Death of migrated minor tribal girl: Mass migration of minors from PVTG Dangaria Kandha villages in Niyamagiri hills reflects sheer development deficit
Rayagada (Badal Tah): To satiate hunger and meet basic needs, a tribal girl named Adai Wadaka, daughter Ganesh Wadaka belonging to Dangaria Kandha tribe, a Primarily Vulnerable Tribal Group(PVTG) of Niyamagiri Hills, migrated to a tile making company named Kaltila Tiles in Thrissur district, Kerala and after working there for few days, her corpse returned to her native village Khajuri in Kurli Gram Panchayat of Bissam Cuttack Block. Alongwith with her, seventeen youths, both boys and girls, migrated through an illegal broker/labour contractor. Five were from Khajuri village itself. Ganesh said that his daughter migrated as there is scarcity of employment in the villages.
The district administration got into action when it was informed to Collector Parul Patawari in writing by Jitu Jakesika belonging to the same PVTG community and District President, Bahujan Samaj Party. Bissam Cuttack MLA Nilamadhav Hikaka also quickly intervened by contacting the administration including the labour department. Because of this, the concerned officers contacted virtually the tile factory authorities in Kerala and facilitated an ambulance to transport the dead body to Khajuri. It is learnt from the DIPRO Basanta Pradhan, Rayagada that the owner of the said factory is paying Rs.40000 for the part cost of ambulance and other sundry expenses while the balance cost will be met by district administration.
Unfortunately, the poor father of the deceased girl along with a few villagers came all the way from Khajuri, which is around 50 kms from the district headquarters & approached ADM Nihar Ranjan Kahanr for some financial help, but in vein. Jitu is anguished over the lackadaisical attitude of the district administration and their assurance. He further said that the tile company gave only Rs.25K instead of 40K for which they had to collect Rs.25K from the community itself and sent to the tile company. Till writing of this report no responsible govt official has visited the deceased girl’s house.
“Though the exact reasons of death are yet to be ascertained, it is really a matter of concern that especially poor tribals and dalits are dieing at the migrated working spots. During recent month, half a dozen death cases has come to the fore. Tribals live in an organic and natural forest based habitat. Sudden change to a totally different atmosphere coupled with heavy pollution could be the reason of mortality. Change in food habits and congested staying arrangements leads to ill health. Govt must probe the root cause of migration at source and working conditions at the work spots. Ensuring employment in the villages through MGNREGA and other govt schemes and checking pilferage may help these impoverished tribal community.”, opined Jogeswar Das, State Vice President, Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangha.
As there is a sheer development deficit in these Dangaria villages, apart from general government development schemes, there is a special scheme called Odisha PVTG Empowerment Livelihood Improvement Programme (OPELIP) executed by Dangaria Kandha Development Agency (DKDA) under Gunupur ITDA. OPELIP is a tripatrite project funded by GOI, Govt of Odisha & UNDP-IFAD headquartered in Italy. Interestingly, major chunk of OPELIP funds are dumped in Khajuri village and V K Pandian paid to this village. The Govt staff showcased their achievements in this village. Now, there is PM-JANMAN programme and Sakata as model village declared by GOI. Collector Parul as projected a rosy picture to her bureaucratic and political bosses at Delhi. But the situation is denigrating at ground zero as many Adais are in the waiting.
A few days back this correspondent alongwith a team had an interaction with PVTG community and came to know that the villagers were still consuming a type of gruel made out of wood dust(Sago palm-Salap tree). There was also mass exodus to Kerala for getting labour work. Abject poverty and resourcelessness have pushed the PVTG youths thousands kilometres away from their natural habitat. There is an unbroken history of broken promises by the district administration.
“If the Government has been able to declare a village Defecation Free, Child Marriage Free, etc, it must declare each village of the district Migration Free. This will put some check on migration & it’s related deaths in the most poverty stricken Niyamagiri region”, said RTI activist Rabindra Patakhandal, Convenor, Suchana Adhikar Manch.
