‘Death’s welcome here, at least it gets us attention and some food’

‘‘Back to normal,’’ says Lal, as his wife and five surviving children crowd into their spartan hut in Brahmpura village, 350 km south of Jaipur. ‘‘It took the death of my sons for people to wake up. I think the good times will last for at least a few months.’’

Just like it did for Ramji Lal in Bilkheda Mal in October 2002. The Congress was in power then, defending their case just like the Vasundhara Raje government is doing now. ‘‘Starvation death,’’ says the Opposition. ‘‘Malnutrition, disease,’’ retorts the government.

‘‘It really doesn’t matter how they died,’’ says an unemotional Lal. ‘‘The fact is that they are dead.’’

And slowly, everyone in Brahmpura is coming to believe that a death is good. ‘‘It gets us immediate attention, we get food, money. Otherwise, who cares,’’ says a bitter Nathi Bai.

‘‘Just look around,’’ says Devi Lal, another villager. ‘‘We can’t really buy anything. No money.’’

But 35 km away, in the district collectorate, there are files that are crammed with money. Lakhs have been sanctioned in the name of the Sahariyas for the last 25 years. A separate Sahariya Development Programme has been running in the region since 1978. There are at least a dozen schemes running to ‘‘educate, socially uplift and improve the Sahariya way of life’’.

‘‘Since 1978, Rs 27 crore has been sanctioned specifically in the name of Sahariyas,’’ clarifies District Collector Rajendra Bhanawat, rubbishing all other claims as inflated. ‘‘So far we have spent Rs 20 crore on them. Today, on an average, Rs 2 crore is spent on them, and this is besides the other national and state programmes which also cover them.’’

But Rs 27 crore, a Sahariya beauty contest and numerous development programmes later, the Sahariyas are still hitting the headlines for deaths.

The Vasundhara Raje government has announced Rs 26 crore for the Sahariyas and bureaucrats have spent hours behind closed doors trying to ‘‘solve the problem’’.

But no one can really explain the over 20 deaths so far, considering that there is no drought in the region. The monsoons have been good, the schemes are wonderful but people are dying.

Bureaucrats fall back on the old theory that does the rounds here every time there is a death: the Sahariyas have a drinking problem, there’s malnutrition, and they don’t go to doctors on time. Divisional Commissioner J C Mohanty admits that things are just like they were when he was a collector in the area, almost 20 years ago.

Ignoring the signs of a delayed monsoon, the administration did pretty much nothing as the Sahariyas slowly dipped into their reserves through June and July.

Then when the rains came, the government was so happy celebrating the success of its pujas that they didn’t do any routine check on the Sahariya pulse. Disease struck and children started dying. Then the rains stopped and a prolonged dry spell began. Their crops failed. The government was still celebrating.

It has taken 20 odd deaths for the Raje government to get its act together. First knee-jerk reaction was to paint every Sahariya house with a notice stating that they were henceforth entitled to 35 kgs of wheat every month at the rate of Rs 2 per kg. Not a single man, womn or child in Brahmpura can read that sign—they are illiterate.

Then bureaucrats went into a huddle even as demands for Raje to visit the lace grew louder. After two days of ‘‘intense discussions’’ they say they have a solution.

‘‘The Sahariyas were dependent on the forest and they have lost out to the environment protection act,’’ explains Mohanty. ‘‘Now we have decided, based on a consensus, that we will make 40 enclosures in the forest area, break it up into 100 hectares each and give 100 people 100 days of employment there. They will be our partners in conserving the forest and we will share the profits.’’ This is just the latest in a whole range of schemes implemented since 1978, including a Sahariya beauty pageant. Nothing has changed.