Madhu Soren (a Thalassemia patient) along with his parents in MGM Hospital, Jamshedpur, after a blood transfusion.
It was in February 2022 that villagers of Pahar Toli in Karra block of Khunti district complained about diarrhoea, stomach ache and body aches after they ate fortified rice supplied through the PDS. Officials rushed to the village to explain to them that this is rice that has been specially fortified with iron and other micro-nutrients as it was part of the Government’s mega-strategy to tackle malnutrition in the country. Information indicates that once officials learned about the health related side effects, they did take care to not supply fortified rice in the subsequent month in this village. In March 2022, after a state level Convention of the Right to Food Campaign in Jharkhand, when these ground reports were presented, members from the forum visited the village to gather more information and came back with video documentation of the voices of people. After this, a joint fact finding trip to Jharkhand was conducted by ASHA-Kisan Swaraj and the Right to Food Campaign in May 2022 to understand better the implementation of rice fortification policies in the state and impact and concerns of the local communities there.
A major concern in these districts is the prevalence of Thallasemia and Sickle Cell Anemia among Adivasi populations who are more prone to such conditions. Iron should not be consumed by patients of Thallasemia and Sickle Cell Anemia, which has been noted in the FSSAI's own guidelines. Further, iron is also contra-indicated during acute infections like Malaria, Tuberculosis among others, which are also prevalent in Jharkhand. However, it emerged during the fact finding report, that the beneficiaries were not being screened for such health conditions and iron fortified rice was being supplied indiscriminately to them.
