Monday, December 20, 2010

Food Security of Korku: the need of the Hour


Korkus of Khalwa are really hard pressed. For years they have been innocent victims of chronic household hunger. Their history since the time it was written ( by British Historians) show that they were wandering tribe : most probably migrated to Central India from South Eastern India especialy the present state of Jharkhand. Most of the anthropologists consider them at par with Munda Tribe. The language of Korku falls in the same category as that of Mundas: the Austro-Asiatic langauge group. The Korku wandered in the forests around the Satpura mountain and practised sifting agriculture. It meant that they didnot till the ground as they considerd it to be their mother and how one could plough a mother's breast. Later in 19th or beginning of 20th century they began a more or less settled life and the people of other communities preferred them to be hard working and honest farm hands. That's why since the days census in India was done Korku returned as agriculture labors. They chose picteresque forest sites for their residence and placed houses along the open streets and built with bamboo wattle work and mud. The contact with other communities gradually attarcted them to grow wheat and later soybean as cash crops. with the passage of time their traditional and nutritious crops (which their folk tales describe as unique and god given) dwindled too. Their food habits went a drastic change and micronutrients went out of their platters. Its intersting that Korku grow soybean but do not eat this protien rich food. That's why their women and children became most susceptible to anemia and malnouishment. Hundreds of children began to die at early age : before even completin their first or fifth birthday. Korku could still not relate it to lack of nutrition but considered it to be the curse of deities and over the years many rituals were developed to please gods or treat malnutriiton. Thye developed a term for malnutrition in their vocabulary. The issue of child survival loomed as demon before them. its true a mother concieved from half to a dozen times fearing how many would survive? Its ironical that the district's decadal population growth rate has slid below the state and national averages to a depressing low of 19%. What other factor than large number of child deaths among Korku can be held responsible for this.
The whole situation of hunger among Korku assuming deamouring proportion has to do with the governemnt food policy for them, discrepancies and corruptions in Food & Employment schemes, blaming the deaths of their children back on parents, distorted mindset for tribe at large, denial of developing hunger scenario something like Ethiopia and Chad at the vary heart of nation.
Just imagine how long a well off, well nourished average family will survive with access to just 20 kilograms of government given subsidized ration; with average daily income less than $2. How can we assume that they would be getting 2400 calories a day to just to survive! how can we assume their chidren or even mothers will survive.
Will we let them die ..... what difference it makes to us
or we will act...
ACT NOW.... SAVE KORKUS
JOIN SAVE KORKU CAMPAIGN

Friday, December 17, 2010

Korkus cornered

When the whole issue of malnutrition and deaths among Korku tribe came to light the whole atmosphere was that of denial or throwing the ball back to Korku courts. There were some stereotyped rebuttals. They have more children, they are superstitious, they are unhygienic and are unschooled by large. May it be the policy makers, bureaucrats or even a media section. But grassroots realities were contrary to such allegations. Khalwa Block where most of the Korkus are found has the lowest lieracy rate in the district. Who is to be blamed? The Registrar General of Census in India indiacate that te district's decadal population growth rate of 19 % below the national or state levels is a matter of concern. Who is to held responsible if it were not for the large number of Korku children dying due to malnutrition? If you don't have doctors and paramedics in the governemnt hospital and Korku as a last hope resorts to quacks will you call them superstitious? No mother would let a child die... if there are running noses and flies simply because she doesnot have a knapsack or a piece of cloth who is to be blamed?
Deaths of children due to preventable causes needs to be checked!

Hunger Strikes

Deaths due to Malnutrition amomg the lesser known Korku tribes of Madhya Pradesh seems to be an unending tragedy. Hudreds of children from Khalwa block of Khandwa district in Madhya Pradesh of India perish every year. It was Spandan a grass roots NGO: that has been striving for a decade now to draw government attention to this crude reality that acute chronic household hunger has been a major reason behind extensive malnutrition claiming lives of children below six years. As on the day nearly 15,000 kids across 147 villages reel under malnutrition while nearly 3000 kids face daeth being severely malnourished and diseased too.
Food insecurity of Korku tribe families has been worsening over a decade now. It is mainly as the government has reduced their share of subsidized grains by nearly 40% and the available grains hardly lasts for a week or so for an average family of five. As the wage earning options for the Korku families has not been adequate they are forced to migrate seasonally twice a year. Their small landholdings produce very little and since past two decades or so they have been growing soybean which is not eaten and sold to get cash.
The Korku plate has dwindling micronutrients. Their daily food pattern taht includes wheat flour ,rice or some veegtables like brinjal or wild beans or potatoes hardly has adequate for mother to be healthy or children to grow as productive adults.
The large number of child deaths has lowered their decadal population growth to 19.3% which is lower that the state and national level.
Unfortunately Korku were not considered a Primitive Tribal Group though they fit into the slot and so were bereaved of many benefits especially teh food benefits.