According to a report by Shirish Khare in NewsWing.com, a news portal dedicated to raising the issues of the voiceless in the Hindi belt, 25 children have died in just two villages of Meghnagar block in the month of October at the tribal dominated Jhabua district of Madhya Pradesh. The report (see text link below) cites under-nutrition as the likely reason for the tragedy.
The alarming NewsWing.com report says that the nutrition related deaths of children have been reported from Agasia and Madrani villages of Meghnagar block and there seems to be no end to the present problem in the entire state of Madhya Pradesh. The administration, it seems, is treating malaria and other diseases rather than malnutrition as the most likely cause of these deaths. The writer believes that the children became vulnerable to diseases like malaria due to their bleak circumstances which include anemia and malnutrition.
The report says that children--young, lean and suffering from anemia-- die within 4 days after getting infected by malaria and nobody is normally held accountable for this. The report cites various sources of information as confirming that children in the age group 0-6 years were never taken to the nearby Anganwadi centres for free nutrition supplements. Nobody knows why a majority of Jhabua district’s Anganwadi centres continue to be locked up, the report wonders.
Some other elements of the newsWing.com report are as follows:
According to a report earlier released by (the department of) Woman and Child Development, 36 percent of children in MP were undernourished. However, the state administration is trying to shed its responsibility. The 25 children who died recently due to malaria and other diseases were also suffering from anemia and hence undernourishment has been the major cause behind the deaths. However, the government doctors do not accept this fact.
The recent deaths are indicative of the poor performance by the Health Department and the ineffectiveness of the Social Welfare Schemes. The children who died belonged to below poverty line households, desperately seeking alternative sources of livelihoods. The job cards under the 5-year old National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) are yet to get distributed.
Agasia and Madrani villages in the district of Jhabua are tiny spots of hunger on the Indian map. Undernutrition is spreading over the entire state of Madhya Pradesh like an epidemic. In the district of Sodhi, 22 children died in August, 2009. In a report prepared by the Asian Human Rights Commission, it has been mentioned that 80% of the children belonging to the Kol tribe in the Jewa bloack of Rewa district are undernourished. According to the Supreme Court of India and various UNICEF reports, situation here is bleaker than that prevailing in many Sub Saharan African countries. The National Family Health Survey-3 shows that more than 12 lakh children are severely undernourished. Almost 60 % of the children in the age group 0-3 years suffer from malnutrition and 82.6% of children are subject to anemia. Infant mortality rate (IMR) stands at 70 per 1000 in Madhya Pradesh, whereas IMR figures in tribal areas stands at 95.6 per 1000.
One may doubt that the IMR in the state can be brought down by 2/3rd by the year 2015. A handful of child specialists are available to serve the population of 1.2 crore children. Basic facilities to address child health are not available in 30 districts. According to the Centre for Budget Governance and Accountability, the Madhya Pradesh state government currently spends only 0.1% of the state domestic product on child health.
The state government has failed to spend the money it has been allocated for NREGS. From financial years 2005-06 to 2008-09, the state has been allocated Rs. 9739 crore, out which only Rs. 8191 crore could be spent. The finances provided by the Central government under NREGS could not be spent for 3 different years. The government claims that 1 crore 11 lakh and 40 thousand job cards have been prepared till date. Despite that only 11 lakh persons have been able to get employment. A survey conducted at 125 villages in 5 districts including Jhabua by Centre for Environment and Food Security proves that the claims made by the government about NREGS’ success are false. On an average, only 16 days of employment is available in a year in these 5 districts. The present scheme is subject to corruption and exploitation.
-- Based on कितना भूखा है मध्यप्रदेश by शिरीष खरे, http://newswing.com/?p=3875