A third casualty linked to malnutrition has been reported in Wada, Palghar district. Two-year-old Roshni Gurunath Sawra died a week ago as she was being shifted to the government hospital at Thane from the local one at Wada.
A clueless State government is grappling for a solution to the problem in Mumbai’s backyard, as it faced an angry outburst from local residents and the family of Sagar Wagh, another two-year-old child who lost his life a fortnight ago. Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao has asked the government to tackle the situation on a war footing, with a coordinated response from various departments. Minister for Women and Child Welfare Pankaja Munde, Tribal Welfare Minister Vishnu Savra and Minister for Public Health Deepak Sawant are expected to visit Mokhada and other areas to assess the situation.
Sagar, who weighed only 4.6 kg, died on the morning of August 28. He is one of the nearly 7,000 children suffering from malnutrition in Palghar. The tribal-dominated district is represented by State Tribal Development Minister Vishnu Sawra, whose constituency includes Vikramgarh, Jawahar and Mokhada, the worst-hit tehsils.
Mr. Sawra, who visited the Wagh family on Thursday, was greeted with anger and resentment from the bereaved family. In a video that went viral on social media, the mother of the child can be heard asking Sawra where the administration was when “they needed them.” Wada, where Roshni died, is also represented by Sawra.
When the locals confronted the minister saying almost 600 children have been affected, there was allegedly no concrete response from him, besides a dismissive ‘so what’. Alleging that things were being blown up and the some local organisations were fuelling tensions in the area, the minister walked off, saying if he was not needed, he would not visit the areas. This angered the locals further.
“If the government feels this way, how do you expect them to solve the problem,” said Hemchandra Patil, a local Right to Information activist. “The government may send any number of ministers after this, but I doubt if the local populace will be in a mood to let them enter Mokhada,” he said.
Meanwhile, Palghar District Collector Abhijeet Bangar told The Hindu that although several schemes addressing local malnutrition problems are already being implemented, the local administration will ensure that the benefits reach every household.
“I am already aware of the malnutrition situation in the three districts of Vikramgarh, Mokhada and Jowhar, but now we are also including Wada in our efforts,” said Mr. Bangar. Schemes like the Village Child Development Centre at the Anganwadi level and Child Treatment Centre (CTC), which must have paediatricians, are already being implemented. “But now we shall be more vigilant,” he said.
The writer is a freelance journalist
