HC warns Maharashtra health secretary over malnutrition deaths of tribal children

The warning was issued after HC was informed by petitioners that the state had done very little to implement HC’s orders

The Bombay high court (HC) has directed the Maharashtra to send specialist doctors to Melghat and other tribal areas, and has put the state health secretary on notice and asked him to be on guard if any more malnutrition deaths were reported in the state’s tribal belts.

The court said that if there was a dearth of doctors, the state could organise regular visits of doctors from civic and civil-run hospitals to tribal regions. (HT File)

The warning was issued after HC was informed by petitioners that despite various orders of the court and the constitution of a core committee to oversee the provision of medical facilities in Melghat and other tribal areas to arrest malnutrition deaths of tribal children, the state had done very little to implement HC’s orders, even as malnutrition deaths kept on occurring till date.

The petitioners also sought an audit of the funds received from the Centre towards the upliftment of tribal areas and alleviation of the problems faced by them. HC has asked the state and Centre to file affidavits and also asked the petitioners to give the latest update on malnutrition deaths in the tribal areas before the next hearing.

Gilda submitted that while some initiatives were taken by the state government and the situation has improved, due to lack of proper medical facilities in Melghat, there was an estimation that 900 children could die due to malnutrition. He added that children and expecting mothers not only from Melghat, but 11 other sensitive tribal areas such as Nandurbar and Palghar, were suffering due to insufficient medical aid.

Bandu Sane, an activist who has been working in tribal belts In Melghat region, submitted that between May 2020 to June this year, 70 children have died and there have been 257 child deaths in the past two years and over 11,000 children were underweight. He added that the situation was grave as only doctors with Bachelor of Ayurveda, Medicine, and Surgery (BAMS) qualifications were assigned to the region by the government and there were no paediatricians or gynaecologists. Sane also sought an audit of the funds received from Centre towards upliftment of tribal areas and alleviation of problems faced by the residents.

Advocate Neha Bhide for the state submitted that the government did not consider the PILs as adversarial, and even one death due to malnutrition was of concern. Hence, measures were being taken to address the issue. She added that while the Central government was responsible for disbursing funds to the state under various schemes, the state was cognizant of its responsibility to implement the schemes effectively.

After hearing the submissions, the court observed that it seemed there were no paediatrician, gynaecologist or radiologist in the area and such specialists should be posted there immediately.

“If your machinery is so well-equipped, why 73 deaths of malnutrition took place and children are dying till date? From tomorrow we want the situation to be monitored by doctors (sic),” said the bench.

The court further said that if there was a dearth of doctors, the state could organise regular visits of doctors from civic and civil-run hospitals to these regions and directed advocate general Ashutosh Kumbhakoni to appear before it after two weeks.

While directing the state to ensure that doctors monitor the tribal areas regularly, the court warned the secretary of health of being held responsible for any more deaths due to malnutrition. The court then directed the Centre to file an affidavit enumerating the funds disbursed by it under various schemes for tribal welfare and how it is monitoring the implementation of the schemes and also asked the petitioners to file an affidavit on the number of deaths and posted the PILs for hearing on September 6.