INDIA: A three-year-old girl is struggling from malnutrition 

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from the People’s Vigilance Committee on Human Rights (PVCHR), a local human rights organisation working in Uttar Pradesh state, regarding the case of a three year old Mushar girl who is severely malnourished and struggling for her life.

CASE DETAILS:

Poonam is three years and four months old and is the youngest daughter of Jiya Lai Mushar, resident of the village Dallipur Fattepur in Baragaon block in Varanasi district. On the 28 August 2007, Ponam was diagnosed as malnourished but with the help of PVCHR she was able to receive treatment.  However, Poonam’s health continued to deteriorate and she became severely malnourished.  She was diagnosed as Grade III malnourished by the Primary Health Centre in Newada and weighed only 6 kilograms and 800 grams.

Jiya Lal and his wife Mita are Mushars from the scheduled caste, considered to be ‘untouchable’ by the Upper Castes in India. They work as migrant labourers in the brick kiln factory in Jaunpur district, work which is irregular, physically very demanding and poorly paid.  The Mushar suffer severe poverty and are often vulnerable to becoming bonded labourers and being further marginalised and exploited.

Jiya Lal has a BPL (Below Poverty Line) ration card No. 076277 that was issued in the name of his deceased father Lalman.  However, this does little to cover the economic hardship faced by Jiya Lal, his wife, two children and his mother.  They are landless and have few livelihood opportunities to lift them out of poverty.

Although, Poonam was registered at the Fattepur Anganwadi centre (child care centre) and the Auxiliary Nursing Mother (ANM) Ms. Reena Devi certified that she was Grade III malnourished, her grandmother claims that she is still not receiving a nourishing diet.  On the 18 March 2008 a letter was sent to the District Magistrate asking for emergency assistance of Rupees 1,000 (USD 24) as laid out by the Chief Secretary of Uttar Pradesh to ensure Child Rights are protected under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution but no response has been received.

Jiya Lal is responsible for taking care of his mother who should be entitled to an old age pension that is supposed to be distributed by the state to assist aged persons who may have very little or no pension on which to live.  Yet, corruption at all levels of distribution is responsible for the failure of this money to reach those that are in desperate need.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

The village of Dallipur Fattepur is dominated by the Mushar and they are landless and homeless.  Mushars often work as agricultural labourers, carpet weavers and in the brick kilns. This work is irregular, physically tough and poorly paid.  There are only two Anganwadi health centre’s running in the whole village and these are not in the area dominated by Mushars. This is despite there being more than forty children between the ages of three and six living there.  Both health workers, Sushma Singh and Fattepur Reena Devi, are more than half a kilometer away from Dallipur Fattepur so the children are forced to cross a dangerous highway and canal in order to reach them, further jeopardising their safety.

Of the 77 Mushars living in this area, only 21 have a BPL card, 28 have an Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY), 4 have an Above Poverty Line (APL) card.  This leaves 24 families without any type of card for government assistance to which they are legally entitled.

In 1998 an allotment of 23 houses was made under Indira Awas Yojana but still no one has been given possession of this land and the dominance of the Upper Caste further enforces their destitution. On the 17 May 2007 members of the Patel community including Mr. Sanjeev son of Khurdhan, Mr. Ram Achal Patal son of Khali Charan, and Mr. Surya Lal son of Raj Narayen, Mr. Lal Bahadur and Mr. Amar Nath burnt Bechan Mushar’s housing in an act of intimidation and warning to stop the Mushar from fishing in a nearby pond. Bechan Mushar has still not received compensation for his housing under Indira Awas Yojana.

Such threatening of a person is an offense in law under the Indian Penal Code (IPC), 1860. Under Section 503 of the Penal Code, “Whoever threatens another with injury to his person, reputation or property, or to the person or reputation of anyone in whom that person is interested in…commits criminal intimidation.”  The punishment for criminal intimidation is prescribed in Section 506 of the Penal Code which mandates the accused, if proven guilty, to be imprisonment for two, required to pay a fine, or both.

The case has been registered at the Phulpur police station Case No. 188/07, under Section 147, 504, 323, 435 or the IPC and 3 (1) Scheduled Caste and the Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act 1989.

Further to this, corruption at the Public Distribution Shop (PDS) shop has meant that Dalit women are receiving rations that are under-weighed and over-priced in violation of the Public Distribution System (Control) Order 2001 (as amended in 2004), the Uttar Pradesh Scheduled Commodities (Distribution) Order 2004 and the license agreement. Only upon an enquiry into this complaint were rations distributed in the correct way.

On 3 April 2007 a letter was sent to National Human Rights Commission to ask for the opening of an Anganwadi centre, possession and allotment of land and for ration cards.  On 23 May a letter was sent to the Commissioner of Varanasi asking for the allotment of land.  On the 17 August a letter was sent to the National Human Rights Commission, District Magistrate and the Dr. N.C Saxena, the Commissioner appointed by the Supreme Court of India to enquire into cases of food security in India.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please send a letter to the authorities mentioned below expressing your concern about this case and calling for an immediate investigation. The AHRC has written a separate letter to the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food calling for an intervention into this case.

 

 

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