HC blasts state for child and maternal deaths in Melghat, seeks roadmap in 4 weeks

The court noted that despite a series of earlier court directions and multiple committee reports on tackling malnutrition and healthcare gaps, the government had failed to come up with a comprehensive solution

MUMBAI: The Bombay high court on Monday pulled up the state government for the continuing cases of child and maternal deaths in the tribal belt of Melghat. Stating that “too little is being done”, the court noted that despite a series of earlier court directions and multiple committee reports on tackling malnutrition and healthcare gaps, the government had failed to come up with a comprehensive solution.

Gavel and law books (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

The division bench of Justices Ravindra Ghuge and Abhay Mantri was hearing a bunch of PILs raising concerns about the severe malnourishment in tribal children and the recurring deaths of pregnant women, particularly from the Melghat and Dharni regions in Vidarbha.

In August 2021, a petitioner had informed the court that the lack of proper medical facilities in Melghat could lead to an estimated 900 children dying of malnutrition. He added that it was not just Melghat; women and children in 11 other sensitive tribal areas such as Nandurbar and Palghar were affected by insufficient medical aid.

On January 16, 2026, petitioner Rajendra Burma submitted an additional affidavit to demonstrate the negligence of the state authorities. Describing it as a “black day in the history of health services of the tribal belt of Amravati”, Burma stated that on November 15 last year, four children between the age of six months and six years lost their lives within 24 hours due to malnutrition. The same day, he said, a young mother died because of the negligence of health officials in Melghat and Dharni.

During the hearing on Monday, Jugalkishore Gilda, appearing for the petitioner, submitted that over the years, around 30,000 children had died of malnourishment. Citing the lack of road connectivity, clean drinking water, absence of seasoned medical professionals in Melghat and frequent changes in medical rosters as reasons for preventable deaths, Gilda said that the state continued to be negligent.

The public health department informed the court that 105 doctors had been deputed to Melghat, and stated that the main reasons for such deaths were anaemia, child marriage and early pregnancies. The court countered that the state needed to “make special arrangements and efforts” without making social issues an excuse for administrative failure.

Further noting that the daily change in the deputation roster for doctors made it more difficult to attend to medical emergencies, the court said, “(The) daily roster appears to be ineffective. If they travel for eight hours to reach Melghat, when will they attend to medical emergencies and when will they return home?” The court added that the primary health centres in such areas needed to be developed “so that the infrastructure enables the doctors to reside at the PHCs freely”.

Directing the government to submit a detailed compilation of the court orders passed over the years and the compliance measures taken, the bench also directed the authorities to submit a “future roadmap” within four weeks, clarifying that the election code of conduct could not be cited as an impediment. The petitioners were also permitted to submit suggestions to the public health department.

“We do not find any valid reasons from the state. The focal point should be the health of pregnant women, babies and lactating mothers. A zero-tolerance approach is required,” the bench said, while posting the matter for further hearing on February 27.