Starvation Deaths Continue to Occur in UP

A 60-year-old man in Uttar Pradesh's Kaushambi district allegedly died of starvation on Thursday night.

The shocking revelation came when autopsy was conducted, and the cause of death turned out to be malnutrition and starvation. The deceased was identified as Balram.

Balram's family alleged that they did not have even a grain of food at home during the past six days. His family was reportedly not receiving their monthly ration because his name was missing from the 2011 census list. Due to this, he couldn’t avail benefits under various schemes.

The district magistrate (DM) of Kaushambi, MK Verma, said that he sent the team as soon he received information [about Balram] and that he had been admitted to the district hospital. He confirmed that Balram’s name had been missing from 2011 census list.

“My father was starving for six days, as we did not have even a single grain at our home. He got sick due to starvation,” Archana, Balram's daughter, was quoted as saying by the local media.

According to reports, Balram was a tuberculosis (TB) patient and was living in a remote hamlet of a slum with his family. For some time, he was unable to even walk. Balaram could not be treated properly, as he had no money. His condition worsened, as he was starved further.

This is the 11th death due to starvation in Uttar Pradesh in two months. On October 10, a standard VII student from Sitapur—90 km away from Lucknow—reportedly set herself on fire because she wasn’t able to bear the pangs of hunger. She had reportedly found out that the only roti left—which was to be shared by the siblings—was finished by her younger brother.

After battling for life for nearly a week, she succumbed to her injuries.

The local village chief said that the family of the deceased couldn’t get the benefits of the PM Awas Yojana (housing scheme), as their names were absent from the list.

Apart from this, nine people of Musahar community died due to alleged malnutrition and different diseases in the past one month in three villages of Dudahi block in Kushinagar.

Meanwhile, according to the recently declared Global Hunger Index (GHI), India stands at 102nd spot out of 117 countries—placed much below its South Asian neighbours such as Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan.

The situation is even worse when one goes to Eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. UP, India’s most populous state, is among the four states with the highest malnutrition levels in the country, and every second child in the state suffers from stunted growth.

Photo Credit: ANI