Fact Finding Report

on

Alleged starvation death of a disabled child in Sargimunda village of Nuapada district

Published

by

Odisha KhadyaAdhikarAbhiyan

July 2019

Fact finding report

on

Alleged starvation death of a disabled child in Sargimunda village ofNuapada district

Introduction: the background

A suspected case of starvation death of a disabled child in Nuapada district was reported1on 10th July

2019.According to the news report, GoutamBehera, 17, a locomotor disabledchild2 died on 8th of July

2019 allegedly of starvation without any food for five days till his death. Goutam was from

Sargimunda village of Karlakot Panchayat under Boden block of Nuapada district.

At a time when a number of social safety programmes are implemented by the government, this

news report came as a shocker and prompted senior members of the Odisha

KhadyaAdhikarAbhiyanfor fact-finding of the case through a three-member team.

Objective and methodology

The primary aim of the fact-finding was to check the veracity of the argument placed in the

abovementioned news report, and to ascertain how and why such a death could happen when the

government has floated many schemes to ensure food security and social safety of the poor people

of Odisha. The other objective of the exercise was to examine the social background of the incident,

if any.

Methodology set for fact finding was very simple. The team was assigned to visit the particular

village where the incident occurred, talk to the immediate family members of the deceased, the

neighbours and other villagers of the said village, and to gather information to establish under what

condition the death could occur.

The team while doing its duty followed all rules3 of fact-finding, as defined by the Queens University

IRC, Canada.

Members of the team

1. Sameet Panda: Mr. Panda is a trained social worker based out of Bhubaneswar. Actively involved

with theOdisha KhadyaAdhikarAbhiyan,his areas of focus include food security and social safety.

2. BasudevMahapatra: Mr.Mahapatra is a Bhubaneswar based independent journalist reporting and

writing on environment, and developmental issues based in rural India.

3. Ajit Panda: Mr. Panda is a Khariar (Nuapada) based journalist representing The Pioneer and, also,

a development analyst with expertise on issues related to food security, migration and social safety.

Date and place of the visit

Date of visit: 13th of July 2019

Place of visit: Sargimunda village, under Boden block of Nuapada district

1https://www.dailypioneer.com/2019/state-editions/no-food-for-five-days--youth-starves-to-death.html

2The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child defines children as all human beings below the age of 18 (http://hrlibrary.umn.edu/instree/k2crc.htm) 3https://irc.queensu.ca/articles/golden-rules-fact-finding-six-steps-developing-fact-finding-plan

The findings

The family of the deceased:

GoutamBehera4, 17, as per the Aadhaar card, was living with his elder sister DebantiBehera, 22. They

belong to OBC community. Goutam’s mother died when he was 4-year-old. Their father

GajrajBehera, a daily wage labourer and small farmer had deserted the brother sister duo since last

3 years. He, the father, now lives with his second wife and children in a different house in another

lane of the village.

In the name of assets the sibling duo had only a pair of old clothes, thee pieces of utensils, a water

bucket and an umbrella. The front door of the dilapidated house they lived in was not there5, and it

was only an open entry point.

Status of entitlements:

With support from local social workers Goutam got his disability certificate6, no. 780/482, on 30th

March 2010. Though he was completely immobile with no functional ability below his waist, he was

given a certificate for 40% disability. His disability pension got sanctioned on 7th January 2015 and he

was issued with disable pension card7, number 2101/14-15. The last time he received disability

pension of Rs. 500 (Rupees Five Hundred) was on 16th June 2019.

The brother-sister duo could get a ration card after multiple appeals and complaints by the villagers,

and efforts by sympathisers like Ajit Panda who on 8th January 2019 posted a twit highlighting the

distressful condition of Goutam and Debanti and marked it to the office of the Chief Minister. The

local administration issued Priority Household Card (card no-25010810444) in the name of Debanti

on 14th January 2019 entitling them for 10 kilogram of rice, five kg each, per month. They received

their quota of rice last time on 25th May 20198, nearly one and half months before Goutam’s death.

Ordeal of apathy, torture and hunger:

Sargimunda is a remote village which is around 100 kilometres from the district head quarter. It is a

tribal populated village with some OBC and SC population. The visiting team members met Debanti

and her relatives as well as neighbours and a few other villagers of Sargimunda.

According to Debanti, life of both she and her brother had a very difficult time since the death of

their mother. Their father Gajraj remarried six months after the death of their mother. At that time

Goutam was able to walk and he studied till class V in the village school. As his disability grew, he

was then sent to school for disable children at Khariar where he completed class VII where he had to

stop education and returned home as his condition deteriorated. He was not able to walk anymore

and became completely immobile due to lack of functional ability below his waist. He then remained

confined to his tri-cycle.

Debanti attended her brother which included washing him, cleaning his faeces, feeding him etc.

Goutam was never attended by his father or the step mother but was often beaten by both the

parents for not being able to manage his own affairs. One day, the parents drove Goutam out of the

4Picture 1, annexure

5Picture 2, annexure

6Picture 3, annexure

7Picture 4, annexure

8Picture 5, annexure

house and he had totake shelter under a tree. His father then put up a plastic sheet on the top of the

tri-cycle to protect him from rain and sun.

Debanti used to visit her brother every day with food and also helped him in bathing and cleaning.

She brought Goutam back to the house only after her father and step mother moved out of the

house as they built a house for their own with support under Rural Housing scheme. According to

Debanti, once Goutam moved back to the house he started managing the home by moving around

the vicinity with his tri-cycle and collecting alms. He was the only earning member to manage two

square meals for both of them through begging. Debanti has a severe dermatological problem9 in

her hands because of which she is unable to undertake any hard manual work.

Things turned bad to worse for the family after Goutam developed a wound in his back which didn’t

heal with local medicine. He could not even ride his tricycle any more. Debanti, with support from

her neighbour, called the ambulance and took him to district headquarter hospital, Nuapada. They

stayed in the hospital for one and half months and came back home after it healed. It also needed

some pressure and appeal from local political workers for proper treatment at the hospital. Debanti

was of the view that during Goutam’s treatment at the hospital, her brother’s treatment was made

free, and food for both of them was taken care by the hospital.

The discharged slip of hospital says Goutam was suffering from Paraplegic bedsore. Doctor had

prescribed fourmedicines which he had to take regularly to recuperate. Since two of the four

prescribed medicines were not available at the government pharmacy, she had to purchase those

from private drug stores. Most of the Goutam’s disability pension went in buying those medicines.

With whole pension money going for buying medicine and Goutam not being able to beg anymore,

the siblings had to survive with the PDS rice and some meagre support from the neighbours.

According to Debanti, after the PDS rice got over, she managed few days by asking for food from her

neighbours. But, after a point, she was too ashamed to ask for food any more. “Even though we

didn’t have anything to eat for five days, how long could I have approached neighbours for food and

other supports? But my brother could not bear hunger anymore and he finally succumbed to it,”

Debanti shared her ordeal in tears. Goutam died on 8th July at 7 PM.

Sadly, her neighbours claimed to be unaware of the dire situation the brother-sister duo was going

through. Nor did the villagers bother to check their condition. Asked how they could be so

indifferent, they showed their own state of poverty and blamed Debanti for not informing others

about the condition the brother and sister went through.

Callous approach by the administration

The local administration was very much aware of the state of distress of the siblings. But, instead of

including them under Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY), which they were entitled to, entitlements were

kept limited to a PHH card.

While speaking to fact finding team members, Laxmikanta Behera, 45, a villager, shared that he

requested the then district collector for converting the PHH to AAY. But the request was declined

outright, as he said. However, this claim couldn’t be verified.

As her dermatological issue has crippled Debanti, administration could have taken steps to include

her in disable pension category proactively. But no such steps were taken.

9Picture 6, annexure

Goutam was a beneficiary of Emergency Feeding Programme and was getting one cooked meal from

the local Anganwadi centre till the programme was closed 5 (April 2015) years back. The siblings

could have easily been provided one cooked meal either from school or the AWCs in the village.

They were even denied a house under rural housing scheme citing that their father, who deserted

both the children, had already availed the benefit under the scheme. Non-appearance of the names

of the brother and sister in the Socio Economic Caste Census was cited as the other reason.

Abdication of responsibility and violation of relief code norms

Local media reached the village on 9th morning being informed about Goutam’s death. The block

administration was informed by the media personnel regarding the incident as it was a suspected

case of starvation death. Mr. Manoj Mohanty, Additional Block Development Officer of Boden block,

reached the village little later. Soon after arrival, he persuaded the villagers to cremate the body at

the earliest, villagers said.

According to Debanti, even though she informed the said officer that they had nothing to eat for five

days and Goutam died of starvation, he didn’t pay heed to it but kept on insisting for early cremation

of the dead body.

As per LaxmikantBehera, as he and a few other villagers requested the ABDO to arrange transport to

take the body to the nearest Community Health Center at Boden for post-mortem because Debanti

claimed that it was a case of starvation, the officer didn’t accede to the request and told that calling

the police would lead to unnecessary legal complications causing harassment to the villagers.

On the other hand, when questioned by the present media, the ABDO responded that he would not

be able to confirm whether it was a case of starvation death or not. In the end, the body was

cremated without being sent for post-mortem aftermath.

Because the day of visit was a second Saturday and the day following was Sunday, concerned

government officials couldn’t be accessed for verification of all claims made by Debanti and her

fellow villagers.

But, going by norms of Odisha Relief Code, para 39 of it states that an officer not below the rank of

Tahasildar should conduct inquiry of a suspected starvation death case. The code further states that

“a UD should be registered and the body is taken for post-mortem. Findings in the post-mortem

should weigh in deciding the case of starvation”.

So, there seems to be complete violation of the relief code norms both in terms of the rank of official

who investigated the case and the investigating officer declining to ensure post-mortem even after

being requested by the villagers despite claims by the deceased’s sister that her brother died due to

starvation.

Post death scenario

Now, after death of Gautam, the administration flung in to action with the case being highlighted by

the local media. Debanti was issued with an AAY card hurriedly on 9th of July along with 70 kg of

rice10, which was two month quota under AAY, issued by the concerned Block level authorities. Just

to remind, this was denied multiple times when Goutam was alive.“Had it done earlier by the block

or district administration, the death of Goutam could have been prevented,” Debanti claimed.

10

Picture 7 & 8, annexure

Debanti also received Rs. 2000/- in cash under Harsihchandra scheme for cremation and related

rituals. She has been assured by the administration to be given a house under rural housing scheme.

A sum of rupees 30000 has also been transferred to her account after Goutam’s death.

This apart, Debanti has been shifted to a rehabilitation home, Swadhar Griha of Chetana Mahila

Sangathana, in Komna for the time being. And, she has also been assured by the administration that

she would be provided with proper treatment for her dermatological problem.

Observations and recommendations

The team after discussing with Debanti, sister of the deceased, and various stakeholders including the neighbours and villagers is of the view that Goutam Behera, a disabled child, was suffering from chronic hunger and starved for continuous five days, which ultimately resulted in his death.

The siblings had access to basic social security provisions i.e. disability pension for Goutam and PHH card for both with an entitlement of 10 kg rice per month. This was never sufficient as both of them were unable to work due to physical disability. A temporary ailment like a wound in Goutam’s case disrupted their already strained resources pushing them to hunger and a starvation death.

It was a sad case of complete abdication of parental responsibility by the parents of the deceased even though the children were in such a dire state. The torture and abandonment by the parents might have led to severe stress worsening physical and mental well-being of both the siblings in general and the deceased in particular.

This is a clear case of administrative negligence and apathy on many counts. The siblings being disabled, living on alms and abandoned by their parents must have been the first priority to include them in all possible government run social safety schemes proactively. But, unfortunately, they were categorically denied for an AAY card before death of Goutam even after repeated requests by the siblings, villagers, social workers and a few media persons.

Also, the siblings had to live in a dilapidated house with no door as they were denied of a house under rural housing. Despite the fact that Debanti was disabled due to dermatological complication, she neither got any treatment nor got included under a pension scheme.

The team found that there was complete violation of Odisha Relief Code by not conducting the investigation according to set norms and declining to facilitate mandatory post-mortem despite claims by the sister of the deceased that it was a death due to starvation.

The team also felt that it was a tragic case of societal apathy as the siblings’ neighbours couldn’t know when the siblings were starving for five days and, maybe in a state of not being informed, couldn’t extend them support with food and care.

Looking into the breakdown of societal support system, it is essential to develop a roster where names of such families and individuals in need of care and support, suffering from chronic hunger are updated on a regular basis. They must be provided with at least a square meal a day through Anganwadi centre or any other mechanism the government feels appropriate.

PRI members could be entrusted to identify the cases of vulnerable households on the verge of slipping into hunger. The condition of such identified families should be discussed during Panchayat level nodal meetings. In case of such individuals/ families not included under TPDS, they should immediately be issued gratuity relief cards by the Panchayat.

In every Panchayat, there must be hoardings or wall writings explaining the symptoms for identification of individuals on the verge of starvation, points of reporting of such cases, and existing government mechanism for rendering support to such individuals.

The Department for Social Security and Empowerment of Person with Disabilities in its letter no 2493/SSEPD, issued on April 5, 2017, had directed the District Collectors to undertake health check-up of pensioners during pension distribution day. It should be followed in letter and spirit.

At the societal level it is essential to form collectives of caring citizens including elderly, youth, SHG members and other concerned individuals. These concerned citizens must be sensitized on the plights of elderly, disabled and other people in need of care, empathy and support and/ or vulnerable to hunger. These collectives can act as an important actor in building a social safety net. They can also take proactive steps so that no one suffers from chronic hunger and starvation.

The State Government should come out with immediate order (joint order by Department of W&CD and Mission Shakti, and Department of Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water) to provide with dignity one meal per day from nearby AWC or School to person or families living with hunger. This is important post Emergency Feeding Programme. The concerned Sarpanch should not only communicate this to the local AWC/ School but also should keep track of and report about the health and wellbeing of the vulnerable.

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Annexure

Relevant pictures

Picture 1: Goutam on wheel chair with his sister Debanti

Picture 2: Goutam’s house without a door

Picture 3: Goutam’s disability certificate

Picture 4: Goutam’s pension book

Picture 5: Ration card in the name of Debanti

Picture 6: unusual growth of flesh in the hands and other body parts of Debanti doesn’t allow her to do any hard work

Picture 7 & 8: AAY card and ration issued to Debanti after death of GoutamBehera