By HH Mohrmen
Can we believe that in this time and age we would still have parents who would not send (in spite of it available free of cost) their kids to school? And how can parents even withdraw their wards from school just because they were taught to do so by the leader(s) of their church? Can we believe that there are parents who would refuse to get their children medication and would also refuse support from the government Public Distribution System (PDS)? Can a citizen be an island to himself/herself and refuse to have to do anything with the government?
In the last few months this column has brought to light the existence of a religious sect (particularly in the Khasi-Jaintia part of the state) which bars its members from obtaining any assistance from the government including food under Public Distribution System. Many months later the government has finally taken cognizance of the fact that the members of this religious group are doing more harm than good to its own community. The Deputy Chief Minister P. Tynsong very recently told the press that the government has been aware of this problem since February last during the election to the State Assembly.
Preliminary studies indicate that the group is not yet organised but their presence is acknowledge by their neighbours or members of the church they used to belong to. This group is obvious to others because of their peculiar lifestyles and their attitude towards any of government schemes and projects. In many cases this group which is yet to sever ties with its parent church and attend the usual Sunday services of the church but they would have their own service in different locations at a different point of time in the week. It is learnt that the majority of the followers of this group in Jaintia Hills in particular are from the two major protestant denominations in the area. However, there are also members of other Christian denominations too.
The initial impression was that this was a stray case and it was assumed that the group existed in few places, but it was only when I accompanied my daughter during her field study to many villages in West Jaintia Hills that the sheer magnitude of this group came to light. A student of Public Health my daughter was concerned about the fact that there is a considerable gap between people who avail and those refuse vaccination in the different parts of the district. She embarked on the study to understand the issue.
It was during her study that we found that the followers of this group are almost everywhere in the district, and since her target area are villages which are within the Nartiang, Ummulong and Thangbuli Community Health Centres, it was found that the groups are present in many villages in the area. The followers of this group maintain a very special relationship amongst themselves and it was strengthened by their worship which is conducted in the houses of the members, or, at other times as reported in the press, even in the forest.
We have many stories where people who were in government jobs have resigned their posts because it is against their beliefs; there are teachers who resigned from their jobs and again these are not stray cases. Of course they are well within their rights to follow which ever religion they choose and they can worship whichever God they wish to but this group is totally antagonistic towards anything provided by the government. They are not only against enrolling themselves in the central government Aadhar system but they are also against using voters identity cards and to even exercise their right to vote in the last election.
It is also well within their rights, especially if they are adults, to refuse to take medication, consult the doctor and completely rely only on the power of prayer and the use of mustard oil and water to heal themselves, but what about the children? How can the parents refuse to provide medication for their wards when they are sick? It was found that almost all the members of this group refuse to get their babies, children and even the mothers themselves vaccinated. This is a very serious problem because if they refuse vaccination and medication, they not only put themselves in danger, but the entire village and even the state at risk.
They maintain an adamant attitude that they would not take any medication but would only rely on the power of prayer. There are families that would even scold the ASHA and the Anganwadi workers for taking us to meet them. And in many cases the ASHA and Anganwadi workers would avoid taking us to the members of this group because they were afraid of being reprimanded. These village workers had a tough time dealing with this group because they refuse to cooperate with them.
The question therefore is, what is the Government doing? When we have parents who put the lives of their children at risk isn’t its government’s duty to protect them? What is the point of Government providing free medical assistance to its citizens when we have groups that are against it? What is the point of providing medical insurance for the citizens when they are not going to avail it? What will happen if one of the members of this group comes into contact with a disease which is contagious in nature and can spread all over the place? Can the Government remain a mute spectator to what is happening?
There were reports that the members of this group have also stopped sending their kids to school and they even withdrew students who are still attending school. The adults can do whatever they like with their lives but how can the government allow them to play with the lives of their wards and put the future of the children in jeopardy? Isn’t this tantamount to denying the children below fourteen years of age their basic right to free and compulsory education which is guaranteed by Article 14 of the Constitution? The twin goals of providing basic education and the institution of Sarva Sikhsha Abhiyan are also to provide free and compulsory education to the children below 14 years of age but it has failed these kids.
This also defeats the very foundation for which the SSA was instituted. The question is, how can it be that the case of parents refusing to send their kids to school and withdrawing them from school, escape the scrutiny of the Department of Education? Why wasn’t this withdrawal of students from school reported to the higher authorities?
The story of one SSA teachers in East Jaintia hills district is amusing and it also puts the headmaster of the school in a dilemma. The teacher resigned from their jobs and as we all know SSA teachers do not receive regular payment of their salaries; the said teacher was due to get a few months of salary from the government. But after the teacher had resigned, he/she refused to even collect the salary due to him/her. This has put the headmaster in a Catch -22 situation as he does not know what to do with the money.
But the problem which is more serious is that the group refused to even avail the support provided by the government through the Public Distribution System. Of course it is also within one’s right to refuse PDS if one can afford it, but can it be at the cost of the health of the children? It is true that each and every citizen of this country is guaranteed by the constitution that he can follow whichever religion he likes, but can this freedom be misused to deny the children their basic human rights of health care and education and even food?
The point to note is that the parents by not giving their children health care and education which government is providing free of cost, have deliberately failed in their duties as parents to their children. So is this not the right juncture for the Government to intervene? This is a serious situation which can have drastic consequences on the health of the State and the future of the children and the Government cannot just turn a blind eye to what is going on.