NUAPADA: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in 2006 had blamed hunger and malnutrition for deaths in this impoverished region of the State. Justice Shivraj V Patil had conducted the probe.
Similarly, a study of Food Related Nutritional Deficiency in KBK districts had found that while 95 per cent households took two square meals a day, 5 per cent had to do with one meal. Majority of the households (89 per cent) take dietary supplements only once a day and 6 per cent twice a day while 5 per cent go without any. The study was sponsored by the Planning Commission.
Despite these established findings, the Nuapada administration maintains that Laxman Jagat (27), Lochani Bewa (60) and Durbal Nag (55) of Kuliadangri village in Karanbahal gram panchayat in the district died of illness and not starvation. What the administration has failed to understand is that malnutrition exposes the body to diseases resulting in deaths.
Economist Amartya Sen had rightly observed that malnutrition and famine were more related to problems of food distribution and purchasing power. And this was the real cause behind the three deaths in the district even though the administration refuses to accept the fact.
Malnutrition not only increases the risk of infection but also responsible for tuberculosis. In areas like Nuapada that lacks access to safe drinking water, these additional health risks worsen the situation.
Meanwhile, Nuapada Sub-Collector Mahendra Pattnaik has submitted a report to Collector Janaki Ballav Mishra on the deaths. He, however, refused to share the cause of the deaths except that Laxman Jagat died of chronic illness. Mishra, on his part, listed out various development activities being undertaken in the district and job availability. But the fact remains that malnutrition-related deaths continue to haunt the region.