No food for days, UP family of 6 hospitalised, ‘not doing too well’

AGRA: A few shrivelled remnants of inedible potatoes lay in the courtyard of the mud and stone house when they found the family — emaciated, sick, almost delirious. It had been days since Guddi Devi, 45, and her five children had got something to eat. They had lost everything to the pandemic and the lockdown, and were now starving. On Tuesday afternoon, she was hospitalised along with her children in Aligarh but they are “not doing too well”, a nurse said.
On Tuesday noon, a local NGO, Hands for Help, got an anonymous call on their helpline telling them about a family that had been going without food for days. Mandir ka Nagla village in Aligarh, the caller said, and hung up. A team from the NGO left and traced the family — it was not hard, everyone knew of Guddi Devi’s plight. Inside the house, there was absolutely nothing. They had lost, or sold off, all their possessions. Two charpoys stood in the courtyard.
“They had no government documents. Because they didn’t have Aadhaar cards, they could not get ration cards,” said president of the NGO Sunil Kumar. “They told us they had not eaten for days.” Cheeks sunken, bones sticking out and the lines on her face deep, Guddi Devi weighs 38 kg now. Her eldest son Ajay, 20, weighs 40kg; Vijay, 15, 30kg, Anuradha, 13, about 25 kg and Teetu, 10, just 15kg. Her youngest son, Sundar, 6, was not weighed then.
Her husband, Vijyendra Kumar, died in February last year after a long illness. They never knew what he had. Guddi kept working at the packaging unit of an export company but in March last year, she was asked to go. Her son Ajay took up the responsibility and started working as a labourer. But two months ago, he got sick and couldn’t work anymore. They lost all means of livelihood. “We had no money. My neighbours did give me food sometimes. But how much could they do?” Guddi told TOI. “I approached the local ration dealer but he refused to help. Then, I asked the village pradhan if he could come to my aid but he didn’t either.”
At the Aligarh district hospital, Dr SK Verma, who has been attending to the family, declined to comment on their condition. But Meena Saxena, the nurse in charge of the ward, said their condition was not too good. “The children were very weak when they were admitted, and complained of nausea and stomach ache,” she said.
Aligarh district supply officer Rajesh Soni also said the family’s condition was “not good.” He added, “An inquiry has begun. Notices have been served on the village head and the local ration dealer, seeking their replies to the family’s allegation that they refused them help. Since they didn’t have Aadhaar cards or bank accounts, their ration cards had not been made. We are providing ration kits with fruits now and their Aadhaar cards are being made.”