Near extinct tribe �feast� on picnic wastes
Mail News Service
Jamshedpur, Jan 25: The Sabars are considered a near extinct tribe but �superfluous� care by various outfits who visit the hamlets of these children of a far lesser God, provide them with materials of momentary joy with really showing concern to keep them meaningfully alive. Yes, there are news galore of teams of men and women along with photographs who visit the scattered pockets of optimistically alive and pessimistically dwindling Sabar colonies where children between infancy to 12 years of age have been known to die of malnutrition. Finding nutritious food in picnic wastes is like looking for a needle in a haystack.
A team of Jharkhand Human Rights Conference (JHRC) led by the organization�s central committee president Manoj Mishra visited one such Sabar colony at Ramchandrapur in Burudih on the outskirts of Ghatshila. The team led by Mishra comprised RC Pradhan, Jagannath Mahto and Biswajit Singh.
The JHRC team was taken aback to find that people of all age brackets were suffering from malnutrition. It found that this Sabar colony wore an almost deserted look. When asked, the team members were informed that they had gone to attend a feast; a feast of leftovers from picnic parties which the �invitees� licked at the spots and brought some of these home for the rest at home to lick and thank their stars for such �sumptuous meals.� Burudih is a popular picnic spot where people from far and near go to enjoy winter picnics.
A two year old Krishna Sabar of this very Ramchandrapur hamlet had died while under treatment at MGM Hospital on January 17 last. He died of malnutrition. Manoj Mishra, while looking for the late Krishna�s father could not find him. He found his mother, Sombari Sabar instead. She informed that her husband Kala Sabar along with their other two children had gone to Burudih picnic spots in quest of �delicious� meals. Almost all the other Sabar colony villagers had gone there to scavenge for their quotas of nutrition.
Sombari had another piece of horrid tale to tell. She smiled and said, �During the picnic seasons, no food is cooked at home. We await food from the picnic spots.�
The JHRC team, probing into the causes leading to Krishna Sabar�s death learnt from the Sabar Basti residents that the child was OK in the morning and had his meal. Later he found difficulty in breathing. Sahaiya Saraswati Singh called up an ambulance on 108 and sent Krishna to the Phuldungri Health Centre where after primary treatment, he was referred to MGM Hospital where, in the course of treatment the child lost his battle with life. Hiraganj Anganwadi Centre Sevika Sona Hembram said that Krishna Sabar was being provided nutritional food. Due to his being malnourished, Sona informed that the child had been admitted to Phuldungri Health Centre between June 3 and 20 last year where he was provided nourishing food.
Team leader Manoj Mishra stated that the team had found that children aged between 1 to 12 years who were about 25 in number were all malnourished. Moreover, the children did not go to school. The 24 houses provided to the Sabars of Ramchandrapur by the government were already in various stages of disrepair and during monsoon, the roofs leaked and there was water seepage along the walls. Since no toilet provision had been made, the denizens had to go out elsewhere for ablutions.
Mishra revealed that a JHRC delegation would soon meet the Deputy Commissioner and hand over detailed suggestions pertaining to protection and welfare of the Sabars.
