Jeb Akhtar/Ranchi

Muzaffar Hussain's mission is simple yet has a profound impact on society as he works to ensure that no one in Santhal Pargana, a tribal belt of Jharkhand, goes to be hungry.

In this remote region, poverty is a lived reality. The six districts of Pakur, Godda, Sahebganj, Dumka, Jamtara, and Deoghar carry a long and painful history of deprivation. It's because of activists like Hussain that the ground situation has started changing.

The land itself bears witness to a stark truth — hunger is as real as the barrenness of its fields. One study claims that 82 per cent of Santhal people live in extreme poverty, with most owning no land. In the middle of this harsh reality stands Muzaffar Hussain of Pakur, a man who made it his mission to fight hunger.

Muzaffar Hussain (Extreme right) at a conference

His battle began even before the Right to Food Act was passed in 2013. Today, while the Act exists on paper, the real task is ensuring food reaches the truly needy — a task Muzaffar has made his life’s purpose.

His efforts have borne fruit: around 600–700 families now have ration cards and receive regular supplies of food grains. But behind this achievement lie countless untold struggles.

In his own village, Narayanpur, a man died of hunger. His family had gone without rice for two days. That incident marked the turning point in Muzaffar’s life. He resolved to stand up against this humiliation called hunger.

He began modestly — by pressuring officials to provide 10 kilos of rice a month to hunger-affected families. Even though the government refused to officially acknowledge starvation deaths, it was forced to prioritise the extremely poor.

Muzaffar Hussain with villagers

When the Right to Food Act came into force in 2013, Muzaffar and his colleagues felt they had gained a weapon. They went door-to-door filling forms, visiting supply offices, and getting ration cards issued. Gradually, people began to understand their rights, and today the needy themselves reach out to Muzaffar.

But the battle didn’t end there. Muzaffar admits that even today, securing ration cards is difficult — the online portal often crashes, and errors with green cards are common. Yet one thing has changed: PDS dealers no longer function unchecked. Muzaffar and his team act quickly on complaints, and under their watch, the government now maintains an emergency stock of 100 quintals of rice in every panchayat.

After fighting hunger, Muzaffar opened another front — migration. Two years of research revealed that large numbers of labourers leave the region because there is no local employment.

Ironically, government projects often hired labourers from neighboring West Bengal. Muzaffar began pressuring contractors to employ locals first. The impact was evident — migration reduced, and local workers earned better wages than outsiders.

Muzaffar Hussain at Shaheen Academy

But the resistance was fierce. Contractors retaliated by filing false cases against him. Muzaffar says, “Corruption cannot be wiped out overnight. It has to be dismantled slowly, or the fight itself will be crushed.”

Today, he serves as a Social Auditor for MGNREGA. Whenever irregularities surface in Pakur, Godda, or Sahebganj, he exposes them, ensuring laborers receive their dues and public money is saved.

Educated in Arabic, he earned his MA from Jamia Miftahul Uloom in Mau, Uttar Pradesh, yet chose to use his education as a tool of service rather than a ticket to a career.

Muzaffar Hussain during an awareness campaign in a village

His battle is far from over. He dreams of a Santhal where every home has food and work, where no labourer is forced to migrate, and no child sleeps on an empty stomach. He knows the road is long but believes that as long as the struggle lives, hunger can be defeated.

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When the story of Santhal is written — of its poverty, hunger, and migration — one name will shine through the darkness: Muzaffar Hussain, the man who declared war on hunger and proved that change is possible.