Jharkhand: Tribal man dies of hunger, authorities allege 'illness'
What's the story
The wife of a 40-year-old tribal man, who did not have a ration card, has claimed that her husband had died of hunger in Jharkhand's Ramgarh district. Rajendra Birhor, belonging to the primitive Birhor tribe, died yesterday at Nawadih village in Mandu block, 20km from here. However, district officials denied it, saying his death was due to "illness". Here are more details.
Sole breadwinner
Birhor was the only earning member of his family
Birhor's wife, Shanti Devi (35), said her husband was suffering from jaundice and her family didn't have money to buy food and medicines prescribed by doctors. A father of six children, Birhor was the only earning member of his family. The family also didn't have a ration card for getting subsidized food grain under the public distribution scheme of the state government, Devi said.
No starvation
District officials claimed Birhor died of illness
The Mandu block development officer (BDO), Manoj Kumar Gupta denied that the tribal man died of starvation. He claimed that Birhor died of illness. The BDO, however, admitted that the family didn't have a ration card. He gave Devi foodgrains and Rs. 10,000 to the family. "We're looking into why the family wasn't enlisted to avail subsidized ration being provided by government," he said.