Kerala village seeks to set an example in postpartum care

Disclaimer: Reader discretion is advised as the story involves accounts of postpartum depressionPost-delivery stress among new mothers is often overlooked, though it can trigger suicides or infant killings in severe cases. A Kudumbasree initiative in Thiruvananthapuram district’s Nanniyode panchayat seeks to remind women that they are not alone.Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala: It shook the collective conscience of the society when a 25-year-old woman from Kundara in Kollam district of Kerala strangled her baby to death on March 9 last year. The incident triggered social workers to brainstorm on ways to prevent such cases in future.Aged just over three months, the baby girl was not a victim of female infanticide, but postpartum stress. "Baby blues are common among new mothers. Support from family and friends helps a lot," said psychologist Aswathy FS, who formerly worked with the Women and Child division of Karuna Sai Mental Health Centre."However, postpartum depression can cause serious issues if the mother does not get proper counselling and medicine. This can cause postpartum psychosis, where the mother reaches a state of hallucination leading to incidents like suicide and infant killings.”  The Kundara incident set Kudumbasree (a government initiative to empower women) circles in the state capital Thiruvananthapuram abuzz. Divya Vijayan V and Surya S, who work as service provider and counsellor, respectively, at the Snehitha gender help desk of Kudumbasree, were tasked with the mission to find a solution. Based on their inputs, the Kudumbasree Thiruvananthapuram District Mission launched ‘For You, Mom’ programme in April last year. Psychologist Aswathy offers counselling under the programme.Nanniyode village panchayat in Thiruvananthapuram was the first to implement the programme, with the support of the National Rural Livelihood Mission and state health department.Speaking to 101Reporters, Divya Vijayan said it was a different challenge to begin with, as most women were reluctant to share their woes, especially relating to pregnancy and their immediate family members. “However, we eventually gained their trust and created an inseparable bond with them. We pledge that no baby would be strangled to death by a depressed mother.”Kudumbasree workers mostly deal with postpartum stress among the poor and those facing domestic issues. Very few mothers from economically weaker sections are able to get family support, medical care and counselling during the postpartum period. To make matters worse, people in rural areas think behavioural changes are normal soon after delivery.However, the Kundara incident has brought to light the severity of postpartum stress. Some of the symptoms to watch out for are depressed mood, excessive crying, loss of appetite or eating too much, inability to sleep, intense irritability and anger, hopelessness, and recurrent thoughts of death or suicide.Solace at doorstepSixteen months after the programme’s launch, AK Akhila (25) stood proudly in front of the Gender Resource Centre (GRC) at Nanniyode with her 10-month-old baby girl. She received continuous online counselling from the centre during her pregnancy and postpartum period.Altogether, 15 women from Alambara, Puliyur and Kallipara wards of Nanniyode panchayat received counselling in the initial batch.“I got unflinching support from my husband and family, both before and after my delivery. Like any other woman, I was very anxious. However, periodic online counselling sessions gave me immense courage, all thanks to the Kudumbasree workers who made me feel like their own sister,” Akhila told 101Reporters.At first, a questionnaire prepared by mental health experts was given to all 15 women. From their answers, the social workers identified three cases of postpartum depression, with one showing symptoms of severe depression.On condition of anonymity, one of the women from the identified group told 101Reporters that she suffered from uncontrollable anxiety. “I felt my baby was about to die, even though my family and doctors repeatedly tried to convince me that the baby was alright. I lost appetite and sleep, and was unable to control my anger also.”Akhila stands proudly in front of the Gender Resource Centre (GRC) at Nanniyode with her 10-month-old baby girl (Photo: Rajendran K)Luckily, the ‘For You, Mom’ programme helped her overcome stress. “Even now, I receive phone calls from the GRC at least twice a month, enquiring about my well-being. And my baby is healthy and fine,” she said.Another woman cited financial difficulties as the reason for her postpartum depression. “In the wake of COVID-19, my husband lost his job. I was pregnant then. I was under relentless stress, always worrying how I would raise the child. I cannot express the pain I suffered after the most difficult days of pregnancy. But I got through everything with the kind words of my sisters from the GRC,” she told 101Reporters.The three women identified with postpartum depression received individual psychological counselling, while the one with severe depression got special medical treatment. That apart, all the 15 received six online counselling sessions to ensure they do not slip into depression.“COVID-19 was at its peak then. Most of the identified women belonged to poor rural backgrounds, and were very unfamiliar with digital tools. With repeated interventions, all of them patiently listened to the classes using their mobile phones. They shared their sorrows and miseries. In the later stage, many of their family members also attended enthusiastically,” said Kudumbasree community counselling educator G Mallika. Reaching out to more womenThe ‘For You, Mom’ entered its second stage on July 25 this year, with 23 women joining for online sessions at the Nanniyode GRC. Nine other GRCs in Thiruvananthapuram district also took up the programme.A survey conducted by the Nanniyode GRC has found that various social issues such as alcoholism and drug abuse of husbands stress out women during pregnancy and postpartum stages. “Apart from providing support to bring down postpartum stress, the root cause for the same should be identified and addressed,” said psychologist Aswathy.A Thiruvananthapuram native aged 25, who attempted suicide twice during her postpartum period, shared her harrowing experience. “During my pregnancy and postpartum period, I did not receive any support from my family. At the same time, I occasionally faced domestic violence from my husband, a chronic alcoholic and drug addict. After my delivery, I experienced hallucinations and was afraid that my baby girl would be killed by him,” said the woman, seeking anonymity.After the second suicide attempt, the woman was taken to her parental home and given psychiatric treatment.“The programme has already created a great impact in our village. We want to continue the project with more participation. In fact, the entire state should adopt it. No woman should bear the brunt of postpartum depression,” said Nanniyode village panchayat president Shylaja Rajeevan.  Edited by Sharad Akavoor  The cover image is for representational purpose (Photo - Amit Ranjan/Unsplash)

Do wild boar in Kerala get to live? Panchayats get the power to decide

EP Yohannan and his son Raju, along with panchayat members and officers, pose with the carcass of the first wild boar killed under the new Kerala government rules (Photo: Ravi)After failing to get the union government to declare wild boar as 'vermin', the state government allowed panchayats to authorise their culling whenever they venture into farms—a move that many believe doesn't tackle the root cause of the issue. Kozhikode, Kerala: On June 1, around 10.30 pm, EP Raju, a licensed gunner empanelled with the Kerala Forest and Wildlife Department, shot down a wild boar that had entered his father EP Yohannan’s farm in Kodancherry village in Kozhikode district — this was the first recorded incident of culling after the department empowered local self-governments to cull wild boar to curb their growing menace. “I’m thankful to Kodancherry panchayat president Alex Thomas for granting me the requisite permission. I request all farmers to take quick action, otherwise, no crop will survive in any village located on the fringes of the forest,” said 94-year-old Yohannan.Farmers who suspect that wild boar are attacking their farm now need to seek permission from the panchayat president, who can depute a licenced gunman to cull the animal. Earlier, the farmer had to procure this permission from the forest department, but the procedure was cumbersome and resulted in inordinate delay.While Raju's family celebrated the licensed killing of the boar, there's no respite for Thomas, as about 6,000 of the 9,000 households in his jurisdiction are incurring huge losses in agriculture due to wild boar attacks.  “There are hundreds of boar here, and we have only five licenced gunmen to tackle them. I'm worried the farmers in my village will continue to incur more losses,” said Thomas. Under the new rules, he is the honorary Chief Wildlife Warden with the same powers as State Chief Wild Warden.  Panchayat heads like Thomas will see a need for more licenced gunmen, and already district collector offices, which have the authority to approve gun licences after obtaining clearances from the police as well as the revenue and forest departments, are seeing an increase in applications. On May 25, after issuing an order to empower local bodies with culling rights, Kerala Minister of Forests AK Saseendran said, “This is a new experiment; there are bound to be some shortcomings. The government is trying to tackle the menace without violating the Wildlife Protection Act.” A senior forest officer, on condition of anonymity, said they didn't know the exact number of wild boar in Kerala, as no detailed survey had been conducted before the culling orders were issued. The last wild boar census was conducted in Kerala in 2011; it stood at 48,034.Though the panchayat should bear the cost of culling, in most cases farmers might have to bear the initial costs, which is tough on those whose farms have already been affected by boar attacks, the forest officer added. "To avoid poaching, farmers are even forbidden from selling the meat after the kill. We need to wait for at least a year before receiving feedback and rework the guidelines accordingly.”Earlier, farmers dug trenches, erected walls and even resorted to using poison, electric traps and illegal shooting to control the menace. This often caused untoward accidents. For instance, on May 21, in Vithura gram panchayat in Thiruvananthapuram district, 57-year-old Selvaraj was electrocuted by an electric fence. “Farmers are not resorting to illegal means anymore. I have already received more than 150 applications for culling rights,” said VS Baburaj, president of Vithura gram panchayat. The panchayats intend to expedite the otherwise exhausting process of granting permission and connecting farmers with licenced gunmen. The applications are approved at the president’s discretion.These applications give each farmer the standing right to ask for the culling of boar that enter their farms after they are verified as genuine by the panchayat. After this, the panchayat president can grant permission even over a phone call, deputing an available gunman for the task. Depending on the particular farmer's financial standing, the panchayat may or may not accept the responsibility of paying the gunmen, who are compensated to the tune of Rs 1000 per culling.Photo: FlickrWild boar – a vermin or not?In the past five years, wild boar attacks caused 21 deaths and 515 injuries among people. So far, the Kerala government has received 10,700 applications from farmers seeking compensation for the damages. The compensation process, however, is laggard. According to a Kerala forest department official, around Rs 5 crore has been disbursed as compensation for crop loss against wild boar attacks in 2020-2021; Rs 3.53 crore in 2019-20; and Rs 4.6 crore in 2018-19. According to the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972, the culling of a wild boar is a criminal offence, involving three years imprisonment so farmers are in a dilemma about the legality of culling despite panchayat sanctions.With the rise in man-animal conflicts, farmer’s organisations have been pressuring the Centre to declare wild boar as vermin. "There are strict guidelines for declaring an animal 'vermin'. They cannot be declared vermin unless they’re dangerous across the country, which wild boar are not,” said Bhupendra Yadav, Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, on the sideline of the Anil Agarwal Annual Environmental Dialogue conducted by the Centre for Science and Environment in Nimli, Rajasthan. This was before the May 25 announcement in Kerala. He added that he was aware of the situation in Kerala, but declaring boar vermin would make them vulnerable to poaching across India.According to P Basheer, a forest officer from Edathara sector in Kozhikode, who had overseen the first culling operation in Kodancherry village: “On the pretext of culling to save life and crop, hunting shouldn’t be permitted. We are duty-bound to ensure that after the culling, the carcass is buried properly.” Culling not a panaceaA section of environmentalists and animal rights activists, including Maneka Gandhi, has, however, protested this move by the Kerala government.“Wild boar is the only species that consumes bracken, an undergrowth that prevents seedlings from growing by blocking sunlight in forest," Gandhi explained. "Besides, its habit of constantly scratching the forest floor clears the ground for fresh growth. The demand to cull wild boar was made by hunters and others who stood to gain monetarily through poaching, not by agriculturalists.”The Kerala forest minister unequivocally denied these allegations, pointing out that the decision was aimed at finding a permanent solution for farmers and people residing 0n forest fringes, and that the government wouldn’t allow hunting. However, farmers claimed the problem was not restricted to wild boar alone. P Vijayalakshmi, a farm woman in Kulappully village in Palakkad district, said, “I have suffered financial losses of more than Rs 1 lakh in a year due to animal attacks. Not only wild boar but also monkeys and peacock have been regularly raiding my crops. I can cull wild boar, but what about the others? Does the law permit culling them, too?”People living on the fringes of forests have been facing attacks from wild elephant, tiger, leopard, monkey, bison and peacock on the regular. According to the Kerala Forest and Wildlife Department, 1,048 people lost their lives to animal attacks in the past decade.Shrinking forests and increasing urbanisation have forced the animals, including wild boar, out of the woods. They enter farmlands in search of plantains and tapioca.  State-controlled culling may not offer any permanent solution unless measures are taken to preserve the forests and fight climate change.“Water and food scarcity due to the degradation of forests and climate change are the main causes for man-animal conflict. Infact, we cannot find a permanent  solution without addressing this root cause. But I support culling for the time being because no other option exists for farmers to save their lives and farms,” said Dr VS  Vijayan, former chairman of the Kerala State Biodiversity Board.“Culling may bring temporary relief, but it cannot weed out the problem entirely," said Vijayalakshmi. Edited by Rashmi Guha Ray