BANGLADESH: Destitution pushes several single elderly women into starvation 

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information about several elderly single women being pushed into starvation in the Ghorabandha village of the Gaibandha district of Rangpur division. Most of these destitute women have been widowed for decades with no family to bank upon and have been forced into begging to ensure mere survival. Most of them being now in their 70s and 80s, and therefore infirm and disabled, are unable to engage in even something that degrading and have thus been completely dependent upon the mercy of their neighbours. Their neighbours, in turn, in this district affected by floods and droughts alternatively are often too poor to help to save these women from starving. These women, like other vulnerable groups, are entitled to many welfare schemes like Vulnerable Group Feeding (VGF) program aimed at ensuring food security for the marginalised groups but have always slipped through such social security nets marred with corruption and criminal inefficiency of the system. That the AHRC has not learnt of any improvement in the situation despite having been reporting cases of hunger and food insecurity endemic to the area since 2010 is a telling comment on the gravity of the situation.

CASE NARRATIVE:

The AHRC has received definitive information about five single and destitute women being pushed into starvation in the Ghorabandha village of Gaibandha district in Rangpur division. Most of these women have been widowed for decades and have no immediate family member to take care of them. For example, 85 year old Jamila Begum (wrongly listed as being just 65 years as per official records) has been widowed for 27 years. Her elder son Late-Abdul Malek died soon after his marriage and the younger son Md. Fazlu Sheikh shifted to his in-laws houses. Her daughter too left for her in-laws house leaving her bereft of any family support. She has been suffering with many ailments including general body pain, joint pain, pain in bones, Rheumatic fever and many other diseases associated with chronic malnutrition. Unable to work because of her age and ailments, she often fails to arrange two square meals and gets compelled to beg for food.

Though actually entitled to both old age benefits and widow allowance but has refused for the elderly allowance on the basis of her incorrect age. Still, that does not debar her from widow allowances which she has never gotten despite assurances allegedly because she did not have money to bribe the officials.

Similar is the case of Halima Beowa w/o Late Shahedal of the same village. Poor and landless, she has been widowed for 38 years when her husband, a landless agricultural labour died. Having no work and only a divorced daughter, Sadarani Beowa with two daughters of her own to live with, she often manages her food only by begging. She too is entitled for both widow allowance as well as old age benefits but receives none. The reason, in her words, is that she has no money to bribe so she did not get any relief card. She has lost all faith in system and resigned herself to fate.

Sobiron Beowa w/o Late Yasin of the same village has suffered equally, if not more. The landless widow had been begging to make a living ever since her sick husband succumbed to her ailments 25 years ago. Her failing eyesight and inability to move makes even begging an arduous task for her. She too has been abandoned by the welfare schemes launched by the state. 72 year old Sarifon Nesha Beowa w/o Late Jaidal of the same village was a domestic servant before the death of her husband 20 years ago. Losing the job to old age induced frailties, she was left with no source of livelihood other than begging. She suffers with a myriad of diseases related with old age and chronic malnutrition. She, too, does not have any relief card as she did not have the money to bribe to union council chairman and members.

78 year old Suriton, w/o Late Minu Sheikh, has been widowed for 15 years. The only difference in her case is that she had to take to begging even before the death of her husband who was sick and unable to work. She, like rest of the suffering women in the village, is suffering with many diseases and cannot walk even to beg. Chairman and member of the Union Council have promised to her that she would be given an elder/widow/VGD card. She is yet to receive one despite her frequent trips to Union Council office braving all her physical and economic hardships.

The social security programs for the most vulnerable sections of population like the elderly and widows in Bangladesh often fail to reach them despite the fact that they are entitled to them. Primary reason behind this is deep rooted culture of corruption. The situation has gotten so worse, and deeply entrenched, that people often talk of bribe rates. For example, the average bribe ‘required’ to get relief cards ranges between 1000 to 2500 BDT. The administration, on its part, seem to be most unwilling to break this culture of corruption that perpetuates hunger and extreme poverty. One of the reasons behind that is the nexus between members of the political alliance ruling the country with the corrupt bureaucrats who tweak the system for their vested interests.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

Gaibandha is a poor and regularly flood ravaged district in northern part of Bangladesh is a developing county. It is one of the districts that is officially declared as affected by havoc caused by MONGA twice an year. Monga, also known as Mora Kartik, refers to months of death and disaster because of floods in September to November and in March-April and renders people jobless for 5 months an year. The districts suffer the vicious cycle of a drought followed by floods every year. Every year this district gets flooded and suffers drought. With no industries in the district, the loss of jobs in MONGA months renders people absolutely jobless and exposes them to the vicious cycle of debt and bondage. The agricultural department of the Government of Bangladesh has never tried to help the farmers in need, not even at the level of policy formation. Farmers have to play to the tunes of vested interests for seeds, fertilizer, diesel and even electricity. The situation is so bad that even in the years when farmers do manage to grow crops they fail to get good prices for them.

Conditions are even more arduous for the landless agricultural labourers who constitute more than 40 per cent of this particular village’s population. With no work available in 5 Monga months of year, they depend solely on the mercy of landlords.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write to the authorities mentioned below demanding immediate intervention for ensuring food security of these destitute elderly women in the village. You may also demand an inquiry into why they are not provided with any of the relief cards and other welfare schemes they are entitled to.

 

 

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