The recent death of two children – Sagar Wagh and Ishwar Savara – in Mokhada taluk of Palghar district, nearly 165 km off Mumbai, has opened up a big debate on malnutrition in Maharashtra.
When one drives to Mokhada, a nearly four-hour drive from Mantralaya, the state secretariat, we pass through green forests and lush mountains covered with mist.
With the Vaitarna, Tansa and Ulhas rivers flowing in the district and through the slopes of the Sahyadri ranges, one can never imagine that there could be malnutrition deaths here, that too in the district that adjoins the commercial capital of India.
“No one bothers about us,” is the common complaint of people, majority of them tribals from the twin taluks of Mokhada and Jawhar, which was worst affected by malnutrition. The adivasi community had been neglected over the years, they told this DH correspondent.
As a matter of fact, over the past one year, nearly 600 malnutrition deaths have been reported here- a fact that had rattled the Devendra Fadnavis-led BJP-Shiv Sena saffron alliance government.
Last week, Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao took cognisance of the issue, following which the tribal affairs minister visited Mokhada taluk where he was gheraoed by locals.
“When we wanted help, no one helped us and now everyone is coming with assurances,” said Namdev Savara and his wife Sunder of Khoch village, whose son Ishwar, aged two years and two months, died. Namdev’s views were echoed by Shivram Wagh and Sita of Kalambwadi village. Their son Sagar, aged two, had died of malnutrition. “What is the point of coming now… whatever was there we have lost,” Wagh said.
The problem is complex, pointed out Eknath Pawar, a former sarpanch of Khoch. “It stems from poverty. Once the monsoon starts, people have to migrate in search of jobs,” he said, adding that the government needs to intensify its efforts to combat the situation.
Published 18 September 2016, 19:22 IST