HC summons tribal officer on May 5 to give malnutrition status

Taking a serious note of the death of children due to malnutrition in Maharashtra's Melghat tribal region, the Bombay High Court today summoned project officer of the Tribal Development Department to appear before it on May 5 to give first-hand information of the steps taken by the state government to tackle the problem.
A bench, headed by Chief Justice Mohit Shah, while hearing a bunch of PILs alleging malnutrition in Melghat region, wanted to know the causes of death of tribal children, availability of medicines, doctors and nutritional facilities in this tribal belt.
The PILs alleged lack of facilities in tribal areas resulting in death of children due to malnutrition.

The court was informed by activist Purnima Upadhaya that there were no gynaecologists and paediatricians in Melghat region, as a result of which the malnourished children did not get medical attention.
However, government counsel told the court that all vacancies in various posts, except class IV, had been filled in the tribal region. The court was also informed that centres had been set up to tackle malnourishment. In these centres, children are treated and given nourishment to overcome the problem of malnourishment.
The petitioner informed that in the last five months, 123 children died of malnutrition in two blocks of Melghat and another 113 in 12 blocks of Amravati.

Earlier, the petitioner had put forth a grievance that apart from distribution of iron tablets, there is no effort to educate the women and girls about their health and nutrition. "Health Education, which should be at the core of our interventions, remains limited to some posters and paintings," she added.
She urged the court to issue necessary directions to the concerned departments for a time-bound action both on short-term and long-term issues to tackle malnutrition in a manner that is sustained through effective policies and directions from the respondents.