Malnourishment in melghat: HC seeks scheme details from Centre, state govt

K A Y Dodhiya

K A Y Dodhiya

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Abbas.dodhiya@htlive.com

Mumbai

Coming down heavily on the Centre and the state for not addressing the malnutrition issue effectively in Melghat and Dharni areas in Vidarbha, the Bombay high court remarked that activists such as Ravindra Kolhe and Baba Amte were doing what the authorities should be doing for the tribal.

The HC has asked the Centre to file an affidavit about the action taken, the amount spent on the schemes and the status of the measures implemented. It also directed the district health and child welfare officers of the state to be present in court in the next hearing on December 5.

The division bench of justices SC Dharmadhikari and RI Chagla was hearing the public interest litigation filed by activist Dr Rajendra Sadanand Burma.

They were informed that since the filing of the PIL in 2007 on the plight of tribals in Melghat and Dharni, malnourishment-related deaths among women and children had not reduced. He submitted that despite orders of the previous HC benches, the problem remained unresolved.

Centre through its counsel Dharmesh Joshi informed the bench that two schemes — integrated child development and integrated child protection programmes — had been implemented but it had not reached inaccessible areas.

After hearing the submissions, justice Dharmadhikari said, “It is surprising that though the chief minister is from Vidarbha, he has not done much to address the issue in the past five years.” He said that the court did not believe in forming committees or holding meetings in Mantralaya, but wanted answers. “While there is no government today, we are hoping that the officials will come up with answers till the next hearing.”