Tribals unaware of starvation controversy

By Prafulla Das

KASHIPUR (Orissa), SEPT. 13. To much of the outside world the four deaths in Pitajodi village of Kashipur block of Orissa's Rayagada district are either ``starvation deaths'' or deaths due to food poisoning.

But for the tribals of Pitajodi, the deaths are nothing else but the work of an evil force or devil.

A trip to Pitajodi and the other far-flung tribal hamlets of Kashipur exposes the ignorance that the region is still steeped in. That lack of education is prompting them to cling onto their blind beliefs and superstitions is visible.

The broken house of the tribals who died in Pitajodi stands as a silent testimony to the sweeping ignorance of the region. The family members have stopped living in the house and have literally pulled down the house, by punching huge holes on walls and doors.

The residents of Pitajodi said that the houses had been abandoned and damaged because the family members believed that the four had died due to the presence of some evil force in the hut.

This makes it clear that the people in Pitajodi are not aware of the raging controversy over the alleged starvation deaths in their own village and other hamlets of Kashipur. They say that they have been eating mango kernel during the monsoon months every year to cope with the food shortage.

While the Opposition has alleged that the recent deaths in Kashipur, including the four in Pitajodi, are due to starvation, the State Government is sticking to its stand that all these deaths are due to food poisoning and diseases.

The educational backwardness of the tribals is also evident from the fact that many of them don't prefer to visit a doctor when ill. If the words of Mr. Krutibas Nayak, a retired health worker who served in Kashipur for seven years, are to be believed, the tribals go to a doctor only when they exhaust all their traditional methods. The traditional methods range from worshiping gods and goddesses to use of roots and leaves of various plants.

Mr. Nayak, who said that the tribals were poor as there had not been any development in their economic condition so far, is of the view that mango kernel is a traditional food of tribals and the recent deaths in Kashipur are not due to starvation.

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