Malkangiri is primarily a district of STs and SCs. As per census 2011 they constitute more than 80 per cent of the total population of the district (23per cent SCs and 58 per cent STs). There have been reports of death of children due to diseases including Japanese Encephalitis that has taken life of 86 kids of two to eight years during last few months and they mostly belong to tribal and Dalit communities. There are also inhabitants of particularly vulnerable tribal groups (PVTG) such as Bonda, Koyas and Didayi who have been struggling to survive. There is lack of data about the death of SC and ST children in different parts of the State due to malnutrition and under nourishment. Many of the provisions in the budget such as SCSP and TSP, schemes and programmes for STs, SCs and projects, such as Bonda Development Agency and ICDS etc are largely inaccessible by STs and SCs and their children. Malnutrition issues are family and community specific and the intervention must be targeted to cover such families and communities in the village or hamlets.
In spite of increase in the per capital food availability in the world, poverty and hunger remains a primary concern. It is targeted that world can attain zero hunger by 2030. Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2016 by International Food Policy Research Institute ranks India at 97 calculated for 118 countries where hunger is more relevant. It is said that Africa, Sahara and South Asia have highest hunger level. The South Asian countries are ranked at: Pakistan 107(Ethiopia also 107), Sri lanka 84, Bangladesh 90, Nepal 72, Myanmar 75 and Afghanistan 111. The four indicators used in the index include undernourishment, low weight, and height and child mortality. India is home to a large number of poor, malnourished and under nourished due to lack of access to food. There are States, regions and specific social categories of people who are relatively more vulnerable and continue in worst condition.
Odisha continues with higher IMR and MMR in comparison to other developed States such as Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Punjab and remains below national average. The children under five are suffering with low weight and low height of their age because of high under nutrition. It is reported in Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2016 that in South Asia child under nutrition as measured by child stunting and child wasting is higher than in Africa and south Sahara. There has been lack of separate data on marginalized groups and regions and State specific data for a comparison. However, media reports and micro studies show the condition of the children of SCs and STs are in a very deteriorating condition with very insignificant rate of improvement. The condition of the children is linked to the socio-economic condition of the family. A vast majority of SC and ST households remain resourceless and under lower income category. These marginalized sections have very low income which affects their purchasing power of food in market and also they lack productive assets such as land to produce food for their household requirement. The last sixty five years of planned intervention have not invested in building productive assets and making people productive; rather State charity has been continuing out of public finance and loans. It is being observed that the economic growth of the State is not inclusive of all region and different social groups. It has also not contributed to creation of jobs and in expanding opportunities for the people in bottom of social structure. As majority of marginalized rural poor, STs and SCs work as unskilled labourers, Odisha has the lowest rate of minimum wage in the country for unskilled workers. Usually they do not have regular employment as NREGS is a failure in ensuring jobs in rural areas. Same is the case about social security benefits. low wage and lack of social security encourages distress migration of labour forces and largely impacts local agricultural production which is closely linked to food security and hunger and malnutrition.
There have been cases of forced labour, nonpayment of declared wage and many other forms of labour exploitation of women and child labour including distress migration and violation of labour laws by contractors with active support of district labour officials. Unionization of unorganized sector workers remains unfinished due to lack of inclusion by trade unions and absence of civil society initiatives to organize the rural poor as workers. The work by private contractors are not regularly monitored by labour officials and lack of book keeping at all level allows false muster rolls and other related records. This has been a major reason of siphoning of public fund for development works and also depriving workers of their genuine right to get reasonable payment under the rules of the Minimum Wage Act. The food supplied under NFSA is very limited to meet the nutritional need of the family, especially growing children who are in need of quality food. There are cases of corruption in allocation of ration cards and in availing benefits under PDS system. The local bureaucrats and ruling party workers are managing the affairs of the Government without minimal accountability to public. The marginalized section of people with low literacy are socially backward and getting divided among themselves and not getting politically organized in democratic process to build their own organization to access their constitutional and legal rights and entitlements.
In order to keep engaging the rural unskilled workers who are mostly the agricultural labourers and sharecroppers, it is highly essential to distribute land to them so that they can produce food crops throughout the year. A number of studies and census reports 2011 found that landlessness is very high among rural poor, especially among the SCs and STs. The non-agricultural sector such as service and manufacturing has not been viable in rural, tribal and interior parts to provide employment to large unskilled labourers in agriculture sector. The land ownership of the agricultural workers and sharecroppers will boost production of local varieties of food crops and affirmatively contribute to minimize the hunger problem in family. Along with land, irrigation, electricity, credit and insurance are also required to supplement food production. It is found that food grain storage has been a major problem in tribal and Dalit hamlets due to lack of storage infrastructure and it also encourages distress sales. Usually it is difficult for the poor and marginalized to handle cash and save it for a longer period. So it has been suggested to store food grains to maintain food requirement of the household throughout the year. The cropping intensity need to be improved so that in all the seasons the household remain engaged in production of varieties of crops that include pulses, cereals, meat, egg, milk, vegetables and fruits to meet the balance nutrition need of the family. Along with increase in food production and income, the living habit and conditions of the marginalized poor need to be qualitatively changed to more hygienic and clean environment with quality housing, sanitation and drinking water facilities and use of mosquito nets must be encouraged in malaria prone areas. It is required to bring social awareness, education and health services by recruiting more numbers of qualified and trained service providers from among the marginalized communities. Studies by the Government and international agencies have recommended that the employment and income generation work, clubbed with land distribution, public health and education infrastructure facilities created by the State, facilitate productive engagement of the marginalized poor. It is suggested that only State charity is not enough without bringing any major structural change in economic policy for inclusive development of Odisha.
(Email: manasbbsr15@gmail.com)