Infant deaths have come down in Kerala, claims government report

PALAKKAD: Experts said that PM Narendra Modi's comparison of tribal areas in Kerala with poverty-stricken Somalia is unfair and contrary to facts. Former director of Kerala Institute for Research Training and Development Studies Dr PRG Mathur who had done extensive studies on tribal people for his book `Tribal Situation in Kerala said tribesmen in Kerala fare better than their counterparts in other states.
“No starvation deaths were reported from Attapadi or other tribal areas in the recent past.But there is poverty and unemployment here. Attapadi or any other tribal area in Kerala cannot be compared to Somalia. Though there are shortcomings and rampant corruption in implementing projects for the empowerment of tribals, some of them were successful in improving their living standards,“ he said, adding that the tribesmen lived in poverty due to land alienation issue.
Tribal health nodal officer Dr R Prebhudas said that though there were alarming number of infant deaths in 2013 and 2014, it has come down. In 2016 the toll stood at six.
The health status report he had sent to the government last month said that Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) in Attapadi was 14 in 2015 as against the 12 in Kerala and 27 in India. The figure was 30 in 2013 and 15 in 2014, the report said.
Over the past three years, IMR came down among the 30,000-strong tribal population due to the work done in the health sector, the report said. “The number of severe acute malnutrition children came down to 52 in 2015 from 299 in 2013 while the number of moderate acute malnutrition came down to 296 in 2015 from 600 in 2013,“ the report said.The number of abortions came down to 34 in 2015 from 77 in 2013.
The weight of newborns rose from 1.5 kg to 2.5 kg in 2015. Shortage of protein food like cereal, pulses and meat created the malnutrition problem, Prebhudas said.
Meanwhile, secretary of Thaikula Sangham (a women's self-help group fighting against liquor and drugs in Attapadi) Maruthy said that liquor consumption was still a huge problem. “Because of this habit, earnings do not reach tribal houses,“ she said, adding that there was no starvation in Attapadi as community kitchens functioned in hamlets to provide a one-time meal to adolescent girls, mothers and senior citizens. Anganwadis give breakfast and mid-day meal to school children, she said.