BHOPAL
: Five more deaths of
malnourished children
have been reported from
Rewa
district. The latest deaths have been reported from Ovari village of Jawa block, the same backward region of the district where four malnourished children had died recently.
However, Rewa chief medical and health officer Dr SK Tripathi said, “These deaths were not due to malnourishment. They were due to different ailments related to malnourishment. But, the children died in May-June this year and not now.”
He said, “All these deaths were reported from remote areas of Rewa. Here, tribals are not conscious about health issues. They take recourse to witchcraft rather than opting for health care facilities.”
Ovari is a small village inhabited by Kol tribals and situated about 100 km from Rewa district headquarters. It has a population of 714 people.
Following a TOI report on October 13 on
death of four severely malnourished children from Dabhoura Basti of Jawa block, about 70 km from Rewa district headquarters, MP Human Rights Commission has sought detailed report from the district collector. The panel also asked the collector to explain why cooked food was not made available to children in May, June and July and only for 10 days in August and just 16 days in September.
All the dead were children of Kol tribals who are inhabitants of Rewa and Satna districts in
Vindhya
region. As many as 15 severely malnourished children were also admitted to nutritious rehabilitation centres of Tyothar and Rewa district hospital.