The Bombay High Court has pulled up the Maharashtra government for making too little progress in tackling persistent child and maternal deaths in the tribal Melghat region. The Court has directed the state to submit a comprehensive road map within four weeks covering healthcare deployment, infrastructure and implementation of past committee reports.

A Bench of Justices Ravindra Ghuge and Abhay Mantri was hearing a batch of public interest litigations filed by activists Dr Rajendra Burma and Bandu Sane, highlighting chronic malnutrition, staff shortages, poor infrastructure and rising child deaths in Melghat. The court also admonised Public Health Department’s practice of preparing daily rosters for gynecologists and paediatricians to travel long distances to remote public health centres, terming it ineffective and disappointing.