Maharashtra: The empty posts that are making state lose fight vs malnutrition

Underscoring the severity of malnutrition in the tribaldominated districts of Maharashtra government data procured through RTI by NGO Samarthan has revealed that 51104 children aged up to six years have died of diseases caused by the prolonged lack of nutrients in the last 15 years The government however appears to be oblivious to the reality as 101 key managerial and supervisory posts lie vacant in just Palghar the nearest to Mantralaya among the statersquos 16 tribaldominated districtsNot just tribal children but their mothers are also affected by malnutrition PicsHanif PatelThough the Chief Executive Officer CEO of Zilla Parishad Palghar district said that vacant posts are being filled with contractual employees an activist working for tribal issues said most of the vacant posts are at managerial and supervisory levels which can be filled up by hiring responsible staffTribes are spread across hamlets in coastal urban and hilly regions of Thane Raigad Pune Nashik Ahmednagar Dhuke Jalgaon Nandurbar Amravati Yavatmal Nanded Gondia Gadchiroli Nagpur and Chandrapur The living conditions of tribals would be no different in these districts than those living in Palghar Despite various government schemes for employment minimum wage free grain and livelihood the issues of low birth weight LBW preterm birth and poor nutrition continue in tribaldominated districtsSAM in children across tribal regions has been increasing for three years most acutely in Nandurbar district PicsHanif PatelldquoAs per data sourced from the director Health Department Government of Maharashtra through RTI in the last 15 years more than 51000 tribal children died in the state The worst affected district is Nandurbar where the number of children with Severe Acute Malnutrition SAM has been on the rise in the last three years Till December 2022 there were a total of 3939 SAM children in Nandurbarrdquo said Rupesh Kir coordinator of Samarthan an NGO that works on government data to bring transparency in the budgetary process for the upliftment of tribals in MaharashtraIn 2020 there were 2540 SAM children in 16 tribaldominated districts The number rose to 2960 and 5327 at the end of 2021 and 2022 respectively as per Samarthanrsquos report The president of Zilla Parishad in Palghar district Prakash Nikam said ldquoPalghar is a tribaldominated district but more than 100 key posts have been vacant for many years How will the government reach out to tribals in the remotest hamletsrdquoAccording to professionals working in tribal areas low literacy among adults ultimately feeds into childrenrsquos malnourishmentMultiple posts vacantActivist Vivek Pandit who works on tribal issues said ldquoTribal populations continue to suffer a lot in Jawhar and Mokhada talukas in Palghar district The government is yet to fill the posts of talukalevel Block Development Officers BDOs which have been vacant for a year The post of districtlevel BDOs ClassII has been vacant for the last 13 years Other posts like assistant project director deputy program coordinator deputy engineers in Talasari Dahanu Mokhada Jawhar Wada and Vasai district welfare officer and 20 posts in the primary education department are vacant Other departments like water supply health and agriculture have multiple key posts vacant for many yearsrdquoPoor medical systemDr Varsha Vinay Patil who has been treating tribal children in Palghar district for many years told midday that there is a shortage of medicines at hospitals in rural areas ldquoAfter seven years in Wada taluka now I am treating tribal children in Jawhar taluka Tribal children are completely neglected in the Palghar district There is a huge shortage of iron tablets and antibiotics at hospitals in the Palghar district The government has multiple schemes to uplift tribals but the shortage of medical staff and medicines at hospitals means that undernourished children are not treated on timerdquo Dr Patil saidMalnourished children are more prone to pneumonia recurring cough and cold TB etcldquoDue to low immunity levels underweight children get easily infected with many fatal diseases like pneumonia recurring cough and cold TB etc The mortality rate is high among tribal children because they are undernourished and not given proper care Their mothers are also undernourishedrdquo she added ldquoThe issue of malnutrition is acute in tribaldominated districts because the literacy rate is negligible Tribal populations are unable to avail the facilities of all government schemes as most of them are unaware of themrdquo Dr Patil addedlsquoFilling up postsrsquoThe CEO of Palghar Zilla Parishad Bhanudas Palve said ldquoWe are filling up vacant posts with contractual employees It is not a big issue Early marriage multiple pregnancies and poor literacy rate are the major issues on which we are working on a longterm basis Due to early marriage tribal girls are prone to delivering babies with low birth weights Also most lactating mothers tend not to breastfeed due to which children later become undernourished So we are already working on various issues simultaneouslyrdquo ldquoAlso we have been running many programmes to boost nutrition in lactating mothersrsquo breast milkrdquo he addedlsquoGovt must wake uprsquoPandit who also heads the statelevel Tribal Development Review Committee said that the conditions of infants and lactating mothers will continue to deteriorate if key posts are not immediately filled ldquoPalghar district administration is fully paralysed The governmentrsquos development schemes are implemented through Zilla Parishad officials How will the government schemes reach beneficiaries if key posts in tribaldominated districts lie vacant for yearsrdquo Pandit saidldquoHow will employmentguarantee schemes be implemented Why have these posts not been filled BDOs and ABDOs canrsquot be hired on a contractual basis Palghar is a tribaldominated district where responsibility lies on government officers A contractual employee cannot take this huge responsibilityrdquo he saidldquoIf the government does not wake up on time to fill up these positions in Palghar district grave issues like malnutrition and low birth weight will continue This is the condition of just one district the other 15 tribaldominated districts also need the immediate attention of the state government to safeguard tribal children already reeling under SAM and Moderate Acute Malnutrition MAMrdquo he said2540Kids with Severe Acute Malnutrition SAM in Maha in 2020