Jharkhand's Tana Bhagats manage to stay protected even during 2nd wave

RANCHI/GUMLA: Tana Bhagats — a small but distinct tribal community in Jharkhand — is potentially a subject matter of in-depth study for their ability to remain largely protected from the wrath of Coronavirus once again during the second wave, barring very few cases. Though no separate study has been conducted by any government agency, leaders within the sect claim none have been infected till date.
One among the five state members of the Tana Bhagat Development Authority, Sarita Tana Bhagat of Lohardaga, members of the community remain in touch with each other for socio-political reasons. “Till date, we have no information about any member being infected,” she said. Another state member of the authority, Ganga Tana Bhagat, an ex-MLA, corroborated her claim. “I am 82-years-old and have been moving around to attend meetings and know whereabouts of community members but I have not been sick till date,” he said.
Tana Bhagats are followers of Gandhian principles and the sect was set up in 1914 by Jatra Tana Bhagat, a resident of Chingri village of Bishunpur block of Gumla district, to take part in the freedom movement. Hundreds of people joined the movement. Tana Bhagats worship the Tricolour every day and believe in non-violence. The members, originally hailing from the Oraon, tribe are pure vegetarians and do not consume liquor and eat only self-cooked food. They don’t eat or drink water at restaurants, wear only white clothes and wash them daily.
In-charge of primary health centre in Bishunpur, Dr Asutosh Singh said the Covid care centre at the PHC treated about 100 patients during the second wave. “We also extended medical help to a few families in home isolation but none among them were from the Tana Bhagat community,” he said. Bishunpur block in Gumla has the highest concentration of Tana Bhagats in the state.
Gumla civil surgeon Vijaya Bhengra also admitted that he has not witnessed any Covid case among Tana Bhagats. “We have conducted a survey, report of which is likely to be compiled within a couple of days but prima facie we have not seen any case of infection among them,” she said.
Although safe from the virus, the community is not averse to vaccination. Sarita said most of the members have received at least the first dose of the vaccine by now. “We all know that the virus has not invaded our community but instead of taking a chance, we are following government guidelines and taking vaccine,” she said.
On Friday, a meeting was held at Senha Panchayat of Lohardaga district in which as many as 30 Tana Bhagat families had gathered. Sarita said barring one or two members, everyone who attended the meeting had taken their first dose. She gives credit to the “obedient” nature of the community members towards adhering to whatever is told by the government. “We have also conducted awareness drives within the community members,” she said, underlining that simple living, high standards of hygiene, vegetarian food habits and social distancing is cardinal to the Tana Bhagat lifestyle.
Lately, a few instances of illnesses and fatality within the community are triggering fear about the vaccine though. The community, which boasts of being protected against the virus, witnessed a few cases of illness, allegedly after vaccination.
“Our block president of Lapung, Mangra Tana Bhagat (65) took the shot and fell ill and weak. Although he tested negative for the virus, while at home, he had to be admitted to Rims where he tested positive after 8-10 days and later died,” said Ganga. Another similar incident was reported in Kairo block of Lohardaga district where Madan Tana Bhagat (55) had to be admitted to the hospital after he fell ill, coincidently after taking the first dose of vaccine. “He tested negative for Covid but his complications of malaria and typhoid aggravated,” said Sarita.
Phupendra Tana Bhagat, a member of Gau Rakshini Thakurbari Vanvas Patrakot, a social outfit of the community, said Kartik Tana Bhagat, working with a private firm in Jamshedpur, died of Covid mid-May. “Though he was a Tana Bhagat, he had given up our traditional way of living and had adopted urban culture,” he said. Another community member Bali Tana Bhagat, who retired from CCL also succumbed to Covid-19 almost 15 days ago but community members believe that he too had embraced the city lifestyle because of his work environment.
Ganga says immunity levels of Tana Bhagats should be scientifically studied to see if it can be of help for the rest of society. “I had personally appealed to Ranchi deputy commissioner to conduct a targeted survey of prevalence of the virus or its anti-bodies among community members. Once established through a survey, some good practices can be replicated by others too,” he added.
As of date, the eight districts in which 21,783 members of the 3,481 Tana Bhagat families reside, the number of active cases is still high. While Ranchi has the maximum 1,993 active cases (total 84,687), Gumla has 369 active cases (total 9,547) and Lohargada has 176 active cases (total 6,552). They have substantial population in Chatra, Simdega and Latehar whereas a few families reside in Khunti and Palamu.