Bhawanipatna: Scores of emaciated kids with bony physiques and low-height shanties are a common sight in Kutia Kondh villages under Lanjigarh block of Kalahandi district.
As this reporter negotiated with a rough track to reach these villages, he spotted kids in bare bodies, women making a beeline to a nearby jungle for firewood and men toiling in rocky farmland. They speak volume about the backwardness of the region.
Kutia Kondha is one of the primitive sections of Kondha tribe. Kondhas who live on the hilltop and in valleys are known as Kutia Kondhas. They worship Niyam Raja (Niyamraja), the supreme god of the Niyamgiri jungle and hill.
Though the state government has been implementing various schemes for the development of primitive tribes, these programmes are nowhere within the reach of Kotia Kondhs thanks to the apathy of officers. They lead a miserable life despite crores of rupees being spent on them through Kutia Kondh Development Organization.
The government has claimed that about 20 lakh primitive Kondhs are supported with a housing scheme, but the real picture says something different. Thousands of Kutia Kondhs live in shanties.
The proportion of hungry people in the district is not coming down. The situation is so bad that Kutia Kondhs fail to avail two square meals a day.
Most people are below poverty line. About 82.9 per cent of households are below poverty line while 12.4 per cent of households don’t have ration cards. Hardly 4.8 per cent of households are APL households.
Occupational profile of sample villages shows that the villagers on the foothills like Ambaguda, Asurguda and Badajamkiheju depend on agriculture, wages and collection of non-timber forest produce (NTFP).
Tribal villages like Phuldumer, Palberi and Khemundipaddar in Lanjigarh block are 100 per cent illiterate. Chronic poverty, absence of local teachers, inadequate number of institutions, poor communication facilities, child labour, and lack of awareness about the importance of education are the major problems of the area.
The Mid-Day Meal scheme has not succeeded as an incentive for bringing children into schools as the implementation of the scheme is poor. Funds are siphoned off, and poor quality food is given to students.
As Anganwadi centres do not work efficiently, both mother and children suffer from malnutrition without getting nutricious food provided by the government through Mamata scheme.
Many villages under the block have no electricity, sanitation or access to safe drinking water. The PHCs situated in this region are inaccessible. In the absence of healthcare system, tribal villagers employ traditional knowledge for their treatment.
Tribal villagers from Rengapalli and Bandhuguda villages adjoining the red mud pond of Vedanta plant are facing health hazards since 2003-2004 when the mining activities started in the region.
The public distribution system (PDS) is in a woeful state. Corruption plays a big role in the faulty distribution of BPL cards. Instead of poor tribals, people from higher income groups have managed to obtain BPL cards through manipulation.
An exploitative land holding system is also responsible to a great extent for fostering poverty in the region. Lack of awareness on land rights is the reason the tribals have lost control over their own land by selling it at throwaway prices to big companies for their mining activities.
The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) has not been satisfactory as many people from the area migrate to outside of the state for manual work.
Landlessness, marginal and small landholdings and lack of irrigation facility are the major cause of food insecurity. In such situations, consumption of mango kernel is the usual practice to compensate for the staple food shortage.
Intellectuals demanded that the government should take steps for the development of the Kutia Kondhs.