Bombay HC Pulls Up Maharashtra Govt Over ‘Too Little’ Progress On Child And Maternal Deaths In Melghat, Seeks Roadmap

Mumbai, Jan 19: 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 and directed the State to submit a comprehensive road map within four weeks covering healthcare deployment, infrastructure and implementation of past committee reports.

PIL flags chronic issues

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 Sampatrao Sane, highlighting chronic malnutrition, staff shortages, poor infrastructure and rising child deaths in Melghat.

Daily roster system criticised

The court also criticised the Public Health Department’s practice of preparing daily rosters for gynaecologists and paediatricians to travel long distances to remote public health centres (PHCs), labelling it “ineffective” and “disappointing”.

“This is a PIL. It’s not adversarial,” the Bench remarked, adding that a daily roster requiring doctors to travel long distances was “impossible”. “Somewhere you have to take a special effort… deploy on a monthly basis and have them available (to treat patients) at beck and call,” the court said.

Government cites social factors

Government Pleader Bhupesh Samant informed the court that five recent maternal deaths had been recorded and blamed social factors such as child marriages and anaemia. The Bench, however, insisted that root causes must be addressed separately from social problems.

Call for greater effort and incentives

The court emphasised that the government will have to do much more. “Problems are many. You (government) must have the will and desire to overcome them… In tribal areas, give one extra increment,” the court remarked.

The court also questioned the lack of accommodation for specialists in PHCs and suggested incentives such as additional increments for doctors serving in tribal areas.

Fresh data placed before court

Petitioners’ counsel Jugal Gilda placed on record fresh instances, stating that four malnourished children died in a single day on November 15, 2025, and that actual child deaths since April stood at 136, higher than the State’s figure of 115. He also highlighted poor road access, erratic electricity, and the posting of inexperienced doctors unwilling to serve in interior PHCs.

Old reports ‘gathering dust’

The Bench expressed concern that many committees appointed over decades had submitted reports which were “gathering dust”. It directed the State to compile all earlier court orders, committees formed, their recommendations and action taken, along with the new road map.

Roads, spending disparities flagged

Comparing healthcare spending, Gilda pointed out that Sikkim spends Rs 4,000 per child or mother per month, compared with Maharashtra’s Rs 987.

On the issue of poor roads, the Bench noted that Melghat villages falling within wildlife sanctuary limits cannot be an excuse to delay road construction. The State must prioritise the health of pregnant women, newborns and lactating mothers and evolve separate mechanisms to regulate tourism, if needed, it underscored.

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State warned of close monitoring

“We find that the State will have to make a special effort for improvement of living conditions, medical conditions and roads in the concerned areas. The State government will have to take an initiative for the purpose of laying good roads,” the court noted in its order.

Clarifying that no election code of conduct would hinder compliance, the court warned it would keep a “close watch” and listed the matter for further hearing on February 27.

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