Karnataka court flays govt on malnutrition panel

The state government told the high court on Wednesday that it has withdrawn the committee constituted to look into the cause of malnutrition deaths among children in the state.
 The court adjourned the suo motu case to Thursday for fresh suggestion of names for the committee.

Considering a letter written by Athani Vimochana Sangha, an NGO, as a PIL, the division bench headed by chief justice Vikramajit Sen had adjourned the case to March 29 and asked the state government to inform the court on the proposed steps for preventing malnutrition deaths. In a letter addressed to the chief justice on September 23, 2011, the NGO had drawn his attention to a report in a local channel that 4,531 children suffered from malnutrition and starvation in the state.

In the earlier hearing, the principal secretary of the department of women and child development Ramesh Zalki named the officials who were members of the committee. But the division bench came down heavily on the state government for constituting a committee which excluded people who fought for the cause of malnourished children in the state.