BANGALORE: The High Court on Wednesday came down heavily on the State Government over the death of children due to malnutrition at Marakamdinni village in Raichur and directed it to file a report within three days.Hearing a PIL filed by B L Patil, the division bench headed by Acting Chief Justice Vikramajit Sen was unhappy over the State Government’s submission that there was no death due to malnutrition, which was contradicted by the Supreme Court’s appointed commissioner.He was appointed to study malnutrition in various parts of the country. The government was told to list the number of children suffering from malnutrition and the measures being taken in such cases.When the government wanted more time, the court said that it would grant more time only under the condition that it would be held responsible for any more deaths of children during the time it files the report.The court also warned the Women and Child Welfare Department officer to be careful for stating that the deaths of children was due to some other reasons a n d n o t because of malnutrition.The commissioner further submitted that despite the matter being brought to the notice of Chief Secretary, no action had been taken. However, when the government submitted that the children have been dying due to various diseases and not due to malnutrition, the court directed it to submit a report within three days.When the government sought one week’s time to file a report, Acting Chief Justice questioned said,”Will you take responsibility if there are any death during this week? Your report is contradictory.Better file a report within three days.” According to a statistics report produced before the court, at least 2,069 children have died due to malnutrition in Raichur district alone from April 2009 to August 2011.“Throughout the state, around 60 to 70,000 children are suffering from malnutrition and presently around 4,500 children are suffering from malnutrition in Raichur district,” the report stated.
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