What Happened
- The Bombay High Court administered a sharp rebuke to the Maharashtra government, observing that while the state allocates thousands of crores to schemes like the Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana, malnutrition-linked deaths continue among tribal communities in the Melghat region of Amravati district.
- The court was hearing a batch of public interest litigations pending since 1993, filed by activists Dr. Rajendra Burma and Bandu Sampatrao Sane, which have documented chronic malnutrition, staff shortages at health centres, and poor infrastructure in Melghat.
- From June 2025 to March 2026, at least 65 infants between zero and six months of age died due to malnutrition in Melghat, with the court noting over 115 reported deaths in the recent period and describing the situation as "horrific."
- The court found the state had done "too little" despite orders passed since 2007 and asked the government to submit a time-bound action plan explaining what concrete steps would be taken to end malnutrition deaths.
- The Ladki Bahin Yojana provides a monthly direct benefit transfer of ₹1,500 to eligible women across Maharashtra; the court's juxtaposition of this expenditure with Melghat deaths raises questions about targeted tribal welfare versus broad welfare schemes.
Static Topic Bridges
ICDS and the Anganwadi System: India's First Line Against Malnutrition
The Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme, launched on October 2, 1975, is one of the world's largest programmes for early childhood care and nutrition. It delivers a package of services — supplementary nutrition, immunisation, health check-up, referral services, non-formal pre-school education, and nutrition and health education — through Anganwadi Centres (AWCs). India operates approximately 1.4 million AWCs staffed by Anganwadi Workers (AWWs) and Anganwadi Helpers. In tribal areas like Melghat, ICDS is often the only formal nutrition safety net.
- Target beneficiaries: children under 6 years, pregnant women, lactating mothers, and adolescent girls.
- ICDS is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) funded on a 60:40 basis between Centre and States (90:10 for special category states).
- Persistent issues: AWW vacancies, inadequate supplementary nutrition supply, lack of functional weighing machines, non-functional AWCs in remote tribal pockets.
- Poshan Abhiyaan (National Nutrition Mission), launched 2018, seeks to reduce stunting, underweight, and anaemia using ICDS infrastructure — yet Melghat outcomes indicate implementation failure.
Connection to this news: Melghat's malnutrition deaths despite ICDS coverage point to systemic gaps — staff vacancies, remote geography, inadequate referral pathways — that the High Court has been flagging for over three decades without adequate government response.
High Court Jurisdiction in PILs and Tribal Welfare
High Courts exercise original jurisdiction in writ petitions under Article 226 of the Constitution, which is broader than the Supreme Court's Article 32 — it can issue writs not only for enforcement of fundamental rights but for "any other purpose." PILs filed in High Courts on social issues such as malnutrition and tribal welfare have been a significant mechanism for judicial accountability. Courts can issue continuing mandamus — repeated directions over years — to ensure compliance with fundamental rights to life (Article 21) and the right to food as derived from it.
- The right to food has been recognised as part of the right to life under Article 21 through Supreme Court orders in the People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) v. Union of India (2001 and ongoing).
- Article 47 (Directive Principle): the State shall endeavour to raise the level of nutrition and standard of living of its people.
- Tribal communities enjoy additional protections under the Fifth Schedule (for listed tribal areas) and relevant tribal sub-plans.
- High Courts can monitor ongoing compliance through Special Monitoring Committees and periodic reporting.
Connection to this news: The Bombay HC's PILs since 1993 exemplify continuing mandamus — the court has issued orders repeatedly but the structural accountability gap between direction and implementation persists in Melghat, raising questions about judicial efficacy and executive compliance.
Welfare Scheme Architecture: Ladki Bahin vs. Targeted Tribal Interventions
The Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana provides ₹1,500 per month to eligible women in Maharashtra as a direct benefit transfer (DBT). Broad-based DBT schemes can improve household income but do not necessarily target nutritional outcomes for the most deprived communities. Tribal welfare in Maharashtra is administered through the Tribal Development Department, which runs schemes for nutrition, healthcare, hostels, and scholarships for Scheduled Tribes. The distinction the court drew is between populist fiscal transfers and targeted nutrition interventions for acutely vulnerable tribal sub-populations.
- Melghat is a Scheduled Tribe-dominated region in Amravati; Korku and Gond tribes are the primary communities.
- Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM): children with SAM need Nutrition Rehabilitation Centre (NRC) admission, therapeutic feeding, and medical care — services chronically under-resourced in Melghat.
- Under-five mortality in tribal Maharashtra remains significantly higher than the state average.
- The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has previously flagged under-utilisation of tribal sub-plan funds in Maharashtra, pointing to a pattern of allocation without effective delivery.
Connection to this news: The HC's implicit point — that the state has fiscal capacity (demonstrated by Ladki Bahin expenditure) but fails to direct resources to Melghat's life-threatening nutrition crisis — is a governance accountability argument central to UPSC GS Paper 2 questions on inclusive development.
Malnutrition in India: Key Indicators and Frameworks
India remains home to the world's largest absolute number of malnourished children. The National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5, 2019-21) found that 35.5% of children under 5 are stunted and 19.3% are wasted nationally. Tribal communities register even higher rates. India's Poshan Abhiyaan aims to reduce stunting by 2%, underweight by 2%, and anaemia by 3% per year through convergence of ICDS, National Health Mission, and Swachh Bharat.
- SAM (Severe Acute Malnutrition): MUAC (mid-upper arm circumference) < 11.5 cm or weight-for-height Z-score < -3.
- Zero to 6 months: exclusively breastfed infants are most vulnerable to maternal malnutrition.
- POSHAN Tracker: real-time monitoring tool for ICDS beneficiaries — implementation inconsistent in tribal areas.
- India ranks 105th out of 127 countries on the Global Hunger Index 2024.
Connection to this news: The 65+ infant deaths in Melghat between zero and six months of age represent the acute end of India's malnutrition crisis — the age group exclusively dependent on maternal nutrition and breastfeeding, making maternal health services and antenatal care in tribal areas the immediate intervention point.
Key Facts & Data
- Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana: ₹1,500/month DBT to eligible women in Maharashtra.
- Melghat, Amravati district: Scheduled Tribe-dominated region; Korku and Gond communities.
- Infant deaths (June 2025 – March 2026): 65+ zero-to-six month infants due to malnutrition in Melghat.
- PILs pending since 1993: filed by Dr. Rajendra Burma and Bandu Sampatrao Sane.
- ICDS launched October 2, 1975; ~1.4 million Anganwadi Centres operational nationally.
- Article 47 (DPSP): State duty to raise nutrition and living standards.
- NFHS-5 (2019-21): 35.5% stunted children nationally; tribal rates are higher.
- Article 226: High Court writ jurisdiction, broader than Article 32, covers PILs on social rights.