Satna: A chapati with a pinch of salt and some mustard oil is all that Madhu, a three-year-old girl from a hard-pressed tribal community in Madhya Pradesh, gets to eat on a regular basis. Milk and vegetables are rare luxuries that are available when her mother, Mamta, has enough savings to buy provisions from the village market. This mother and daughter are not alone in the deprivation.
Madhu and Mamta are part of the Mawasi tribe, a community of forest dwellers, with a population close to one lakh in Madhya Pradesh. According to statistics released by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, the state has 21,437 Mawasi households.
The Majhgawan Block in Satna district, where this story is reported from, has about 12 Mawasi villages, including Madhu’s village Barha Mawan. Her penury is shared by almost the entire tribe as food is scarce, employment opportunities have diminished, and educational and health facilities are inaccessible.
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