The Hindu Business Line : Caring for the tribals and the wild

Twenty-five-year old Yasmin stands waiting in the queue with her daughter and son for medical attention. A wood spider had bitten her two kids and the right side of her son's face was black and swollen. Yasmin is tense but does not show it. Dr Abhay Sthul (22) and Dr Jayant Shyamkuwar (23) examined her children and prescribed some tablets and ointments. Haridas Ramachandra Bansod was working on his farm when a wild boar attacked him from behind hurting his posterior. He was lying on his face while an attendant was cleaning up the injury.

A village police official was having trouble lifting his right hand and showed the two doctors the treatment he was undergoing. That day some 150 patients of Jhinjeria village, Ramtek tehsil, Nagpur district, on the outskirts of Pench Tiger reserve (Maharashtra) were given free medial treatment by the Satpuda Foundation. The Mobile Health Unit funded by the Born Free Foundation and managed by the Satpuda Foundation, makes regular village visits to help tribals in Melghat, Tadoba, Pench (Maharashtra and M.P.) and Bori Satpuda.

"We offer basic diagnostic services," says Giri Venkatesan, Executive Director, Satpuda Foundation. They cannot afford to offer more though there is the desire to help the pathetic poor forgotten by the votaries of 9.5 per cent GDP growth. Living in Mumbai, this writer rarely comes across doctors who spend more than five minutes on a single patient and conduct the basic examination with a stethoscope. In Mumbai, when doctors sight a patient, prescribe a battery of tests at laboratories owned by them and pile on a menu of tablets, which reads like a food menu at a 5-star hotel. Finally, they present a consultancy bill of Rs 500 per visit, turning the patient sicker.

One could guess at the basic concern shown by the two doctors as they listened and chronicled every male and female patient with care. The patients, doctors and the other staff laugh to ease the air at the school where the health camp is on. Dr Abhay and Dr Jayant are doing their B.A.M.S. degrees (a mix of ayurvedic and allopathic know-how) and have done some 10 trips to villages offering medical aid free. "Most of them are nutrient deficient. We refer serious cases to hospitals," remark the two doctors. It is not as if Primary Health Centres are not there. They are there sans doctors as they find it a tough grind staying in villages without city amenities.

Our two doctors are particular about their patients. Each is given a report detailing his health and the medicines prescribed. It helps as a reference point when the next visit is made to the same village. The Satpuda Foundation is stretched having to cover many villages over months, denying the patients continuous monitoring. For instance, Yasmin may see the same doctors after may be four months. Most patients compare the quantum of tablets offered by the volunteers and it is an amusing sight. "In one village, an old woman demanded X-Ray and ECG," Giri told this writer. Most of the patients are tribals and are not too comfortable with hospitals, situated far away from their villages. More it costs them in money and time. If the pressure on forests and wildlife has to be reduced, the tribals will have to be given a fair deal in terms of medicine, education, employment and resettlement. There are 50-52 villages on the periphery of the Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) and the Satpuda Foundation has started a macro and micro census of them. At present census of four villages — Junara, Chorgaon, Adegaon, Dewara — have been completed. Macro census talks about the administrative and population status while the micro census searches every villager — his family structure, his way of living, his landholding, borrowings from a bank or a money lender and so on. In the future, the census data can offer clues to growth experiments such as starting a micro finance initiative to get the tribals out of poverty. "If we do not provide these facilities there is no way we can ask the tribals to stay out of forests and preserve wildlife," says Kishor Rithe of Satpuda Foundation.

There may not be one model for all villages as the census data could come up with interesting results. Recently, a training camp on hotel management and security services was conducted for tribals to give them a chance to get a job in a hotel or as security guards in any facility. At Kesalghat, in compartment 524 of Mool range, north Chandrapur division, north Chandrapur circle, the resettlement of villagers from TATR is going at a steady pace despite problems. We were at the site that houses some of the villagers from Kolsa and Botazhari inside TATR.

Arun Tikhe, Range Officer, Mool range, Chandrapur, has to handle numerous complaints including the reluctance of Palasgam villagers who have not yet made up their mind on moving to the new site. When we were there, the villagers were urgently demanding more seeds as the monsoon was slowly setting in. The tribal resettlement process in Maharashtra is free with the costs borne by the Centre and State Government. These efforts become critical with the passing of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006. If these efforts are not backed, forests and wildlife may disappear forever.

(Concluded)

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