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Mushhars in Uttar Pradesh survive on snails |
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Written by Correspondent
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Sunday, 01 January 2006 |
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How does one support a family on just Rs 20 a day? For a Dalit tribal community of Uttar Pradesh - the Mushhars (rat-eaters) of Kushinagar - it's one meal a day, sometimes rice and a basic diet of snails. The Mushhars numbering 1.3 million in Bihar and 1 million in Uttar Pradesh live a life of abject poverty, extreme backwardness and economic oppression. Among them, the poverty-stricken community in Kushinagar is waiting for some aid from the government or local authorities. And while they wait for aid, they feast on snails to avoid starvation when there is nothing else to eat. A heap of shells is what remains after the snails are boiled and eaten and the monsoons are a time of plenty. "We boil the snail and drink the juice,' says a tribal woman. This Dalit tribal community of Uttar Pradesh lives a hand to mouth existence as various government schemes are yet to reach the district. Most Mushhars do manual labour for local landowners, earning a pittance. Locals say nearly 50 Mushhars have died of hunger and malnutrition in the past one year. Their only hope is to get access to their tribal land rights in order to sustain themselves.
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Last Updated ( Friday, 27 July 2007 )
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