BHOPAL: The Right to Food Campaign Madhya Pradesh Support Group's latest report brings into sharp focus the issue of malnutrition and the high incidence of maternal and child mortality in Patalgarh village situated in Sheopur, a Sahariya-dominated district of Madhya Pradesh.

The Right to Food Campaign in Madhya Pradesh has been working on issues linked with malnutrition and lobbying for concerted efforts to ensure food security for children in the State. Talking to The Hindu on behalf of the Right to Food Campaign, Sachin Kumar Jain said here on Tuesday that more than 50 per cent of the children in Madhya Pradesh are malnourished.

The Right to Food Campaign's "alert note" points towards the death of seven children in Patalgarh village in the last two and a half months even after the intervention of the Commissioner appointed by the Supreme Court in response to a public interest litigation on the right to food (PUCL vs Union of India and others) case being heard regularly since April 2001.

Patalgarh village, which is part of the Karahal Block, is located 70 km from the Sheopur district headquarters and 65 km from the block headquarters.

Mr. Jain said Patalgarh can be reached by taking the muddy and bumpy Goras road from Karahal. After Goras, the entire stretch is dotted with pot holes and at several places one comes across fallen trees blocking the passage. Anyone not familiar with the track is sure to lose his way in the surrounding forest, a territory closely linked with the Gadaria gang of dacoits, he added.

The Right to Food Campaign Report points out that the Sahariya tribals have chosen to move over and live in Saharanas (Sahariya Hamlets) away from the villages.

The alert note cites the case of Dilli-Dakha, who lost their first-born -- a one and a half year old child. Their second child, Sugreev, is two years old now. The

couple lost their twin daughters Ganga and Jamuna recently. According to the mother, Dakha, they were unable to properly feed their children. In an entire day, she can afford to eat just one roti with onion, which is the staple diet of the villagers.

Her family's diet does not include any pulses or vegetables because they cannot afford it. Her husband earns around Rs.20 per day when he goes out for work.

After her third delivery she started losing her eyesight. The fact-finding team was told that the villagers were procuring onion through the crude barter system. They were exchanging a kilo of wheat produced by them (priced at Rs. 10 per kg) for a kilo of onion costing over Rs. 2 per kg.

Thirteen children had died in Patalgarh village last year, the report points out, adding that children were still dying of malnutrition in this village despite claims by the district administration that the situation was fully under control.

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