Hunger is India’s worst-kept secret
on the children were shocked to see that their fat levels had crashed to zero. Or in other words, despite the absence of any food in their stomachs, their fat levels had kept them alive for a few days. And when even the fats vanished, the girls went into a coma. Doctors told reporters that the girls were suffering from such severe malnutrition that their bones were visible under their skin. Why did these children, aged two, four and eight have to die such a tragic death?
Until the time these lines were being written, Mangal was absconding. Despite knowing very well that the girls died of starvation, the police conducted another autopsy. We have no objection if they treat the deaths of a destitute’s family with suspicion, but who is responsible for ensuring that those who snatched away Mangal’s cycle rickshaw are also punished? It is being said that he was a drug addict. Whose responsibility is it to punish those peddling drugs to him? Poverty can kill you in a number of ways. Penury often drives such people to drug addiction and the repercussions are suffered by the family members of the poor.
It is a fact that 3,000 children die of malnutrition in the country every day. Let me point out the difference between malnutrition and hunger here. Clever governments are afraid of telling people that death by hunger is a bitter fact of life in the country even today. That’s why the post-mortem reports always say that the person died of malnutrition.
It is pertinent to realise that 34 out of 1,000 children born in the country die in the mother’s womb itself. Nine lakh children below the age of five die much before they can comprehend the meaning of independent India and approximately 19 crore people in the country are compelled to sleep on an empty stomach.
From Kalahandi to Delhi, death by hunger is fast becoming a tragic reality in the country. When will our governments make an effort to overcome this crisis?
Shashi Shekhar is editorinchief, Hindustan