The Week India – July 14, 2019

44 THE WEEK • JULY 14, 2019

INVESTIGATION

BIHAR

I

t is early morning, but heat and

humidity hang heavily over the

Musahar settlement of Manjhi

Tola of Harivanshpur panchayat,

Vaishali district. As we make our way

to the house of Sunny Kumari, one of

the seven children in the panchayat

who died in the Acute Encephalitis

Syndrome (AES) outbreak in June,

what is more oppressive is the desti-

tution enveloping every individual,

especially kids. Naked and mud-

caked children—many of them with

obvious signs of malnourishment

like shrunken limbs, dilated stomach

and discoloured hair—dot the set-

tlement, mostly in the care of slightly

older sisters. A few roam around aim-

lessly, while others eat whatever they

have—from dry, leftover chapatis to

palm fruits and rice soaked in water.

Th ree lucky ones, however, happily

munch on mini snack packages,

probably from a roadside kiosk.

About a kilometre away, in angan-

wadi number 91, helper Sona Devi

claims she has made khichdi for

children—providing a “hot cooked

meal” is part of the supplementary

nutrition programme of the Integrat-

ed Child Development Services. But

a peek into her aluminum vessel re-

veals nothing more than boiled rice,

just enough for seven children. Th ere

is not even dal. In the outer room,

nine girls wait for this “nutritious

diet”. None of them is from Manjhi

Tola, even though the settlement falls

under the anganwadi’s jurisdiction.

Sona defends the meagre quantity

of food, saying not many children

visit the centre, but she is unable to

explain the menu.

Back in Manjhi Tola, we meet

Sunny’s grandmother Munakia Devi,

who lives in a concrete house built

under the Pradhan Mantri Awas

Yojana. Most houses here are brick

structures, but many do not have

doors. Munakia says her house gets

fl ooded during rains. Her daughter,

she adds, left for her in-laws’ village

soon after Sunny’s death as she was

worried about the health of her two

other children. Munakia insists that

Sunny was quite healthy and had

dinner the night before she died. Did

they always have enough to eat? A

tentative yes is her answer. Was Sun-

ny enrolled in the local anganwadi?

A fi rm no is the reply.

Sunny, as per her Aadhaar card,

turned six this May. She had never

been to the anganwadi, nor had

the six other children who died in

the panchayat—four of whom were

below six years. “Th ey were not

registered as they were healthy,” says

anganwadi worker Ibha Kumari.

But, how does one defi ne healthy?

Close to Sunny’s house live Anush-

ka Kumari, 3, who looks younger

because of her shrunken body, and

her pregnant mother Mintu Devi, 20.

Th ey, too, have not been registered at

the centre, says Mintu. Several other

Musahars, a highly deprived Sched-

Go hungry,

baby

A faulty system deprives almost

two-thirds of Bihar’s children of

supplementary nutrition, leaving them

malnourished and prone to diseases

BY SRAVANI SARKAR/VAISHALI & PATNA

FOOD FOR TOT

A child eats rice soaked in water

at the Musahar community

settlement in Manjhi Tola