Let them eat kernel...
In Kashipur, starvation continues to stalk its residents. Nearly 50 people died after consum-ing ungus-ridden mango kernel till August. But the state government defended this say-ing that mango kernel is nutritious and the deaths are due to food poisoning.
Kashipur epitomises the plight of Orissa perfectly. It shows how environmental degra-dation has led to abject poverty. In the past, Kashipur had a very traditional economy. The tribal population depended half the year on agriculture and the rest on forest produce. With the forest having been plundered for commercial gains, the entire population now has no source of livelihood. Deforestation has also resulted in massive soil erosion, thereby, affecting the agricultural fields.
Though it's been 14 years since the Orissa Tribal Development Pro-gramme was initiated in the region and more than Rs 140 crore spent on it to ensure food security, the natural resources stock has not grown. Rather it has degraded further. Kashi-pur's forest cover is receding by five per cent every year. And since the tribal development programme was adopted in 1988, more than 10,000 families have been added to its list of below poverty line fami-lies.
Jean Dreze, a professor with the Delhi School of Economics in an article in The Times of India points out environmental degra-dation and rampant corrup-tion as the prime reasons for poverty in Kashipur.