Representational image. | Image Courtesy: Money Control
 

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Unfortunately there are too few of these, and in a great tragedy for the western Madhya Pradesh region and India as a whole, we lost one of the greatest self-made Dalit activists prematurely at the age of 47 on July 6, 2019. Kemat Gawale passed away after battling valiantly for almost a month against a series of brain strokes that he suffered since the first one on June 12th 2019, which had paralysed his left side.

Kemat hailed from a marginal farmer family of which he was the eldest of seven sons, though he had elder sisters. Despite his father educating him with great deprivation so that he would eventually get a government job and so relieve their poverty, Kemat decided to join the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) to fight against the Sardar Sarovar Dam which was to submerge their farm land in Kakrana village on the banks of the Narmada River in Alirajpur district.

He later gave up his studies without completing his graduation to become a full time activist of the Khedut Mazdoor Chetna Sangath (KMCS), which was fighting for the rights of Adivasis and Dalits in Alirajpur district to the great chagrin of his father who threw him out of the house.

Even though his contributions to the struggles against the dam and for the rights of Adivasis and Dalits through community mobilisation, for which he was imprisoned and tortured several times, is of great importance, his seminal contribution is in the field of education. He set up along with other members of the KMCS a residential school in Kakrana village named the Rani Kajal Jeevan Shala (RKJS).

The major problem in Alirajpur, which according to the Census 2011 is the district with the least amount of literacy in the country of just 37%, is that the people migrate to Gujarat and towns in Madhya Pradesh seasonally to increase their earnings as the income from agriculture on their marginal farms is not enough for them to make ends meet. This results in the children missing out on their education as they have to go with their parents.

Kemat’s last journey to the school he founded where he was kept for some time on the central platform built around a big neem tree before being taken for cremation. There is a skeleton hanging from the branches of the tree which is used to teach the students about the bone structure of humans. Here it eerily conveys the futility of the fight for justice which is continually losing its most militant protagonists

Moreover, the standard of pedagogy in government schools is abysmal with high student teacher ratios, multigrade teaching by the same unqualified teacher and poor facilities. Matters are compounded by the fact that the Adiavasis and Dalits in Alirajpur speak the Bhili dialects, and so it is even more difficult for first time learners to understand the sanskritised Hindi texts that are prescribed in the syllabus.

So the RKJS developed its own pedagogy in Bhili to initiate children into studies under the leadership of Kemat and provided quality education in a residential milieu to the children of migrating parents.

To ensure that girls too get a good education, the fees are waived totally for them and so 40% of the students are girls. Even for the boys the education is subsidised and the school runs on a grant of about Rs 25 lakh a year which are mobilised by Kemat and his team from various donors. Consequently there are some 220 boarding students from as many as 52 villages of Alirajpur district and every year there is a huge rush among parents to get their children admitted to this school.

The motto of the school is “Padhai Ladai Saath Saath” which means learning and struggle together. The pedagogy is radical in character aimed at producing youth who will challenge the oppressive status quo that stifles the genius of the Adivasis and Dalits in Alirajpur.

One of the great things about the KMCS is the huge number of organic intellectuals and independent minded activists that it has produced among the local people and Kemat was among the best. Even though he gave up formal studies he continued to read radical literature, as did Shankar Tadwal, the Adivasi grassroots leader, who too gave up formal studies to become a full timer of the KMCS.

Even though the KMCS was initially led by Savarna activists, Kemat, Shankar and others soon became critical of this, and within a decade of its inception by 1996, the local members of the organisation became capable enough to run it by themselves and all the Savarnas left.

Kemat was fiercely independent and conscious of his Dalit identity, as is Shankar of his Adivasi identity. So even though we Savarna activists have continued to be associated with KMCS and RKJS in many ways, Kemat and Shankar have called the shots. I will remember with great fondness the many times that Kemat has given me a dressing down not mincing the fact that we Savarnas are at the root of most of the problems of this country and definitely of Dalits.

Kemat also led reform movements within his community to restrict the amount of the bride price, alcoholism and gender based violence against women. He was in addition a public health activist trying to improve the access to health services and their quality for the poor.

Sadly, we have lost him at the peak of his abilities and at a time when there are very few new activists coming up to fight for justice. His passing away in this way prematurely is also a telling commentary on the abominable status of public health in this country.

Kemat suffered from diabetes and hypertension but despite being aware as a health activist that these are silent killers and require constant monitoring, preoccupation with work prevented him from doing so and over the past four months or so he had not been taking medication regularly. This lack of proper management of these diseases led to the sudden brain stroke and paralysis.

He had to be brought to Indore which is five hours away from Kakrana as there was no hospital nearer than that where he could be given even preliminary intensive care. Even though he was admitted to one of the best corporate hospitals at great expense and was treated by the best neuro surgeons under good intensive care with proper medication and finally surgery, he could not be saved.

We lost Khemraj Choudhary a month back, Chhotubhai a little earlier, Pushpendra before that and Khemla, another militant Adivasi founder of the KMCS, two years back. Send not to know for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee.

Courtesy: Counter View

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Many people are upset as they feel that what is wrong in Akshay Patra’s giving hygienic food to children, after all they pay for it, and will give it only according to their convenience. While, we laud organisation’s efforts yet it must be made absolutely clear that Akshay Patra is not providing any free services to the ‘needy’. It bagged the contract from the government to feed the children. Ofcourse, it also raises funds from its own by seeking people’s support.

Akshay Patra is an organisation supported by ISKCON which has followers world over. The mid day meal that they provide the students only the ‘satvik’ meal. According to brahmanical school of thought a satvik meal is not merely vegetarian but it will not consist of onions and garlic. A report published in The Hindu says : “In November, the department issued a notice to the foundation to include onion and garlic in the meals.

The State food commission had received complaints that many students were skipping the meals or eating smaller portions as they found the food unappetising without onion and garlic. The APF, though, has said that it can serve only “satvik” food.”

Now, there are two things in this story. First, whether this meal is liked by the children and second whether it is a healthy meal. The reports in the media suggested that the children found this meal as tasteless and at many schools they are skipping it. Probably, at many places they might be eating it under the pressure as there is no such choice of rejection which is sad. Now, the question is whether any meal consisting garlic and onion is ‘unhealthy’ ? I am sure medical fraternity has always suggested that both are useful for health. Actually, Akshay Patra is nothing but an Indian savarna vegetarian thought which is being imposed on people across the country in the name of meals. You can see this vegetarian violence being imposed in the name of culture all over the country. Not many years back, Mrs Menaka Gandhi, who was Women and Child Development Minister, opposed distribution of eggs to children in the mid day meal. In fact, Madhya Pradesh government closed it. Now, this was the height of hypocrisy that these leaders stop distribution of nutritious food for school children in the name of ‘culture’ and ‘health’. Menaka Gandhi has been a rabid anti non vegetarian person who give one thousand argument against it, all typical of the savarna mindset to deny the poor and marginalised, source of protein for health.

Tamilnadu was the first state to have introduced the mid day meal schemes long back and the food served there was absolutely as per the local cultural habits. The scheme became so popular that policy makers felt the need for an all India scheme to encourage children to come to school and also fight against malnutrition and hunger prevalent in our country.

There are risk of Akshaya Patra vision of culture. It attempt to homogenise the food habits. It imposes a vegetarian culture in the name of hygiene and ‘good health’ which need to be questioned. But the most important thing is for the government and authorities. Why they allow such institutions to dominate the discourse ? When the state is funding a large part then it must clearly indicate what it wishes but the politicians who prostrate to big babas and swamis cant really take this issue head on as the huge number of all these Babas and Swamis will never ever suggest non vegetarianism as a way of life.

Akshay Patra and its supporters thump their chest and claim that they are only doing ‘good’ work for the people. Right to food is not a charity. We can understand a huge number of ISKCON followers may be donating money but definitely they may be receiving donations from across the world for this. Hope, the donors dont impose their ‘will’ to provide a tasteless vegetarian food to children. Even if their individual and corporate donor donate to provide for vegetarian food, the government, which is the biggest donor in this case, does not provide food to be vegetarian alone san garlic and onion. Government of Karnataka must reject if there is any kind of precondition on the mid day meal being produced for the children. Suggesting that only vegetarian food is ‘tasty’ and ‘healthy’ is nothing but putting caste in the food plate. India need to grow, mature and respect the food and cultural diversity. Just because some one speak English or has huge international support, does not have right to impose its cultural practices on innocent children in the name of hygienic and healthy food. The move must be investigated thoroughly and rejected.

Vidya Bhushan Rawat is a social and human rights activist. He blogs at www.manukhsi.blogspot.com twitter @freetohumanity Email: vbrawat@gmail.com

Courtesy: Counter Current

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Based on the reports submitted by the NIN and CFTRI, the GoK has gone ahead with signing a contract with Akshaya Patra Foundation for the year 2018-19 – in spite of APF’s refusal to follow prescribed norms. The observations made and conclusions reached in these reports have provided an easy excuse to Government of Karnataka to look the other way even as APF deprives children studying in government schools of tasty and nutritious food because of its religious beliefs.

Given the serious impact on policy decision-making that these reports have had, their lack of scientific rigour raises disturbing questions about their credibility and independence. In particular, the report submitted by NIN offers unfounded and biased personal opinions as scientific claims. Without any systemic empirical study of the food being supplied by APF, NIN has reached wide-ranging conclusions, betraying an eagerness to provide clean chit to Akshaya Patra Foundation.

A detailed critique – prepare by civil society organizations and experts, coming together under the banner of Namma Aahara Namma Samskriti – of the `reports’ submitted by NIN and CFTRI with regard to the menu and other documents submitted by APF:

Point-by-Point Rebuttal to the ‘Report’ sent by National Institute of Nutrition (NIN)

Nutritional Compliance:

Claim made by NIN: “The nutritive values of menus with ingredients used in the mentioned amounts, certainly meet and often exceed the prescribed energy (Kcal) and protein requirements prescribed by MHRD for the MDM.”

Rebuttal: NIN has reached these conclusions based on just a menu sent by APF. It is obvious that a contractor could send anything without implementing any of it in practice.  A scientific assessment of nutritional quality of food supplied by Akshaya Patra requires an institutional diet survey with visits to schools, proper protocols of sampling, measuring and discussions with various stakeholders at the schools being supplied. It is established that animal foods are a source of good quality proteins and are part of earlier recommendations by NIN. How does this menu ‘exceed’ prescribed standards for protein in the absence of eggs? NIN should know that sambar can be thick with plenty of vegetables or a watery gruel with hardly any vegetables – the nutritional quality of these are very different. For eg. Menu 11 has one rice based preparation without any pulses, fruits, vegetables, milk/milk products, eggs. How will this meet nutritional standards? A report based on just a paper menu can never infer anything about nutritional value of the food being supplied. This coming from a ‘scientific body’ such as NIN is shocking.

Claim made by NIN:  “The micro-nutrients (calcium, magnesium, iron and zinc) are also more than what actually can be achieved through prescribed MDM menu by the government of Karnataka.”

Rebuttal: NIN has not conducted any standard scientific assessment at the schools to be able to make such assertions about the food supplied. Adequacy of micro-nutrients based on Recommended Daily Allowances cannot be calculated based on menu. It would require details of the raw ingredients used, the quantities, the number of children of different age groups who ate the meal, the wastage and leftovers. If 100 gm of vegetables or 100 gm of oil are added into a sambar, it is important to estimate if this was used to feed 10 children or 100 children. Without even looking at these factors, how does NIN say that the food is meeting requirements ‘more’ than what is prescribed?

Bio-availability:

Claim made by NIN: “With regard to the bio-availability of minerals, it is well established that inclusion of seasonal and fresh vegetables and the use of turmeric, lime, curry leaves, cumin seeds, tamarind, green leafy vegetables also improve the bio-availability of nutrients apart from additional health benefits and are also effective substitutes of onion & garlic. The use of variety of fresh vegetables and above ingredients by Akshaya Patra ensures absorption and bio-availability of mineral and nutrients.”

Rebuttal: A study by CFTRI shows that onion and garlic improve the bio-availability of zinc and iron from cooked food, especially as bio-availability of iron and zinc from plant foods is usually very low. No scientific evidence is provided in the report submitted by NIN to substantiate claims that the suggested alternative ingredients also enhance bio-availability. In fact, contrary to the claims made here, studies show that green leafy vegetables (GLV) have high fibre content (oxalates and phytates) which inhibit iron and zinc absorption. Most of these ingredients are expensive/seasonal as compared to onions and garlic which are available throughout the year. More importantly, inclusion of onions and garlic is a culturally appropriate practice and imparts taste to food which children like and therefore eat more of. Bioavailability of nutrients from plant foods are generally lower than from animal sources.

Food Safety Measures:

Claim made by NIN: “Akshaya patra kitchens are ISO certified which meals a certain standards are already met. In addition, some of our scientists who visited their kitchens in Telangana and Karnataka have given convincing personal accounts about the high safety standards practiced by the organisation”.

Rebuttal: When the Joint director, MDM, Karnataka has officially requested for a report on the functioning of a centralised kitchen that serves MDM to thousands of children, the director of NIN responds by talking about ‘personal accounts’ of scientists. What locus standi does a personal account have for an issue of such serious concern as children’s nutrition? The director should have asked for a formal visit and issued a formal report or said that she would not be able to comment. This need to bend over backwards to accommodate a contractor when concerns have been raised by a government official who the contractor is accountable to, is deeply concerning. Additionally, in case of food cooked in centralized kitchens and transported to schools which are in some cases 20 km away, the assessment of food safety has to be at the point of consumption and not at the point of preparation alone. This points seems to be have been completely lost on NIN.

Meal Diversity:

Claim made by NIN:  “Akshaya Patra Foundation provides varied meal combinations of local dishes. This enhances MDM consumption and also aids the sensory development of child.”

Rebuttal: The claim that meals provided by APF enhances MDM consumption is not borne out by evidence. The Karnataka State Food Commission has noted the lower consumption of food supplied by APF. In 2013, Bengaluru (Urban) and Dharwad, where APF was the biggest supplier of mid-day meals, were designated as special focus district due to “poor-utilization of foodgrains and low coverage of children”. As per the data submitted by Government of Karnataka to Programme Approval Board (PAB) for year 2017-18, Bengaluru (Urban) and Dharwad remain the worst performing districts in the whole State. There is absolutely no empirical basis for NIN to reach the conclusion that food supplied by APF aids the sensory development of child. When children are refusing to eat the food because it is bland and tasteless, where does the question of ‘sensory development’ come in?

Claim made by NIN:  “Akshaya Patra Foundation’s nutrition team has designed multiple variants of sambar and rice which are rotated on a periodic basis to add variety. The resultant difference in its palatability adds variety to the organization’s mid-day meals. The cyclical menu plans and the ingredients used by Akshaya Patra in fact ensure diet diversity needed for the meal.”

Rebuttal: Diet diversity means that different food groups are represented on the menu. When meat/eggs and fresh fruits/vegetables figure nowhere on the menu, how does NIN reach the conclusion that dietary diversity has been ensured?

Sambar is one type of food and figures in 10 out of 18 menus shared by APF. How does ‘multiple variants’ of sambar constitute variety? Variety would mean different sources of carbohydrates, protein, minerals and vitamins.

In fact, NIN has completely distorted the scientific meaning of the term diet diversity. Diet diversity has to be over a reference period of time to assess if different food groups have been used to prepare the meal on different days. It would also require a visit to the kitchen to see what ingredients are available to be used on different days. Are there different kinds of vegetables, cereals, pulses, fruits? If the same food ingredients are used in different ways (eg ’10 varieties’ of sambar), it doesn’t constitute diet diversity.

Onions and garlic are particularly important to make traditional sambars. Even these are not used by APF. It only means that the same monotonous bland food is being served on most of the days – an issue rightly raised by the JD, MDM and Food Commission. A balanced meal requires that different food groups are rotated in the right proportions so children can get their nutrition from multiple sources.

Meal Taste:

Claim made by NIN: “Although, the meal taste is very specific to local palate, the menus with considerable diversity in variety, usage of different food groups, spices and seasonal vegetables certainly cannot give rise to any monotony in taste.”

Rebuttal: These conclusions reached by NIN without even visiting the kitchen of APF, leave alone the schools, are cause for deep concern. It is particularly important that they should have spoken to the key stakeholders – the children to ask them if they found the food monotonous.

These claims made by NIN about the meal taste are another arm-chair observation without any empirical data or observations of actual food being supplied.

Conclusion:

Claim made by NIN:  “Akshaya patra Foundation is implementing in compliance with MDM norms. The menu follows the nutrition guidelines suggested by MHRD”.

Rebuttal: As stated above, NIN has no basis to certify compliance with nutritional guidelines since they have not collected any data to be able to assess this. In absence of such evidence, this is just the personal opinion of the Director, NIN without any scientific basis, and should be treated as such.

Claim made by NIN:  “The recipes are found to be inspired by local food habits and menu combination”.

Rebuttal: APF serves the same centrally prepared food to 2,814 schools and that too based on a ‘sattvik’ diet. How can this be inspired by local food habits? Does this mean that majority of communities eat ‘sattvik‘ food? Onion and garlic are part of the local food habits. Similarly a majority of children in government schools enjoy eggs and attendance has been documented to increase on the days that eggs are provided in the MDM. When these are being denied to children because of religious beliefs of APF how can they also claim to have taken local food habits into consideration and more importantly how can NIN accept this and agree with it?

Claim made by NIN:  “Quality and hygiene are strong aspects of Akshaya patra program and are maintained throughout the implementation process”.

Rebuttal: How did the Director, NIN reach these conclusions sitting in Hyderabad? Several schools to which Akshaya Patra food is being supplied are over 20 kms away from the centralized kitchen. Food prepared early in morning with ingredients prepared overnight reaches children at 12-12:30 pm after a delay of 3-4 hours. Since the food is not freshly cooked and has been kept artificially hot under closed containers, the quality of food is known to deteriorate. The rice for example becomes mushy and looses integrity. These are common observations that everyone from children, school teachers and officials are aware of. But NIN has concluded otherwise based on arm-chair observations without visiting any schools. Given that incidents of students vomiting after eating food APF food have been reported in the media, shouldn’t a responsible scientific institutions like NIN at least visit the school premises where this food is being consumed, before, certifying the quality and hygiene of food eaten by lakhs of children?

>> From the point-by-point rebuttal provided above, a pattern emerges wherein claims are made without any systematic empirical data being collected and biased personal opinions are passed off as scientific truths. While CFTRI in its report has answered questions of whether the Akshaya Patra food is “diverse, tasty, spice and not monotonous” by acknowledging that “It is difficult to comment on various attributes without having the sufficient data available with us”, NIN seems to be overly keen to validate claims of APF. Some of the lapses in the report are too obvious and apparent to common sense that they can’t be treated as just oversights and raise serious questions over the credibility and independence of NIN. In absence of any data or systematic study, the willingness of the institutions to offer opinions seriously undermines its credibility.

Point-by-Point Response to the ‘Report’ sent by Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI)

Question posed by JD (MDM): The contribution of onion and garlic to macro and micro nutrients is negligible

Comment by CFTRI: We agree to the points that Onion and garlic contribution towards macro and micro nutrients is negligible.

Rebuttal: The comment by CFTRI contradicts its own study which shows that onion and garlic improve the bio-availability of zinc and iron from cooked food. This is of significance because of the high prevalence of anemia and diarrhea in Karnataka which can be reduced with iron and zinc respectively. Bio-availability of iron and zinc from plant foods is usually very low and even those plant foods that increase bioavailability are being denied to the children.

Question posed by JD (MDM): Excellent alternatives for onion and garlic

Comment by CFTRI: CFTRI Team agrees to the alternatives listed as a substitute for onion and garlic. The ingredients listed (viz turmeric, drum stick, lime, green leafy vegetables- GLV, jeera etc) are known for enhancing the bio-accessibility of micronutrients. These are not only excellent promoters of bioavailability but also providers of nutrients. Acidulants which provide organic acids such as citric acid, scorbic acid, maleic acid are the best enhancers of bioaccessibility.

Rebuttal: CFTRI provides no scientific basis to substantiate claims that the suggested alternative ingredients also enhance bio-availability. In fact, contrary to the claims made, studies have shown that green leafy vegetables (GLV) have high fibre (oxalates and phytates) which inhibit iron and zinc absorption, so at least this claim by CFTRI is false. Moreover, most of these ingredients are expensive/seasonal as compared to onion and garlic which are available throughout the year. More importantly, inclusion of onions and garlic is a culturally appropriate practice and imparts taste to food which children like and thus consume with interest.

>> We are in agreement with rest of the comments made by CSIR-CFTRI team which indicate that assessments of nutritional adequacy, meal diversity and taste, food safety etc. cannot be made without a systematic study based on collection, testing and analysis of samples of actual cooked food. Clearly, NIN has made its observations and conclusions in absence of such as study and thus it cannot be made a basis for any policy measures by the Government of Karnataka.

Courtesy: Counter View

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