4-year-old dies in Palghar due to malnutrition

Malnutrition deaths continue to haunt Palghar district, on Monday a four year-old kid Vedant Madvi lost his life reportedly due to malnutrition before his treatment could even begin.

The death certificate of the boy, who just weighed 10.7 kg, roughly half compared to normal kids, stated the cause of death as severe anemia and loose motions.

Activists, however, insisted that the child died due to malnutrition and lack of treatment, and his name was also reportedly not registered in the list of malnourished children.

Madvi was rushed to the rural hospital of Wada by his parents at 5:50am on Monday. Due to his critical condition, breathlessness, extreme weakness and loose motions, doctors immediately referred him to the Thane civil hospital, but died on the way.

Medical superintendent of Wada Rural hospital Dr Pradeep Jadhav confirmed that Madvi was not receiving any treatment at the hospital before and his parents didn't produce any prescription either when they reached the rural hospital,

"We don't know whether he received any treatment at the primary health centre before or whether his name was in the list of malnourished kids. We identified him as severely malnourished and anemic because he was extremely weak, unable to breathe, pale and weighed just 10.7 kg. Since his condition was very critical we referred him to Thane civil hospital but he died on the way," Dr Jadhav told dna.

However activists alleged foul play saying, "district administration is manipulating the cause of death to hush up the matter."
According to the figures of integrated child development scheme compiled in August, over 150 kids below the age of six have reportedly died due to malnutrition from April to August this year in Palghar district. Besides, 457 other kids have been diagnosed as severely acute malnourished (SAM) and 3,159 kids as moderately acute malnourished (MAM).

"Such tactics only prove that the government is seeking to hide the malnutrition deaths in attempt to save its image from further dent. Besides, this also shows their insensitivity and lack of seriousness towards the matter," said Vivek Pandit, former MLA and head of the Shramjivi Sanghatna which is working for tribals in the district.

Vedant hailed from Sonshiv village of Wada Taluka in Palghar. He weighed only 11 kg which is 40 percent less than normal. According to the doctors, a four year-old boy must weigh 18-20 kg.

Like other victims, Vendant's parents are also jobless labourers. Sonshiv is situated 48km away from Wada and 60km away from district headquarter Palghar. Bhiwandi is nearest town to Sonshiv which is approximately 43km away. It has a total population of 700 people.

Health screening process in the area is so poor that even after Savara's visit it was dna team which had spotted two malnourished kids in Kalamwadi and Khoch villages and requested the district administration to admit them in hospital. Later, one boy was diagnosed as severely acute malnourished (SAM) and other as moderately acute malnourished (MAM).

Even as government's machinery is on alert due to mounting pressure of media and opposition, a health screening camp held by Shramjivi Sanghatna on Sunday found 75 percent kids out in 12 villages in the area as malnourished.

The series of deaths has rocked the state forcing two of his senior ministers from the Devendra Fadnavis government, Vishnu Savara and Panjaka Munde rushing to the villages last week. The duo also promised to fill up the vacant posts and effectively implement the nutritional schemes.

However rubbishing activists' claims of the issue being under-reported, a top official from tribal development department said, "There is no question of under-reporting or hiding facts. We are trying very hard to reach out to every single child. We are trying to bring NGOs in the area on board to expedite the efforts."