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Paschim Medinipur: Under the blazing afternoon sun, 82-year-old Mrityunjay Mallik sat outside his crumbling mud hut. His skeletal frame was etched with the unmistakable signs of severe malnutrition. Hunger has become his most constant companion. He waits not for comfort or dignity – but simply for food. This grim picture of food scarcity is evident across the entire region of Jangalmahal in West Bengal.

One after another, residents have been succumbing to malnutrition brought on by acute food shortages. In this elderly man’s own village, two women – Joyanti Nayek (58) and Rakhi Ari (43) – have died over the past month. Just two weeks ago, in the neighbouring village of Chaksahapur, 32-year-old Pradip Mallik reportedly died after prolonged starvation. 

However, the district administration has refused to acknowledge these deaths as starvation-related.  

Mrityunjay Mallik was fully aware of these tragedies unfolding around him. What he now seeks is painfully simple – just a handful of food to survive.

This is Pankui village, located 80 kilometres west of Kolkata and 50 kilometres east of Kharagpur, in the Debra block of Paschim Medinipur district, West Bengal. When asked what he had eaten since morning, Mallik failed to remember. He paused, thought about it but then quietly admitted that he cannot recall eating anything at all.

“My two sons and daughter-in-law have gone out looking for work,” he said in a calm, almost resigned voice. “If they get work, they will buy vegetables and spices with the wages and then cook. If they don’t, I will go back inside once the sun softens. In winter, I cannot sit outside. For now, I am just warming my body in the sunlight,” he told The Wire.

Mallik belongs to the Lodha-Shabar community, classified as a particularly vulnerable tribal group (PVTG). At 82, he has survived years of food insecurity, living up to his name – ‘Mrityunjay’, the conqueror of death – painfully, through sheer resilience. 

Mrityunjay Mallik, an 82-year-old man, sits outside his home in Pankui village. Photo: Madhu Sudan Chatterjee

But the question lingers: for how much longer?

Mallik’s is not an isolated case. Across the forested and undulating stretches of Bankura, Purulia, Jhargram and Paschim Medinipur districts of West Bengal – a region officially designated as ‘Jangalmahal’ – his story is familiar.

This vast tract of small and medium hills wrapped in dense forests is home to PVTGs, including the Lodha-Shabar and Birhar communities, alongside Adivasi groups such as Santhal, Bhumij, Kora, Pahariya and Munda. In almost any corner of this region, one encounters lives mirroring that of Mallik.

“Despite belonging to some of the country’s most ancient indigenous communities, many residents remain trapped in chronic unemployment and suffer from severe malnutrition. With little access to sustainable livelihoods, hunger has become a persistent reality,” said Pulin Bihari Baske, a resident of Medinipur and general secretary of the All India Adivasi Adhikar Mancha. 

Locals said that despair often drives sections of the population toward alcoholism, further aggravating fragile health conditions. Illness follows swiftly. Medical care, however, remains largely out of reach, compounded by the near absence of sustained awareness campaigns or preventive healthcare initiatives.

“The consequences are devastating. Children, men and women are dying prematurely, quietly and repeatedly,” Baske told The Wire.

Occasionally, a report in the local press brings the matter to the attention of the government and district administration. For a few days, there is visible activity. Affected families may receive a few kilograms of rice, a tarpaulin sheet and coarse clothing. 

However, soon enough, the urgency fades. The spotlight shifts and silence returns; families continue to battle malnutrition.

The Santal community constitutes the largest section of the tribal population in the Jangalmahal region, followed by the Lodha-Shabar community, one of the region’s most marginalised indigenous groups. Among the districts, Jhargram accounts for the highest concentration of Lodha-Shabar residents, with an estimated population of nearly 40,000 members of the community, followed by Paschim Medinipur with around 30,000, and Purulia with approximately 14,000 Lodha-Shabar residents. In Bankura, their population stands at around 4,000.

Altogether, nearly 90,000 people belonging to the Lodha-Shabar community reside across the Jangalmahal region, reflecting a significant presence of this Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG) in the area.

“We have survived by remaining cut off from mainstream society. Our people are afraid to raise their demands, and government officials rarely visit our villages. This is how life continues,” said Sanjay Mallik, a resident of Chaksahapur village in Pashchim Medinipur.

“When members of our community die due to hunger and malnutrition, does it matter to anyone?” he asked. 

Referring to a recent incident in the Debra block of Paschim Medinipur, the locals further pointed out that three people reportedly died of starvation and malnutrition in two villages. “Do you hear any serious discussion about it now? Everything goes on as before,” a resident told The Wire.

On February 5, the same day the state budget was presented by Chief Minister Mamata........

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