Even as Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik asserted that Nagada-like incidences would not recur in future, there are unfortunately still many villages in the State which strive to overcome acute poverty and issues of basic welfare services.
A report of the Right to Food Campaign, Odisha's fact finding team which visited Mahulipada gram panchayat of lahunipada block under Bonai sub-division of Sundargarh district on Friday last to study the status Paudi Bhuyans, one of the Primitive Tribal Groups (PTGs), has exposed that State Government's development story has gone all wrong.
The four-member team led by Right to Food Campaign, Odisha convener and Advisory Group of NHRC member on Right to Food Pradip Pradhan visited the area.
The team visited four Paudi Bhuyan villages, Kiri, Keta, Kundula and Kunu, located on the hilltop.
There is no road connectivity to these villages, and one has to take three hours on foot to reach the villages after covering 10 km mountainous track and natural stream. The villages are around 50 km from the Bonai sub-divisional headquarters.
A total of 46 Paudi Bhuyan families and 14 Munda tribe families are residing in the four villages.
However, the Government's claim that it is spending crores of rupees for development of PTGs under several schemes seems to have gone down
the drain as development is yet to reach these villages.
The team maintained that electricity, drinking water, health facilities and other facilities are yet to reach the villages.
The team found that the ICDS, one of the most important food security central schemes, MGNREGA, IAY, Forest Rights Act and Food Security are not being executed in the villages while there is no Anganwadi Centre till date. It was also found that neither Anganwadi workers nor any ICDS officials even CDPO have ever visited the villages for last 20 years.
Children are never immunised. They are also deprived of getting cooked food. THR (Take Home Ration), i.e., Chhatua and egg meant for pregnant and lactating woman and children of three to six years is hardly given to them.
The villagers also expressed their ignorance about availability of Rs 5,000 under the Mamata Yojana.
Only four families were allotted houses under IAY in 2010, but since then nobody has been allotted house by the administration. Similarly, no Paudi Bhuyan of all the four villages has been allotted house under the Biju Pucca Gruha Yojana.
Food insecurity is very high among Paudi Bhuyans. Rice and fried leaves are their staple food. Vegetable is hardly found in their food menu. Consumption of only rice and leaves left them suffering from malnutrition. There is no primary school in the villages though a very few children have been admitted in the Ashram School, Darula.
The Paudi Bhuyan tribe generally resides on hilltops in Keonjhar, Angul, Sundargarh and Deogarh districts and remain isolated from external world. To bring them to the mainstream of development, the State Government has formed a Paudi Bhyan Development Agency (PBDA) fully funded by the Central Government. But the team observed that these villagers are not covered under the PBDA.
Despite all schemes, S'garh Paudi Bhuyans still struggle for life No PBDA development project has ever been implemented in the villages.
All the Government plans and programmes meant for socioeconomic development of tribals are found dysfunctional due to the callous and lackadaisical attitude of State bureaucracy and insensitivity of the ruling political party, observed the team members.
The ICDS which is considered as a most important food security programme to provide six types of service, immunisation, free health check up, Supplementary Nutrition Programme, referral service is denied to the children, lactating and pregnant woman due to a non-functional of Anganwadi Centre till today.
The villagers have remained deprived to get nutritious food and other benefits for years together. The denial of food and free health treatment has made their children suffering from malnutrition and hunger.
lack of employment has also posed a serious threat to their life and livelihood. Rice and fried leaves are the only option to consume for survival by compulsion not by choice.