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Scindia meets Maneka: Central team to probe Sheopur malnutrition deaths

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Special Correspondent

NewsBits.in

Bhopal: A central team would visit Sheopur to probe recent malnutrition deaths and submit a report to union ministry of women and child development by Monday.

The women and child development minister Maneka Gandhi ordered constitution of the probe team after Congress MP and ex-union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia met her on Thursday.

Scindia met Gandhi at New Delhi to apprise her about rampant malnutrition and related deaths in Madhya Pradesh, especially Sheopur district. The union minister would hold a meeting on the issue on the same day.

Scindia, who is Congress chief whip in Lok Sabha, told the minister that at least 19 malnourished children have died in Sheopur during past few weeks. During a recent survey, within five days, 461 malnourished kids were detected in 106 villages, of which 145 were found to be several malnourished.

The MP government has accepted in state assembly that 19,724 kids in Sheopur were malnourished.

Madhya Pradesh has second highest malnutrition rate in India, highest infant mortality rate and second highest under-5 mortality rate. In a letter memorandum to the union minister, Scindia said that it was very unfortunate that despite such grim statistics, the state government continued to ignore the ground situation.

Rather than taking effective measures, the state government was trying to sweep facts under carpet. The principal secretary of women and child department visited Sheopur, but tried to bury facts, the Congress leader said.

Scindia said that the issue was not political but that of humanity and sensitivity. He personally visited the area to know the facts and found shocking situation. The same area reported malnutrition deaths 10 years ago and the government has been able to do nothing to improve the scenario. In last 12 years, nutritious food worth Rs 7800 crores was apparently distributed, but not positive impact is seen.

He said that accountability of the government should be fixed in this context.