The Hindu : Front Page : Women, babies left in the lurch

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Monday, Jun 29, 2009
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Women, babies left in the lurch

Raktima Bose

Health centres in Lalgarh have shut down; no doctor or medical staff is available

— Photo: Arunangsu Roy Chowdhury

Three pregnant women Jashamani Soren (left), Rani Baskey and Granthani Soren have taken shelter at a relief camp in Kantapahari village, seven km from Lalgarh.

KANTAPAHARI (PascHim Medinipur district): Tears welled up in Rani Baskey’s eyes as she narrated how she fled her home at Deshbandh village in the Lalgarh region with her two-year-old daughter three days ago fearing for their lives. Nine months pregnant, Rani is forced to take shelter at a relief camp at Kantapahari, 7 km from Lalgarh.

Her husband, a daily wage labourer working in Kolkata, has not been able to return home for the last two months due to the absence of transport in the region following the unrest created by the Maoists.

One meal a day

Without any source of income and no medical attention, Rani is spending her days in the camp sometimes eating just once a day and sleeping on the floor with hundreds of others. The camp is run by the Kantapahari panchayat samiti.

Sumati Soren of Chhotopelia village lives in the room next to Rani’s. She was delivered of her son at her home a month and a half ago as there was no transport to take her to the public health centre at Lalgarh because of the trouble there. “We could not buy medicine for the baby nor has he been vaccinated. I feel helpless, but there is little we can do in this situation,” Sumati said.

As she spoke, the baby woke up and started to cry. Sumati’s sister, Sunita Soren, sitting beside her, said that since food distributed at the camp is barely sufficient for a suckling mother, the baby’s nutritional needs remain unfulfilled.

Due to the ongoing war-like situation between the security forces and the Maoists, almost all health centres in the region have shut down and there is no doctor or medical staff left to attend to pregnant women and newborns.

Granthani Soren of Kumarbandh village and Jashamani Soren of Boropelia village, both ten months pregnant, are expecting the arrival of their babies any moment. But the relief camp does not have any arrangement to transfer them to a hospital when they go into labour.

“The last time I had a check-up was three months back by a lady-doctor in our village. But she too had to leave following the unrest. Since then I have had no medicine,” Granthani said.

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