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

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