African Students find out how lives of tribal children in Raj are different from that in their countries

When the going gets tough, the villagers in Jadol go drinking. It wouldn’t be wrong to say so about the tribal population in this village of Udaipur district. With easy availability of liquor, the villagers are too dizzy to think about the future of their children. All that they can dream about is more earning hands and get drunk to forget their woes.

Expressing concern over the plight of the tribal children living in Jhadol village, a group of 17 students from various African countries held the liquor policy of Rajasthan government responsible for the children not going to school in the tribal region.

A group of 50 students from Jarnardan Rai Nagar Rajasthan Vidyapeeth University, Udaipur recently visited some of the tribal areas of the district under Jhadol tehsil and observed that the ‘lethargic’ males are too drunk to think about the future of their children. “The group observed that since they are habitual drinkers, they don’t send their children to the school as they prefer their wards to earn for the family,” said Hemendra Chandalia, associate dean student’s welfare of the university.

Students from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Sudan on their trip to tribal areas were asked to file a report on the lifestyle of the tribals and find out how the lives of tribals in Rajasthan are different from that of their counterparts in Africa. These students camped at Jhadol from February 24-26 and surveyed the region.

“Although they were satisfied to see that the tribal population in Rajasthan has access to basic infrastructural facilities, easy availability of liquor and its addiction is actually making the lives of the families miserable,” he said.

“They also observed that the houses were not clean, utensils were covered with dust, and the food consumed do not provide sufficient nutrition to the people,” Chandalia added.

Comparing the government policies of African countries with that of Rajasthan, the students in their report said in Kenya, the government has made a rule that restricts the sale of liquor.

“The government do not penalise the users but the sellers. In Rajasthan, however, the government policy is to earn revenue by selling liquor. This is the main cause of children abstaining from school,” said Robert Ombati, a student from Kenya.

“It is good to see that your state government has provided good roads, schools and hospitals at door steps, but they are unable to access them. This is only because of liquor addiction,” said Ronald Onsiro, a student from Uganda.

“The tribal population in our countries are devoid of all basic infrastructural needs. But Rajasthan has everything for them. The only bad factor in their lives is availability of liquor,” he added. 

Ashish Mehta/ DNA-Daily News & Analysis Source: 3D Syndication