A tube well and a few houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana are new additions to Punapani village in Lalgarh, which lost seven people of the Sabar community in November 2018, reportedly due to hunger and malnutrition.
Election posters and flags are not visible in Sabar basti which is part of the Jhargram Assembly seat. The members of the tribe have little interest in Saturday’s election and do not even know the names of the candidates.
Assembly furore
The 2018 deaths sparked an uproar in the West Negal Assembly. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had then claimed that the members of the Lodha Sabars, a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group ( PVTG), died of illness and old age, and liver problems caused by excessive consumption of liquor.
When this reporter visited the village, most of the women of the village were out collecting firewood or fishing at the nearby streams for molluscs.
Mithun Sabar, whose father Sudhir Sabar and mother Geeta Sabar died in November 2018, said there wasn’t much food in the house when his parents and other members of the community died. Mr. Mithun displayed the shiny, new, green ration cards which the administration has provided to members of the tribe. The names of the members of the Sabar tribe including Mithun are included as beneficiaries of RKSY 1 (Rajya Khadya Suraksha Yojana -1) scheme, where five kg subsidised food grains is given to every family member.
But having a card is no guarantee of grain.
“Even if we are a day late, the dealer refuses to give us the ration,” Mr. Mithun said. He also said he did not have an job card under the MGNREGA scheme.
Koyal Sabar, who had stayed back at home due to heat, said three members of her family had died in November 2018. She also had the new ration cards under the RKSY-1 scheme but no job card under MGNREGA.
Assured livelihood
Activist with the Right to Food and Work Campaign Anuradha Talwar, who had visited Punapani soon after the deaths, pointed out that as members of the PVTG, whose population would be around one lakh in the State, Sabars are entitled to the benefits of the AAY (Antyodaya Anna Yojana) scheme, where 35 kg food grain is given to every family.
Ms. Talwar who had prepared a report and shared it with the government, had also emphasised on ensuring steady work and income to members of the community. However, the lack of any guarantee of work is clearly evident at Punapani as the women are all busy collecting firewood in the forest.
Sukhami Sabar, who sat near an embankment outside the village, also complained about lack of work and said her bank accounts had ₹92 and ₹101 but she could not withdraw any money.
The Right to Food and Work Campaign report, compiled by Ms. Talwar and others, had said, “By observation, we found almost all people of the Lodha Sabar Community (adults as well as children) to be stunted in growth and anaemic”. The report also pointed out that it was not possible to conduct a proper autopsy of the dead because of the constant vigil of policemen.
“After the incident in November 2018, a large number of police personnel were deployed in the village; this frightened the tribals who ran away and took shelter in the forest,” Ms. Talwar said.
Poll promises
Ironically even as the members of one of the most vulnerable tribes are struggling to get what they are entitled to, the manifesto of all the major political parties has referred to food security.
The Trinamool Congress manifesto has highlighted “Banglar Shobar Nischit Ahar (Guaranteed meals for every individual in the State)” and in a new scheme promised rations under the public distribution scheme to 1.5 crore families at their door step. The BJP has referred to “Ebar Food Security (Now Food Security) and promised to “universalise” the PDS in the State. A similar promise of bringing everyone under the PDS system has been made by the Left parties.
Both the TMC and BJP have also promised cooked meals at ₹5 per meal across the State.
Kusum Mahato, a villager who belongs to the relatively well-off Mahato community, said community kitchens ran in Punapani for almost a month in November 2018. “Even last winter when some members of the community died, community kitchens were started but they only ran for a week,” she said.
