The Bombay high court on Thursday directed the state to provide food and medical facilities to malnourished children in Melghat area of Amravati district with immediate effect, and ensure that the Rs 600 crore aid granted is used to this effect instead of landing in the pockets of corrupt officials.Purnima Upadhyay, of NGO KHOJ, informed the high court that there were 2,382 acute malnourished children and 534 moderately malnourished children in Melghat. Around 3,808 were severely underweight, and 9,640 were moderately underweight in the tribal hamlet. As per statistics compiled by the NGO, 409 children died in 2012-13, while there have already been 426 deaths in this year till June."Even after several orders by the high court, the state government has failed to provide basic facilities to the children," argued Upadhyay.Directing the state to act within a week, a division bench of Justice V M Kanade and Justice P D Kode said, "Around Rs 600 crore aid is granted by the central and state governments, but instead of reaching these children, it goes in the pockets of corrupt officials. Even after so many years of independence, the conditional of these children continues to remain the same. What is the point if you cannot provide basic things?"Adjourning the hearing to August 14, the court directed the state to file a compliance report on the directions given and told the core committee set up to monitor the matter to submit a progress report.There are 11 sensitive districts in the state which have reported a high number of malnourished deaths.For the past two years, the high court has been monitoring the progress of government schemes in these districts.

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