As I have discussed in detail in my earlier blogs – ‘Malnutrition – A Ticking Time Bomb’ and ‘My Visits to Walwanda Village’, there has been numerous maternal and infant mortalities reported in the tribal belt of Maharashtra. Almost all the tribal blocks of the state are located predominantly in the Palghar district. The tribal blocks are infamous for the high number of malnutrition deaths prevalent there. In spite of a host of Government schemes targeting tribal areas, majority of the children and adults are severely to moderately malnourished. The deprivation is widespread in Maharashtra, but pervasive in the tribal belt. In the recent Human Development Index (HDI) report of Maharashtra, covering some 350 odd blocks, the lowest 20 blocks on the HDI in Maharashtra are all tribally dominant blocks. This clearly depicts the gravity of the situation.
My visits to the villages in and around Jawhar, Palghar has made me to realise that there are various ‘non-conventional factors’ that have led to severe malnutrition, especially among the tribal population. Some of the critical observations in the tribal blocks of Maharashtra are related to landlessness and nutrition; improper implementation of the Forest Rights Act and irregular distribution of grains at the Public Distribution System (PDS) shops and overcharging and corrupt fair price shop owners and other related factors.
Tribal landlessness
Malnutrition is a problem in various parts of India. But, in order to understand why tribals have particularly been affected in Maharashtra, there is a need to first understand about the tribal life, their food habits and dietary requirements. Traditionally tribals have been providing for their own nutrition through agriculture and forest produce. Agriculture for them is primarily cultivation of food crops as against cash crops since the purpose is to literally put food on the plate rather than bringing home a daily wage. It is surprising to note that according to a study conducted by the State Government on malnutrition deaths in the Nandurbar district of Maharashtra, 88% of malnutrition deaths took place in families that were landless. This figure seems even more perilous when faced with the fact that in Maharashtra as a whole, despite the tribal community being in possession and working on the land for generations together, approximately 43% of tribals are landless (i.e. are bonded labourers or contract farmers). On the other hand, those who have land too are continuously losing their land to outsiders (Government or private corporations). This leads to tribals being dependent only on availing the Government social benefit and food security schemes, rather than on subsistence. Thus, the tribals’ freedom to grow what they want to eat (indigenous varieties/traditional food crops, wild foods, nagli, among others) is defeated and thus compromises the nutritional needs of the tribals.
Forest Rights Act
To address the issue of forest land depletion and other related issues, the Central Government passed an Act in 2006 called the ‘Forest Rights Act’. As per the Act, the tribals are supposed to make claims for the rights as laid down in the Act. The latest figures till last year suggest that about 3.5 lakh claims were made in Maharashtra and only about 40% of the claims have been recognised. The Act states recognition of claims through certain evidences. As per Forest Rights Act, credible evidences are of three types – a) Documentary evidence, b) Oral evidence and c) Circumstantial evidence. The rules clearly mention that there should be limited to only one type of evidence but various types of evidence can and must be used. Now, most tribals do not have any kind of documentary evidence. On the other hand, neither the oral evidence is considered, nor the circumstantial evidence or physical evidence is considered. Thus, in essence, the Government is relying only on documentary evidence. That means the whole process of recognising the claim is self-defeating and flawed! Further, except a few areas such as Gadchiroli, among others, the community claims to forest are not recognised. In some of the cases, either these claims have not even been filed or the Government has not even popularised that such kind of claims can be filed. This also leads to livelihood insecurity among the tribal farmers.
Thus, tribal rights need to be recognised and farm produce claims need to be filed and recognised. Here, the collector of each village needs to ensure that this is made possible.
Another implicit factor that has led to tribal landlessness is inefficient and improper due diligence. The farmers have been cultivating the land on an average for over four generations now. Typically, the land belongs to a landlord, whose identity is not known to the tribals or the land record officials. The poor farmers submit their land transfer applications to the Tehsildar and other concerned officials, but their names are still not put on the land records. The reason behind this delay is the inability of land officials to locate the actual land owner(s). In essence, it has taken more than 4 generations since the land owner has turned up. This is preposterous!
Further, besides being landless, tribals have also been continuously losing access to forests (due to aforementioned reasons, among others). Roots, tubers, fruits and vegetables from forests provide essential nutrients to a tribal’s diet, especially during the monsoons. But all this is lost due to the State taking over the forest land. Taking over of the forests tended to by tribals also leads to landlessness. Another factor exacerbating this situation is that natural forests are being converted to mono-culture forests. This translates to cultivation of entire forest for a single food product (usually cash crops due to less land availability). These mono-cultured forests do not necessarily allow for cultivation of nutritious food crops to flourish and thus tribals further lose out on their nutritional, leading to under-nutrition.
Public Distribution System
In broad terms, there are 3 main systemic issues related to the PDS in Maharashtra. The tribal community has been increasingly dependent on the PDS. The Honourable Supreme Court of India (SC) has given clear instructions that the Antyodaya cards be made available to tribals. But in reality, only about 15% of tribals actually possess Antyodaya cards. So, it is very clear that the SC order has not been implemented. Further, a quarter of the tribal population does not possess even a ration card. Here, the Government also faces a problem, that is, the ‘Quota system’. This means that under the Antyodaya scheme, only around 2.5 million cards can be distributed. Beyond this no more cards can be given out since the quota limit has been reached. Another problem related to this is that, although the head of the family (usually a male) has an Antyodaya card, but if and when the family splits, then the family member who has separated, does not get the Antyodaya card. This leads to that family members’ automatic exclusion from the Antyodaya scheme. Even if they do get a card, they usually get an Above Poverty Line (APL) card. An APL card holder generally gets no benefits!
The alternative to this issue is to discard the quota system altogether. Perhaps, when the socio-economic caste census is released, the Government must realign its strategies to cater to the most needy and deserving. But due to the usual lag in the release of the report data, the ground situation usually changes entirely, making the report facts and findings redundant by then.
Thus, the primitive tribes must get an Antyodaya card and ration card at priority basis, without fail. There is no need for any other criterion and the first preference should be given to tribals. For this to fructify, the Talati must take complete onus to ensure that this is successful.
“A mother feeding her child in the Anganwadi centre”
Second issue is that, under the Food Security Act (FSA), rice and wheat is provided to the BPL families. Tribals do not consume either of these. Thus, coarse food grains must be provided to the tribals. Astonishingly, such provision is not made by the Maharashtra Government. If this was done and nagli is given, then that could prove to be very nutritious as well.
Lastly, another key factor contributing to malnutrition is the distance between the ration shops and the tribal areas/villages. For many tribals the ration shops are inaccessible. For this, door step delivery needs to be practised. This means that not only does the Government ration reach the PDS shop, but also in a central place close to the tribal villages. Their ration requirement, say, for a particular quarter can be given to them at one time. This shall ensure their entitlement.
Thus, albeit, equitable access to healthcare and livelihood opportunities is critical, having access to forest and other resources is equally critical to ensure meeting all the needs of adequate food and nutrition for tribals. If land is taken away from the tribals and their livelihoods are altered, then we need to actively include the tribal community as equal partners by making them vital stakeholders in planning on how they can be rehabilitated and how their livelihoods can be re-established. The Forest Rights Act needs to be streamlined and ensure proper implementation of the rules and regulation laid down under the Act. This also has to be followed in conjunction with the Supreme Court’s guidelines. Furthermore, the systemic failures of the PDS need to be mitigated. It is only then that the tribal farmers and their children can hope to have a bright, healthy and malnutrition-free future which is pertinent for the upliftment of the tribal belts of our nation.
Ankur Chhabra 