No Attention Zone

Malaria, malnutrition, mining...the Adivasis living in Gadchiroli face multiple issues, but they feel the government is not doing enough for them

- Pritha Vashisth

IN the first week of March, Anil Netam and Dayarobai Netam, who live in Godari village, located in Korchi tehsil of Gadchiroli, Maharashtra, rushed their two children—a three-year-old daughter and six-year-old son—to a dawakhana (dispensary) close by. Both had high fever. The parents knew it was malaria. The village is tucked inside a forest, and the deadly mosquitoes are the biggest enemies of the people living in the village —bigger than the Naxal menace.

The doctor at the dawakhana referred them to a health facility in Gadchiroli—which is about 200 km from the village. Public transport is almost non-existent in the region and the parents did not have enough cash. The entire village pooled in some money and arranged for an auto. When they reached the clinic in Gadchiroli, the doctor referred them to a clinic in Chandrapur. While they were on the way, their daughter died in the mother’s lap. They managed to get the son admitted, but he also passed away the same evening. The parents returned to the village. The entire village mourned for two days. “The doctors kept on referring us from one hospital to the other. In the process, I lost my two children,” says the mother.

It’s been eight months since. It’s November—election month. The parents have still not gotten over the deaths. Malaria continues to be a menace. The Madia Gond tribes living here continue to suffer.