The Hindu : National : `Tigers, not children, taken care of'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jul 09, 2004

National

National

`Tigers, not children, taken care of'

By Meena Menon

A boy gets food distributed in an anganwadi at Chunkhadi village in Melghat. The village comes under the Reserve Forest Area of Project Tiger. — Photo: Vivek Bendre

CHUNKHADI (MAHARASHTRA), JULY 8. "The tiger is now a government department. Because of this animal, we don't have work now," says Ganu Betekar. Others nod their heads in agreement. "The Forest Department is supposed to give us work but it is only interested in staring at the pugmarks of the tiger," they say. Chunkhadi village is inside the reserve forest area of the Melghat Tiger Reserve. It has 96 houses but only about 35 families own land.

Says Betekar: "Most women men and children migrate for work outside the area. We make a little money that way." Adds Habubhai Tote, the police Patil: "We lack so many basic amenities. There is no light, the school needs repairs and a pucca dispensary has been built but not yet opened. Earlier, we had lots of work in the forest — tree cutting, preparing bamboo nurseries, but now even if we get work, it is only for six days in a month. What will we do in this scenario?"

These villagers lost their rights over the forest when Melghat was declared a tiger reserve in 1974. Today the reserve covers over 1,676.93 sq km and includes the Gugamal National Park and the Melghat sanctuary. Villagers, prompted by contractors, sneak into the forest and take out produce.

The nearest primary health centre is at Churni, 18 km away, and usually people walk that distance. The bus service is erratic and stops during the rains. Villagers say they have not seen a doctor in three months although the multipurpose health worker visits once in a while.

Just before noon, the anganwadi springs into action. Children spill out of it, balancing plates of food on their heads. The anganwadi sevika, Parmila Sonare, says there are 100 children who come there every day for their daily meal of Protovita (a protein enriched meal) and khichdi. Only 33 children are normal, the rest are in four grades of malnutrition with three being severely affected, two from the same family. "We cannot expect the mothers of sick children to stay at home. The mother of Durgesh, an acutely malnourished child, has taken both her sick children with her to work, after collecting their share of food from me," says Parmila.

While malnutrition deaths make headlines, this is only one end of the problem. The larger issues are the lack of continuous employment for the Korkus, who form the majority of the population in the two talukas, as well as unproductive agriculture, lack of basic amenities, illiteracy and a lack of faith in the government system of medicine and care.

According to Ravi Kolhe, who has lived in the area for 20 years, there are 70,000 labourers in the two talukas but work is available for only 7,000-8,000. The Korkus cannot fish in the forest or collect tendu leaves, he adds. District collector Ravindra Jadhav, on the other hand, says there is enough work being generated in the two blocks, though the locals feel it is not enough. Sources said that 43,000 people were enrolled daily for EGS works but less than half that number got any work.

Seventy five per cent of the population in Melghat is Adivasi and 80 per cent of them are below the poverty line. Ashish Satav of the Tribal Health and Research Project, Dharni, says malnutrition begins in the uterus as the mother gets insufficient calories in the last trimester of her pregnancy. As a result, low birth weight babies are common. For instance, in Ghatang village, midwife Kalabai Khadhe says most babies there are below two kg at birth. Not many touch even 2.5 kg, she adds. While conservationists want the area to be protected, on the issue of livelihoods for the Korkus, they agree with health activists. Kishore Rithe of the Nature Conservation Society, Amravati says that as about 65 per cent of the area of these two talukas is forested, a different approach is needed. The basic issue here is the livelihood of the people and the government should deal with this within the framework of the Wildlife Protection Act. A lot of works can be given to people that can benefit them and the forest, he says, calling for policy changes in the EGS framework. Clearly, what is needed is not fire-fighting, but long-term plans that will address the core needs of the area's Adivasis. Until then, infants will continue to be the casualty.

(Concluded)

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