‘Madhya Pradesh tribe’s children suffer acute malnutrition’

BHOPAL - Children of Saharia tribe of Madhya Pradesh are severely malnourished, 23 of them dying between December 2009 to April 2010, a report said.

The report by NGO Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) said that five children belonging to the Saharia tribe died during September and October this year in Narghada village of Shivpuri district alone.

Over 20 percent of the children of the district are “severely malnourished” and most of them are tribal, the report published Dec 1 said.

The report also said that Shivpuri is notorious for children’s deaths from malnutrition and other sicknesses since 2004 and 23 deaths were recorded between March and May of 2004 as well.

This could be a major blot on Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s record. He recently completed five years in office and also conducted a ‘Vanvasi Samman Yatra’, aimed at establishing rapport with the tribal communities.

A survey by the women and child development department endorsed the NGO’s findings. It showed around 9,500 children were malnourished in Shivpuri, and 20.7 percent suffered from Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM).