Lost Tribe

Despite government promises, they have no access to safe drinking water, roads, health care and education. Yet, government records in Jashpur district alone show that Rs 7.31 crores have been spent on their upliftment under a special centrally funded project which took off almost five years ago.

Land allotted to the Korbas for cultivation under this scheme has been taken over by money lenders and landlords for as little as Rs 1,000 per acre since the Korbas have large debts to pay and no money to till the land themselves. So instead of becoming land owners the Korbas have become farm labourers. Potato cultivation started in this area just five years ago, making the Bagicha development block in Jashpur a pioneer in cash crop cultivation. Last year potatoes supplied to Kanpur, Allahabad and Bhubneshwar fetched Rs 5 crore. But the tribals got little of this money.

Despite all schemes, their condition down the years has shown no improvement. Twenty two year old Bindru’s life is a case in point. When he was born at Deodand village, his father had nothing to feed him and his mother. He bartered some utensils for a kg of rice and cooked it in muddy water. The following day he dug some wild tubers from the forest. It was their food for the next two days. Four years ago, when Bindru’s first child was born, he was in no better state than his father had been. He could not afford a hospital for his wife and borrowed Rs 100 from a money lender for his starving family. Bindu’s is not an isolated case. Most of the members of the Pahari Korbas have a similar story to tell.

Admits chief minister Ajit Jogi: ‘‘This is one of the primitive tribes whose fate has not changed much despite pumping in huge grants and special schemes exclusively for them. There is an urgent to recast these schemes to make them benefit oriented. It’s a tragedy that so many of them died of cholera because they had no access to local heath centres.’’

A semi-nomadic community, the Korbas live in the thick forests of Chhattisgarh, away from other tribal settlements. When they have a death in the family, they organise a feast. So when the cholera epidemic struck last month, they responded by organising a community feast, selling off the free distributed by the administration. ‘‘They live for the day at hand with no thought of tomorrow,’’ says block medical officer C D Bakhla.

A study by the Jabalpur medical college a few years ago showed that the men in the community were addicted to liquor and the women were malnourished and had very low haemoglobin counts. The tough terrain also makes it very difficult for any doctor to reach their area. And even when they are accessible as in Sanna, they are never seen on duty. Even when cholera broke out in the area, a senior doctor was missing in action.

‘‘Though some roads and schools have opened up in Korba land lack of awareness has still kept these facilities away from them,’’ says Dr Aruna Palta, an expert on the tribes of Chhattisgarh.

And till that awareness comes, disease and deprivation will continue to haunt Korba land.