The deaths, in less than a fortnight, of over 100 children due to encephalitis, or brain fever, in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur district expose the claims of chief minister Nitish Kumar as “Sushasan Babu” — or Mr Good Governance — as hollow. He had his comeuppance on Tuesday when he was shooed away from a hospital by angry parents of dying children.
His propaganda department was hitting cover drives and sixes over mid-wicket as little children were wilting in hospitals. The CM showed up to offer sympathy after the deaths had crossed the three-figure mark.
Muzaffarpur does not lie in the boondocks. It is the state’s second most significant city after Patna. And yet it is right here that about a year ago was exposed the Bihar shelter home scandal, whose kingpin was the husband of one of Mr Kumar's ministers. Of the 44 inmates, more than 30 girls — aged seven to 17 — had been raped and sexually enslaved.
The administration did what it could to stop going after the guilty, but under public pressure a handful of officials were suspended. There is no way to evaluate the investigation by the state. The state government refused to recommend a CBI investigation despite persistent demands.
To his credit, Mr Kumar has built roads that once existed but had vanished due to lack of maintenance. But in the final analysis his tenure will be remembered for salami-slicing the most backward sections of people into sub caste groups such as “pichchada” and “ati-pichchada” (backward and extremely backward) with the motive of cultivating vote banks.
Encephalitis deaths are not new to North Bihar, where Muzaffarpur lies. In recent years deaths have piled up — apparently more than 1,000 children. And they are mostly from the poorest sections, probably dalit, if some reports are accurate. But the lethargy of the Nitish government in augmenting health services is shocking.
Poverty, extreme heat conditions, acute shortage of nutrition and the shocking state of medical services in the state have killed the children. In Muzaffarpur district, the nutrition levels for children are below that of sub-Saharan Africa, going by stunting and wasting statistics. And yet the litchi fruit was being blamed for deaths. Litchi does not cause encephalitis. Studies have suggested that if only litichis are consumed and no other food in the course of a day, encephalitis can follow. But in this famous litchi-growing region, encephalitis has emerged only in recent years. So, why blame the fruit?
Before Mr Kumar defected to the BJP’s camp after first forming a coalition government with the RJD, BJP leaders used to routinely attack the CM for maladministration, especially after the scandal surrounding free meals in schools when droves of kids were taken badly ill. They claimed Mr Kumar could perform only when he aligned with the BJP. Today is the time for introspection.
Call a public health emergency at once.
