From
now on, every party should conduct an orientation course for its ministers. Or
parties need to employ trained party spokesperson to talk to the media while
giving their remarks or ideologies. Because most of the time, they end up being
the butt of all the jokes or come under the ire of the public who voted them to
say such nice things about them. Recent being Minister under Kerala government
which was recently awarded by the UN for its developmental schemes, calling
Attapady Adiwasi woman ‘Alcoholics’. The minister openly blamed the women for
consuming too much alcohol, chewing tobacco and not eating enough as the cause
of infant deaths. It is flabbergasting that such a high rank minister instead
of looking into his Government’s incompetency in providing the necessary support
has made an unhealthy remark .
This is a society in flux. They were agricultural landholders and now they are minion labourers. The government and Contractors have either tricked them into selling their land for few peanuts or forcefully taken their land for Mega city projects. The tribes residing in Attapady are living under worse conditions. They have no basic amenities to sustain themselves or their families. The men of the community have no work or don’t go for it. They force the women to take up some work while they can get wasted, even pregnant women. With this little money they get once in a month, they have to support their families the entire month. The infant mortality has considerably risen due to malnutrition. The mothers don’t have access to proper care or nutrition that is required at the time of their pregnancy. Women are under nourished because of poverty, marginalization and domestic violence. The mother’s anxiety about next beating from her husband and starvation take a toll on the unborn child. There has been no discussion about these physical and mental problems encountered by these women. There have efforts by tribal support groups to reach out to the government trying to explain the inexplicable conditions of these people, but no assistance has been provided. The only time these people are visited is,when the next vested interest is around the corner.
The only way to revive the community is by efficient utilization of the funds set aside for the tribal communities. A 125 crore package has been announced by the Union minister to empower woman and another 6 crore resource hub-cum-community kitchen through which nutritious food can be provided to tribal women. More self-help groups need to be devised to come up with cooked food to each of these tribal hamlets. NGOs need to step up for sensitizing the community regarding health, nutrition and violence suffered by these women. The corporate funds which remain underutilized can be used for such noble cause.
To sum up in the words of a tribal promoter “The ST population in Kerala is 1.5 lakhs. The government earned over Rs.15 crore in 2012-13 from liquor sales during Onam alone. So who spent all that money on liquor, these pregnant mothers of Attapady? “.
This is a society in flux. They were agricultural landholders and now they are minion labourers. The government and Contractors have either tricked them into selling their land for few peanuts or forcefully taken their land for Mega city projects. The tribes residing in Attapady are living under worse conditions. They have no basic amenities to sustain themselves or their families. The men of the community have no work or don’t go for it. They force the women to take up some work while they can get wasted, even pregnant women. With this little money they get once in a month, they have to support their families the entire month. The infant mortality has considerably risen due to malnutrition. The mothers don’t have access to proper care or nutrition that is required at the time of their pregnancy. Women are under nourished because of poverty, marginalization and domestic violence. The mother’s anxiety about next beating from her husband and starvation take a toll on the unborn child. There has been no discussion about these physical and mental problems encountered by these women. There have efforts by tribal support groups to reach out to the government trying to explain the inexplicable conditions of these people, but no assistance has been provided. The only time these people are visited is,when the next vested interest is around the corner.
The only way to revive the community is by efficient utilization of the funds set aside for the tribal communities. A 125 crore package has been announced by the Union minister to empower woman and another 6 crore resource hub-cum-community kitchen through which nutritious food can be provided to tribal women. More self-help groups need to be devised to come up with cooked food to each of these tribal hamlets. NGOs need to step up for sensitizing the community regarding health, nutrition and violence suffered by these women. The corporate funds which remain underutilized can be used for such noble cause.
To sum up in the words of a tribal promoter “The ST population in Kerala is 1.5 lakhs. The government earned over Rs.15 crore in 2012-13 from liquor sales during Onam alone. So who spent all that money on liquor, these pregnant mothers of Attapady? “.
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