Founder of the pressure group, Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), Abhijeet Dipke on Saturday paid visits to several tribal villages in Madhya Pradesh’s Balaghat district, calling upon the families who recently lost their children to malaria and other infectious diseases. Dipke demanded that the ones responsible for the deaths of the kids be held accountable. 

During his visit, Dipke was accompanied by local youth, and travelled to villages such as Adori, Kora and Bondari, where he met residents and sought details about the healthcare facilities available in the area, along with the circumstances surrounding the reported deaths. 

Dipke’s visit comes days after the Madhya Pradesh High Court (HC) served notices on the state government over the deaths of more than 30 children in Balaghat, allegedly due to infectious diseases. The matter came to the court’s cognisance by means of a public interest litigation (PIL) that raised concerns over overcrowded hospitals, contaminated drinking water and inadequate nutrition. 

Dipke seeks accountability

Addressing news reporters during his visit, Dipke expressed sympathy with the families who had lost their kids and said his outfit would step forward to seek justice for them. He asserted, “We completely sympathise with families who have lost their children and will definitely come forward to ensure justice for them.” 

He also questioned what he called ‘the administration’s inaction.’ He claimed that although the authorities had acknowledged the death tally, no responsibility had been fixed and no official had been held accountable. 

He said, “We have come only to fix responsibility and accountability.”

HC seeks government’s response

Earlier this week, a division bench of the MP HC, comprising Acting Chief Justice Vivek Rusia and Justice Pradeep Mittal issued notices to the state’s Health Department, Women and Child Development Department, Balaghat Collector and other authorities while hearing the PIL. 

The petition alleged that children in the said villages were deprived of adequate medical treatment. It also claimed that around 400 children were undergoing treatment at a hospital equipped with only 50 beds, raising concerns over severe overcrowding and the availability of medical care. 

Furthermore, the PIL shed light on other problems such as drinking water and nutrition. As per the petition, yellow-coloured water was flowing from handpumps in the affected areas, potentially exposing residents to health risks. 

It also alleged that children and women had not been provided nutritious food on time for several months. 

Now, the HC has sought the state government’s response and also from the authorities concerned, as questions continue to rise over the circumstances surrounding the child deaths and the alleged lapses in healthcare, sanitation and nutrition in the tribal areas of Balaghat.