Kerala chief minister Oommen Chandy said on Tuesday his government was expected to take a decision shortly on Attapadi, a malnutrition-afflicted tribal hamlet in Palakkad district below the Nilgiri hills of the Western Ghats.
According to the district health office of Palakkad, 14 malnutrition-related deaths have taken place in the past four months, but NGOs working with the tribals say more than 40 children died in the past three months alone.
A random survey of 700 men and women by the Kerala health department and the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) said 483 were suffering from severe malnutrition and anemia.
State social welfare minister MK Muneer, who visited the hills on Monday, said: “Some government agencies failed to report the ground situation. Food supplements will be distributed immediately.”