CALCUTTA: Grim pictures of the destitution of Bengal were painted in the Provincial Legislative Assembly last night [Sept 17] by non-official speakers in a debate on the food situation in the province. Children and infants were being sold in an area of Barisal district known in happier times as the ‘Granary of Bengal’, said one member. Another graphic statement was that there was not a single village in rural Bengal where it was possible to find people who had two meals a day. Describing conditions in Burdwan town, the member for that area put the average death rate at 20 to 25 daily.

The Assembly Debate will be continued 10 days later but it has served to fill in the picture of a pathetic situation. Repatriation of destitutes is being carried out from Calcutta where ill-clad and hungry men, women and children have been flocking in for food. These destitutes are being medically treated and fed. Meanwhile 140 free kitchens are providing food for them in Calcutta and the suburbs and there is much unorganised charity.

In spite of this however, pitiable sights meet the eye in Calcutta. No few men, women and children are found on the pavements too weak to ask for food. — Dawn Delhi

Published in Dawn, September 19th, 2018