Tribal still survive on food cooked from grass

Nai Dunia, Bhopal, jan 8, 2007

by Aarti Pandey

An op-ed in hindi vernacular Nai Dunai in Bhopal challenges political leadership and state’s claim of implementation of various schemes in the state of Madhya Pradesh for benefit of women and children. This op-ed speaks about village Taka in the district Tikamgarh of the state wherein tribal’s till today have to survive on chapattis cooked after grinding seeds of samai (grass seeds). It speaks of pathetic situation of tribal’s in the state. Though state has had many schemes for benefit of people but this op-ed challenges them .This includes state’s bal sanjvini scheme for combating malnutrition among children, national rural health management, national employment rural guarantee schemes. It relates the situation of women and children when hundreds of years ago Maharana Pratap went into hiding and had to eat chapattis cooked of grass and this is true in this century too.


Aarti is the media fellow of Makhanlal National University of Journalism, Bhopal.
(This is adapted shorter version in english of the full article in hindi.)