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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Govt. accused of failing to protect rights of Adivasis by Santosh K Kiro

Govt. accused of failing to protect rights of Adivasis by Santosh K Kiro

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published Published on Apr 10, 2010   modified Modified on Apr 10, 2010


Supreme Court appointed commissioners have asked Jharkhand government to set up an enquiry commission to probe reports of hunger deaths in the state that has all along refuted such occurences.

As many as 26 malnutrition deaths were reported from the state in 2008 and 2009. But the state government maintained the reasons behind the deaths weren’t related to hunger.

Now, the office of the Commissioners of the Supreme Court (Right to Food), which came into existence in 2002 as a means to ensure legal enforcement of the right to food, has asked Jharkhand to constitute a joint commission of enquiry (JCE).

According to a letter addressed to the chief secretary, the office of SC commissioner N.C. Saxena and special commissioner Harsh Mander have said the enquiry commission is to have six members — three nominated by the state government and three by the office of SC commissioners — and will not only probe incidents of hunger deaths that may occur in any part of the state but also suggest “long term measures” to deal with such instances.

“We are perturbed by persisting accounts of hunger/malnutrition deaths reported from Jharkhand. We feel that an in-depth joint enquiry by the commissioners’ nominees and the government would be useful,” the letter dated February 24 said.

The enquiry commission would not try to determine if a death was by starvation. Instead, it would explore whether conditions of destitution and denial of right to food and life prevailed in the family of the deceased and in the local community. “It will investigate not whether people are dying of starvation, but whether they are living with starvation,” the SC commissioners’ directive to the chief secretary clarified.

The chief secretary confirmed to The Telegraph that the enquiry commission was being set up based on the SC commissioners’ reccommendations.

“The file has been sent to the chief minister for approval. The commission will be in place soon after his approval,” the chief secretary said.

According to Balram, the SC commissioners’ representative in the state, Jharkhand has seen two hunger deaths last year, while in 2008 as many as 24 people died, including 11 members of a primitive tribe in Hindiyakala village of Chatra district.

Balram and other right to food activists claimed the state government has always stayed clear of admitting these deaths were due to hunger.

After the Chatra deaths came to light, Balram and his team visited the area and concluded that the deaths occurred due to prolonged malnutrition.

Under pressure, the state government constituted a high-level enquiry team comprising three departmental secretaries — welfare, rural development and health. But the team denied they were hunger or malnourishment deaths.

This has been the story in Jharkhand all along. But now, Balram believed things would change as far as the government’s accountability was concerned.

“The SC commissioners’ decision to set up an enquiry commission will end such divided opinions and force the government to be proactive,” he said.


The Telegraph, 11 April, 2010, http://www.hindu.com/2010/04/11/stories/2010041163270400.htm


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