JUGGLE-BANDHI

The hungry face of Naxalism

Jug Suraiya
26 February 2010, 04:58 PM IST

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On the same day that home minister Chidambaram exchanged fax and telephone numbers with Maoist leader Kishanji on possible truce talks between the government and the Naxals, 50 starvation deaths were reported from the tribal lands of Orissa. The deaths, reportedly caused by chronic hunger and prolonged malnourishment, took place over the past two years. In some cases, entire families were wiped out.

This is not the first time resource-rich Orissa has given rise to the skeletal spectre of starvation. In 1986, Kalahandi erupted into the news following reports of starvation deaths and the distress sale of children. Then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi promised an end to Kalahandi's agony. But almost a quarter of a century later, and despite the hundreds and thousands of crores of rupees pumped into the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) and similar relief programmes, starvation still haunts the Orissa countryside, no more than 300-odd km from the state capital of Bhubaneswar with its wide boulevards and imposing public buildings.

In Balangir district, 62 per cent of the population is below the official poverty line. Yet, of the 2,40,000 households covered by NREGS, only 476 families - that is only 0.2 per cent - have been provided BPL (below poverty line) cards which would enable them to get subsidised food grain.

The result? Mass starvation, which has been defined by the rural development ministry as caloric intake of less than 850 day (a normal person, depending on body mass, requires 1,200 to 1,800 calories a day).

Despite these horrifying revelations, the state administration - including the state revenue minister Surya Narayan Patra - has it eyes firmly shut to the tragedy being played out before it. Patra has reportedly categorically denied that starvation is the cause of the deaths.

Balangir district in Orissa is only one of India's 620 districts, no less than 160 to 180 of which are said to have been affected by the 'Naxal menace', described by PM Manmohan Singh as the biggest threat to the country's security.

In light of the Orissa deaths, perhaps what the PM and the home minister should be asking themselves is whether it is Naxalism or chronic and acute hunger and deprivation - which helps to foment the desperation that Naxal leaders exploit - which are the real threats to national security.

Just exchanging words with Naxal leaders won't help. Words don't fill starving stomachs. Only food will do that. If the sarkar is really serious about weeding out the 'Naxal menace' it must declare an all-out war on starvation. How much would it take to feed the starving villagers of Balangir? One crore a year? Two crores? Ten crores? How many thousands of crores have already been spent under various rural uplift schemes?

No, it's not lack of funds that's the problem. It's the lack of properly channelling those funds to ensure that racketeers and middlemen don't siphon off the money and fatten of the funds while those for whom the aid was meant continue to starve.

Parliament is in an uproar about rising food prices. You and I - who belong to the middle class - complain bitterly about the price rise. Many feel that if elections were to be held today, the ruling UPA government could well be voted out of office on the issue of food prices.

Yes, we're all paying much more for our food. But at least we have it. We can, by tightening our belts, still buy food.

But suppose you couldn't. Suppose you watched your family literally starve to death. Suppose you had no recourse to the government for help, because in its eyes you and your plight were not visible.

Would you put out an empty hand begging for food which never came? Or would your hand hold a gun?

The answer to that is the answer to the 'Naxal menace'.

9 Comments | Comments are closed. Rated

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Ashok Gupta says: Bookmark this discussion

February 26,2010 at 05:40 PM IST

Dear Mr.Jug
While your point of view desereves to be appreciated, Naxalism is not the solution and will never be.
What the country needs is " State or Non -state Social workers under a separate ministry to look after the Tribals. These social workers should be Tribals only.
All exploitation, whether by state/ private business class or Naxals, of tribals should be stopped by the the law.
These Adivasis should be given training in job created schemes and " Laghu Udyogs should be started in Tribal Areas." so that Employment opportunities are created for them. "Food for work Schemes should be given a trial" in these areas."

There could be many other ways to keep their services utilized.
But Naxalism will never be a solution. this will create more dissentions rather than solving the issues.
Rest Later.

(Reply to Ashok Gupta)- False says:

March 04,2010 at 12:27 AM IST

DISAGREE with Ashok Gupta.

Whatever does he mean by saying 'what this country needs..'!

When you are starving to death and watching people around you die, its actually unimportant- whatever the country needs. More important is to survive.

A society, and a country is a system that is supposed to exist on a value system.

Better die with a gun in your hands.

Govt schemes? Thats a joke! Practically.

PLEASE get a gun and Live.

(Reply to Ashok Gupta)- ANIRUDDHA SEN says:

March 04,2010 at 04:56 PM IST

Naxalism is not a solution it is a symptom of intense poverty which needs to be cured. Mr Jug suraya never said this is the solution but says it is the outcome, dont misunderstand him.

premji jairam babaria says:

February 27,2010 at 02:43 PM IST

Observation made of rural India is pathetic and needs urgent help as crores of people suffering from hungers and succumbs to death.Big story of economic growth pales before such untold story of crores of poor people living below poverty line.Is there two India ? This begs the question.India of rich ,famous,higher and middle calss and other India of downtrodden,poor and people living below poverty line.It is shamful that prices of commoddoties are same for rich ,highermiddle,lower middle and poor and downtrodden people.Why incomewise prices of commodities and other things are not fixed to beat the inflation? Prices of all edible items should be fixed on the criterea of Incomes then inflation will not be a problem.For exmaple rice,wheat,turdal etc are sold at 30,28,and 90 respectively in market for poor people it should be 10,12 and 30 respectively.This will be justified .

sitaram Agarwal says:

February 27,2010 at 12:10 PM IST

Voilence agaisnt supression is considered terrorism by ruler whereas surpressed consider it as fight for freedom. We jsut compare as India faught for independence by voilence and voilence and both were considered by Indian people as freedom fighters but British consider them as terrorists.

India got independence sixty years back. Independence of India has proved boom only for influencial persons but not general public. The people residing in backward areas have not benefited by the independence of India but they have been exploited and now they are being made to leave their grass ruotes. They deserve to be provided first alternative place, employment (not doles) and roof to cover before they are uprooted from their places.

Qaari says:

February 26,2010 at 09:07 PM IST

Home minister says ' no talks until violance stopped.' He thinks that noise of gun shots will be disturbance during talks. He should think that if talks succeed,how many may die during the talks will be all and no more further. Now killing is on till no talks. The main point is that the riches of jungle or minerals will not go to tribals are people in that area just because they are living there. It will be looted by some others through government administration methods. Naxals are trying to deny this fact by not allowing the adminstration to run the things that way.

Mandeep Samana says:

March 03,2010 at 10:36 PM IST

No doubt violence cannot be the solution of any problem. But at the same time those tribal people do not have any other option . The problem of hunger cannot wait to be solved by diplomacy. As the violence of naxalites is increasing desperation of government to solve the problem is also increasing and it is a fact that hunger is root cause of naxalism. Hence if government really wants to curb naxalism, it has to feed the hungry stomachs. Obviously this cannot be the justification of violence . But if naxalites stop violence will we ever discuss about them or try to understand their problems?

PUSHYAKANT says:

March 07,2010 at 01:36 AM IST

it is ironical that the indian state still suffers from starvation in regions,the reason being the corrupted middlemen ,and not the lack of funds.
it is therefore no surprise that the afflicted people are caught in the wind of naxalism,due to their desperation and helplessness.
the real warfront is the so called development,which is nonexistent in the regions and the starvation deaths are rampant.unless the malady
is not recognized and healed ,the state will continue to be haunted by the violence .

Piyush Arya says:

March 07,2010 at 05:37 PM IST

It is very easy to denounce violence. But to explain the reason behind its existence requires a level of effort that we as humans are simply not used to. Why has the fact that Naxalism and violence is the last resort of poverty trodden families been ignored for decades?

The answer lies in the fact that even the "supporters" of the Naxalism movement who allegedly have the best interests of the starving families in mind are so visibly tainted, that anyone would be able to see why they are even giving a half penny of thoughts to who is starving and who is not. It is NOT the sound of bullets that is really distracting to the home minister. It is the cacophony of the "supporters" and the "sympathizers" which has only one objective. Not a humanitarian one. A political one.