Malnutrition In Madhya Pradesh: Another Child Dead, Rehab Admissions Rise

Another child has lost her life to malnutrition in Madhya Pradesh, bringing the state's decades-long health crisis back into sharp focus. On Saturday, 15-month-old Divyanshi of Shivpuri, weighing just 3.7 kg, died at the district hospital. Identified earlier under the state's Dastak Abhiyan, her haemoglobin level was just 7.4 g/dl -- dangerously low for survival. Doctors admit her family was repeatedly advised to admit her to the Nutrition Rehabilitation Centre (NRC), but the mother alleges her in-laws prevented treatment because she was a girl. "Whenever she fell ill, they said let her die, she is just a daughter," the grieving mother told local reporters.