Though there have been no deaths due to starvation in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada district, tribals in the region are forced to live on empty stomachs, National Advisory Council (NAC) member and Supreme Court food commissioner Harsh Mander said on Thursday.
Mander, who surveyed the Morpalli village in Tarmetla area of Dantewada on the direction of the apex court, said he did not see any tribal dying of hunger.
However, people are forced to live in a state of impoverishment, he said.
The NAC member said though the Supreme Court had asked him to visit the areas to find out the truth about reports of people dying due to starvation, he said the main issue there was how people were spending their life in utter impoverishment.
Mander said in order to solve the problem of people in the area, the government will have to make its presence felt, besides open schools and aanganwadis and extend other facilities to the locals.
Apart from the Naxals, the people here have been harassed by the Salwa Judum activists and police jawans too. The state will have to bring development to this region, besides ensuring law and order, he added.