INDIA: Yet another person dies from starvation in Uttar Pradesh 

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the case of Mr. Teras Ram who died from starvation in Baisa village of Jaunpur district in Uttar Pradesh state. The AHRC has been informed by the People’s Vigilance Committee on Human Rights (PVCHR), a local human rights organisation working in Uttar Pradesh state that Ram died from starvation on 24 December 2007. Ram belongs to the Chamar caste, a caste considered to be untouchable by the caste Hindus in India.

CASE DETAILS:

Mr. Teras Ram was aged about 45 years and was a handloom weaver. He is from the Chamar community of Baisa village in Jaunpur district of Uttar Pradesh state. Due to the decline in the handloom weaving industry, Ram was finding it difficult to make a living from weaving. So Ram started to sell sweets and salt door to door for exchange of old goods. From this he managed about 20 – 25 Rupees (USD 0.5-0.6) a day.

When the PVCHR came to know about Ram’s death they contacted Ram’s family. Ram’s widow Ms. Dhanesara Devi informed the PVCHR that Ram had suffered an injury on his right leg and since then due to lack of treatment Ram was not able to walk anymore. To keep the family alive Dhanesara resorted to begging. She was also managing an additional 120 Rupees (USD 3) per month by washing plates at a neighbor’s house.

Ram has two children of which the elder is Mr. Manoj Kumar. He is aged 20 years and working as a manual labourer. However being a member of the Chamar caste, he finds it difficult to get work most days. Even on the days he is employed he is paid 60 Rupees (USD 1.5), which is below the minimum wages declared by the state government. Anju is Ram’s daughter and is aged 14 years. She is studying in class IV at the primary school where she is able to manage her food on school days under the mid-day meal scheme.

On Ram’s death the family did not have any money for the funeral. The villagers donated some money to the family with which the family managed the funeral. The village head Mr. Ram Jeet Yadav and the village secretary Mr. Hawaldar Yadav visited Ram’s house and assured the family that an Antyodaya Anna Yojana card (red card) under the rationing scheme will be issued to the family soon. The card is issued to the poorest of the poor amongst the Below the Poverty Line (BPL) families. It will help the family in the future to obtain subsidised food grains from the local ration shop. However, this offer to Ram’s family has come too late to save Ram’s life. The PVCHR was informed by Ram’s widow that in the past when the family pleaded with the village head for such a help, the village head had refused it on the ground that the Chamar community in the village does not need any help. In the recent past the state government allotted 25 decimal land to Ram’s family. But the village head only gave 10 decimal land and kept the rest for himself. The family as of now lives in a thatched house in this property.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

Baisa is a village in Jaunpur district of Uttar Pradesh state predominantly occupied by the Chamar community. About 175 families reside in the village out of which 90 percent are from the Chamar community. Almost all these families, but for one or two exceptions, are landless. The main source of income for the villagers is from handloom weaving, manual labour and farming. Even though according to the state government records several families are entitled for ration cards in the village, it is alleged that about half of them are not given their cards by the village head. These cards, if issued would entitle the families to receive subsidised food grains through the ration shops. However, the PVCHR is informed that the village head with the connivance of the licensee of the local ration shop has withheld the cards from being distributed to the families to sell the food grains to private restaurants in the black market. This is a common practice in India.

When the PVCHR tried to address the issue of starvation and malnutrition among the villagers, particularly concerning the lower caste families to the village head, Mr. Ram Jeet Yadav, he replied that he is not concerned about the welfare of the untouchables living in his village. He further stated that ‘…the Chamar in the village has gone mad … [and that he] … have no plans to give them any food which is to be distributed by the village or through the ration shop’.

The PVCHR and the AHRC in the recent past have reported several cases where the village administration and the persons running the village administration practicing caste based discrimination. In most cases the discriminatory practices have led to deaths from starvation. Such discrimination is not unique to Baisa village or to any particular region in Uttar Pradesh state. Caste based discrimination is widely practiced across India, particularly in the North Indian states, which is also euphemistically referred to as the ‘cow belt’ owing to the predominance of the Hindus living in these regions.

The district as well as the state administration often depends upon the village administration for the implementation of various government welfare programmes. These programmes cover a wide spectrum of services including health cover to distribution of food grains and primary education. Very often, due to caste based discrimination, most of the Dalit households are excluded from these programmes. The most common practice is these families to be ignored by the village administration often leading them to appalling living conditions.

Ram’s case is yet another case in a series of appeals and alerts the AHRC in conjunction with its local network groups have issued in the past few years. The issue of hunger and malnutrition, a prominent theme which the AHRC has been taking up these days, particularly from India depicts the extent to which the right to food–a necessary corollary of the right to life–has been denied in India. The lower caste communities in India, particularly the Dalit and other tribal communities being underprivileged and forced to the ‘economic bottom line’ in India suffer the worst due to the systematic denial of their right to equality, dignity and thus right to life and food.

In the recent past, the AHRC has also come across such discrimination regarding the right to food and also health, practiced against other yet another minority communities like the Muslim handloom weavers in Uttar Pradesh. In that case a large number of handloom weavers in Varanasi district are facing deplorable circumstances, particularly concerning their health. Regarding this the AHRC has issued an open statement titled: Please take immediate actions to help tuberculosis patients in Varanasi – Uttar Pradesh.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write to the authorities mentioned below expressing your concern in this case. Please urge the authorities in India to immediately attend to the living condition of Ram’s family. The state government authorities in Uttar Pradesh must immediately attend to the living condition of the lower caste families in Baisa village. The district administration of Jaunpur district must immediately investigate into the allegation against the village head Mr. Ram Jeet Singh who has been denying allotment of ration cards to the villagers.

Corruption in dealing with rationed articles is a crime in India under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955. The authority to take actions under this law is the local police and the District Magistrate. The District Magistrate of Jaunpur must be urged to take immediate actions against the allegations of corruption in the public food distribution in the village.

The AHRC is also writing a separate letter to the UN Special rapporteur on the Right to Food calling for an intervention in this case.

 

 

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