Malnutrition deaths: HC questions HRD ministry

MUMBAI: Shocked by the alarming figures of children dying of starvation and undernourishment in the state, and the lopsided policies of the state government, the Bombay high court on Monday directed the union HRD ministry and the National Nutrition Monitoring Bureau to appear before it.
The direction was issued by a bench comprising chief justice Dalveer Bhandari and justice Dhananjay Chandrachud following a ''fatal inequity'' analysis report submitted by social worker Sheela Barse on September 17.
According to Barse''s report, an alarming 76 per cent of children in the state are anaemic and suffering from stunted growth.
Barse, who had earlier requested the HC to direct the state government to make interim arrangements to curb starvation and undernourishment deaths, said nearly 40 to 60 per centof children in 23 districts in the state are suffering from breathing disorders.
"This is mainly due to micronutrient deficiencies and excessive pollution. Bronchitis and asthma rank high among causes of death in the total population," she said.
Advocate general of the state V A Thorat said the state has proposed 600 more Anganwadis in tribal areas. "Currently the proposal is being discussed at the secretarial level. A final decision will be taken by the ministers after the assembly elections," Thorat said.
But a visibly angry Barse told the justices that the fundamentals of the government''s Anganwadi scheme were all wrong.
"The government needs to immediately rectify the Integrated ChildDevelopment Scheme (ICDS) and other child care programmes."
Criticising the ICDS classification of children as normal and general on the basis of the gradation method, Barse said the gradation and classification of a child by its weight without any other context is faulty and outrageous.
The two justices suggested to Thorat that it was high time the state government recognised the flaws in its schemes and modified its gradation system.
Barse said the number of children under six who died is much higher than the officially reported 58 per cent for rural areas.
"There is no honest disclosure of still births or babies who have died within a week of delivery. The state has cunningly divided it into four categories of still, prenatal, postnatal and neonatal mortality. Even then the combined figure is an alarming 95 deaths per 1000 births," she said.
On October 10, 1993, Barse had filed a public interest litigation in the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court on the alarming deaths of children from rural areas due to starvation and undernourishment.
Citing some alarming figures on women''s health, Barse said the nutrition status of women of child-bearing age is 51.2 per cent for rural areas and 44.8 per cent for urban.
"Three per cent of Maharashtra''s women are fatally starved," she said. "For some reason the government is turning a blind eye to some of its most deprived districts like Gondiya, Dhule, Nandurbar, Hingoli and Washim."