By Benjamin Lyngdoh
The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated hunger and malnutrition among communities in the State with the most impact being felt on the health and nutrition of children. It is well known that poor children in our country are devoid of basic nutritional food and more so in our State. For this purpose, the Government of India introduced the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme which is meant to provide holistic nutrition to poor and underprivileged children in order to tackle malnutrition and health problems. This scheme is supposed to cover poor infants, children, pregnant and lactating mothers with the ultimate aim of improving the dismal family health indices in India – some of the worst even among developing countries.
As per the fifth National Family Health Survey (NHFS-5) 2020, where a total of 17 states and 5 Union Territories (UTs) participated, Meghalaya was ranked 13th in the list for Neo-natal Mortality Rate (NMR) which means around 19 children per 1,000 live births died under 28 days. This is one of the worst in the country while states like Nagaland, Manipur and Jammu and Kashmir are ahead of us. For Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) the State was ranked 18th out of 20 states in the country with very poor IMR figures of around 24 children per 1,000 live births dying before turning one in Meghalaya. Under Five Mortality Rate (U5MR) which refers to the number of deaths of children under 5 years of age in a given year per 1,000 live births we are ranked 18th out of 20 states with a score of 23.4.
Despite such abysmal ranking and poor performance nationally, we continue to live in a state of denial, silence and stubbornness. And quite unsurprisingly, we only found ourselves in another scam making national headlines for the insensitivity and apathy of stealing and selling rice meant for poor children. Few weeks back we were being told by the Deputy Chief Minister of Meghalaya, Prestone Tynsong that ‘people should resort to having rice with vegetables,’ where he was mostly referring to the poor and daily wage earners in the state. Now the Social Welfare Department manned by one of the richest Cabinet Ministers from the UDP, Kyrmen Shylla has in many direct and indirect ways robbed and deprived the underprivileged children of even their basic right to eat food.
This is the harsh reality of our State today and it doesn’t take much to figure out that for petty personal gains and narrow-minded objectives of a few, the lives of lakhs of children and pregnant mothers doesn’t matter. And for this, some people would stoop to any level to build their empire through ill-gotten means. And if the children concerned are poor then the level and magnitude of loot is unimaginable since nobody is there to defend and protect their rights. What makes it even more alarming is that this practice might have been brewing for decades in the name of providing nutrition to children.
The recent raid conducted by the Assam Police exposed the corruption and deep nexus existing in the Social Welfare Department of Meghalaya. The raid found that 5000 tonnes of rice meant for children in Meghalaya under the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme was diverted. The seizure of 1,00,000 rice bags by the Police in Assam belonging to the Food Corporation of India (FCI), Shillong Division from a private godown in Boko, Kamrup district has shaken the conscience of many in the State. Each bag contains 50 Kg of rice with a current market value in Shillong of Rs 1900 per bag. A simple calculation of 1,00,000 rice bags of 50 Kg each at Rs 1900 per bag amounts to a whopping Rs 19 crore. With so much money involved, no wonder officials and top people in the Social Welfare Department are quiet and are even ready to sell their souls.
If this shameful act of diverting food grains from our poor children is not enough, workers in the godown were found to be re-packing this rice in the name of another brand ‘East Sunrise’ which is also owned by Continent Milkose Private Limited. This scam reminded me of the then-British Prime Minister Winston Churchill who deliberately ordered the diversion of food supplies from starving Indian civilians to well-supplied British soldiers and to top up European stockpiles. This led to the Bengal Famine where an estimated 3 million people died of starvation. The only difference in this case is the rice that was planned to be diverted was caught by the police in another state and it was meant to be repacked and sold in another brand to another client for pure money for the people at the helm of affairs.
Officials said the rice was procured by FCI, Shillong but the owner of the warehouse had repackaged the rice to be supplied to the Assam Rifles. If not caught this operation would have guaranteed the lobby involved in this modus operandi pure profits from this scam even if it means the cost of such profits comes at the expense of making our children go through uncontrolled hunger and excruciating sleepless nights.
The scam and its unimaginable repercussions resemble an unacceptable behaviour on the part of the officials concerned and its political bosses. Way back in 2004, the Supreme Court had said that private contractors would be banned from supplying supplementary nutrition and that Mahila Mandals or SHGs should be encouraged to supply meals to Anganwadis. This order of the top court mentioned Meghalaya as one of the states where there was a deep supplier-politician lobby with a firm grip over the ICDS rations supply business. But despite the order from the highest court of the land, the Social Welfare Department under Kyrmen Shylla went on to give contracts to benefit private companies such as Continental Milkose Private Limited over local self-help groups in the State depriving our women of basic employment and our children of their basic food to eat.
It is hard to believe how contracts worth crores of rupees were given in an opaque and suspicious manner to one company defying the central government’s guidelines and in contravention of Supreme Court orders without the knowledge of officials and the Minister concerned. This indicates a clear nexus of people in power especially in the Social Welfare Department to tailor guidelines and favour a tainted private company to play with the lives of lakhs of children in the State for petty personal gains of a few vested interests.
Despite the clarification from the Chief Minister, Conrad K Sangma to protect and shield his cabinet colleague Krymen Shylla, the facts on this case suggest the deep involvement and support from the Social Welfare Department without which this would have not been possible. In my opinion, this scam is just the tip of the iceberg and therefore a detailed investigation is required to look into the functioning and workings of the Department. How is it possible that such glaring irregularities can take place and everyone is unaware of it? This rather suggests a clear modus operandi where top officials and politicians in the concerned Department are involved and everyone is on the take.
The high-handed attitude of the Minister is such that he hardly finds it necessary to come before the public and clarify these anomalies. Needless to say, his other cabinet colleagues from the UDP were silent as expected. Even the vocal, unelected, self-styled public crusaders like Jemino Mawthoh and Bindo Lanong who have an axe to grind with the Government on every issue, especially involving other cabinet ministers from other parties, have in this instance remained silent. This suggests their disabled intellectual dysfunction and shabby logic on every issue that they raise.
The lockdown caused a severe resource crisis for families, especially the vulnerable population, who lost out on any possible diet diversity in their daily meals. Loss of wages led to the loss of nutrients on their plates, with the only food choices available being foodgrains through PDS and relief packages. Playing with the lives of poor children and pregnant mothers by snatching away the rice which is rightfully theirs and meant for their nutritional improvement is not acceptable at any cost. Any corruption which concerns the lives and well-being of women and children should be condemned unequivocally and strict action taken against the perpetrators. As a concerned citizen, I’m happy that such scams are being reported and wish many more to come out in the coming days. The dirty linen of powerful and influential public representatives at the top should be exposed and so that they become more accountable and responsible for their acts.
At the same time, I appeal to the State Government to set up a high-level committee to look into this issue and punish the culprits even if the names and involvement of rich and powerful people who are shameless, money-hungry, and corrupt come out in the open. Responsible, Accountable, and Clean Governance should be the order of the day.