More than 30 Baiga children have reportedly died in Balaghat’s tribal belt. The Baiga community is an indigenous Scheduled Tribe (ST) in central India and is officially classified as a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG).

As a PIL brings the deaths before the Madhya Pradesh High Court, The Better India looks at the healthcare safeguards that are supposed to be available to a Baiga child living in a remote habitation — from Mobile Medical Units and health sub-centres to child screening, vaccination and nutrition services.

The PIL, which raised the deaths of more than 30 children and alleged inadequate medical care, prompted the court on 10 September to issue notices to the state Health Department, the Women and Child Development Department, the Balaghat Collector and other authorities. The petition also claimed that around 400 children were being treated in a hospital with a capacity of only 50 beds.

The court, however, did not accept the petition’s claims at face value.

During the preliminary hearing, the bench observed that a PIL based only on newspaper reports would not be sufficient and directed the petitioner to visit the affected areas, verify the situation and submit a report.

The petitioner subsequently visited the villages, and his report and affidavit were placed before the court.

That report alleged that handpumps in affected areas were producing yellow-coloured water, that children and women had not received nutritious food on time for several months, and that there was widespread filth in the affected areas. The report claimed that only after the death toll crossed 30 did the administration increase hospital beds and step up health, sanitation and cleanliness measures.

The court has sought responses from the authorities, with the next hearing scheduled for 18 September.

Against this backdrop, there is another question worth examining: what healthcare protections is a Baiga child supposed to have on paper?

It started as an unidentified illness

The first reports from Balaghat were about an illness affecting children in tribal-dominated villages of the Birsa development block.

On 12 August, PTI reported that at least seven children had died since the end of June, with symptoms including fever and rashes and, in some cases, kidney-related complications. The affected villages included Adori, Machhurda Panchayat, Bondari and Kundekasa. Blood samples were sent to specialised ICMR laboratories to establish the cause.

By 5 September, PTI reported that 30 tribal children had died. Different organisations may also have used different time periods or geographical boundaries while counting deaths.

Until those records are reconciled, the exact toll remains contested.

The existence of that........

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