The Bombay High Court has asked the Maharashtra government to explain its conduct when it is able to allocate crores of rupees to schemes such as ‘Ladki Bahin’ but malnutrition-related deaths among children, pregnant women, and lactating mothers persist in tribal regions such as Melghat. The court was hearing a public interest litigation that has been pending since 2007.
A Division Bench of Justice Ravindra Ghuge and Justice Abhay Mantri noted that despite orders passed by the High Court since 2007, the State had done “too little” for the welfare of tribal communities and had not succeeded in preventing deaths caused by malnutrition in the region.
“In a progressive State like Maharashtra, after 78 years of independence, we are still talking about babies dying of malnutrition,” Justice Ghuge said. “This discussion about malnutrition itself is a defeat of the policies. People are dying, babies are dying. From 2007 onwards orders have been passed, yet babies continue to die. You cannot say that no earlier 20 babies were dying and today only 15 are dying. Not at all. This is not acceptable. You need to stop the deaths itself. No baby should die.”
Why do infant deaths persist in the tribal-dominated region of Melghat in Maharashtra?
