate with the people,” said one of the state government officials, who admitted that government was majorly to be blamed for this state of neglect. 

It is ironic that the tribal areas do not have access to a single dispensary or doctor just because none of the departments want to own up the responsibility. Last year, the BMC had proposed to start mobile health vans, build roads and hospitals in the tribal areas.

However, at the end of almost a year one cannot see any visible changes. “The proposals of the civic body were in conflict with the tribal department,” said Dr Prakash Doke, director general health services, Maharashtra. “The sanction had to come from the central government as that area falls under the jurisdiction of the forest department,” he said. 

 But, deputy commissioner of Integrated Child Development Services Dr Manjusa Molwane said that with growing corporate involvement things might change soon. The Taj Group has started a pilot project in Nandurbar to train anganwadi workers to enhance the nutritional value of food cooked using indigenous products. “Even ICICI Bank has started a project at Melghat to promote pre-school education,” she said.