Gulsogi: No
work, no food
40 year old
Gulsogi, part of
the Chakma
tribe, lives in
Bolisora village
of Bungtlang
Block in
Lawngtlai
district, one of
the areas
hardest hit by
the food crisis
in Mizoram.
A widow and
mother of six,
Gulsogi Chakma,
managed to
harvest just 1.6
quintals from
her winter crop
this year, a
fraction of her
usual 25
quintals which
lasts the family
seven months.
This year their
rice crop was
consumed by
January end.
Since then they
have spent three
days a week
foraging for
roots.
To see the
family through
lean periods,
Gulsogi’s three
elder sons work
as porters but
the Mautam has
dealt a severe
blow to the
local economy
and work is
scarce.
Subsidized rice
is available
through the
government’s
public
distribution
system but
Gulsogi’s family
cannot buy
enough to meet
their needs.
“My sons have
been sleeping
without food two
days this week.
They
occasionally
find work as
porters with
traders in the
neighbouring
villages but
that is not
enough,” she
says.
March 2008
