Special team to be formed for reducing child malnutrition deaths in Maharashtra: minister

Nagpur, Dec 12 (PTI) Maharashtra Women and Child Development Minister Aditi Tatkare on Friday said that a "special task team" will be formed to undertake programs aimed at reducing children's deaths due to malnutrition.

She was responding to a discussion in the legislative council on deaths due to malnutrition in Melghat region of eastern Maharashtra.

Uma Khapre, Sanjay Khodke, Chitra Wagh and Pravin Darekar spoke on the issue in the upper house.

Khapre said 65 children below six years of age died in Melghat in the last five months due to malnutrition, and raised concerns over the condition of hospitals in the region.

Minister of State for Public Health Meghna Bordikar said all government departments are working to decrease child mortality.

Tatkare informed that the number of infant deaths in Melghat due to severe malnutrition was 246 in 2019-20, which fell to 195 in 2021-22; 175 in 2022-23; 156 in 2023-24; 141 in 2024-25 and 97 in 2025-26.

The government wanted to ensure that not a single child dies due to malnutrition, she said.

The percentage of Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) in the state was 1.33 as of November 2023, and decreased to 0.79 in 2024 and 0.41 in 2025, she said. Similarly, Moderate Acute Malnutrition (MAM) has come down from 3.84 per cent to 2.56 per cent, Tatkare said.

A "special task team" of officials from the Tribal Welfare, Health and Women and Child Development departments will be formed to undertake programmes to reduce malnutrition deaths, the minister said. PTI CLS KRK