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wages to earn- the baigas, originally uploaded by Sayantan Bera.

a baiga woman works as a daily wager for the forest department in ghursibehera village in balaghat district of madhya pradesh, india.

one of india's 'primitive' tribal communities, the baiga's had a high level of dependence on forest resources for self consumption. over the years they have been pushed out of the forests and into the mainstream economy. they now depend on wage labor under the government employment guarantee schemes and those provided by the forest department.

this village ghursibehera was relocated from inside the 'critical tiger habitat' of Kanha National Park way back in the 1970s. with displacement they had not only lost their access to the forest but also a part of their culture and traditions.

flight of fancy, originally uploaded by Sayantan Bera.

In the Naya Palpur village in Madhya Pradesh's Sheopur district, children play in front of a closed Anganwadi.

Anganwadi's are conceived to provide supplementary nutrition to children in the age group of 0-6. But in most cases supplies are irregular. For this particular village the anganwadi had not received any supplies for the last three months. The mid may meal scheme for school going children was irregular when I had visited in october 2008.

According to the UNICEF, 2.1 million deaths occur every year in India of children who are under five, half of which are due to under nourishment. Thirty percent of new born in India are born with low birth weight.On October 14, 2008, the first-ever India Hunger Index was released along with the global Hunger Index by International Food Policy and Research Institute (IFPRI). It found that India ranked 66 among 88 countries in the index where Madhya Pradesh had the most severe level of hunger in the country, placing India between Ethiopia and Chad. A team from the Supreme Court of India on a stock-taking visit to Sheopur described it as the 'hunger hotspot' of the world.

thy hand, great anarch, originally uploaded by Sayantan Bera.

A malnourished child reeling under high fever is finally blessed with the magic touch of a retired doctor. At the primary health care centre (PHC), Khandwa, Madhya Pradesh.

WHEN THE Right to food campaign (RFC) submitted a list of 325 malnutrition deaths across four districts in Madhya Pradesh to draw the attention of the government to the seriousness of the issue, the response they got was a flat denial. Malnutrition, the government said, cannot be a cause for death; the cause was, in fact, other related illnesses.

According to the UNICEF, 2.1 million deaths occur every year in India of children who are under five, half of which are due to under nourishment. Thirty percent of new born in India are born with low birth weight.On October 14, 2008, the first-ever India Hunger Index was released along with the global Hunger Index by International Food Policy and Research Institute (IFPRI). It found that India ranked 66 among 88 countries in the index where Madhya Pradesh had the most severe level of hunger in the country, placing India between Ethiopia and Chad.

The story and photograph appeared as a part of a photo feature published in the Tehelka Magazine.