India

Supreme Court Calls for Centre, States to Respond on 32 Baiga Child Deaths in Balaghat

By Abraham Thomas

The Supreme Court has asked the Centre, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh to respond to a petition filed by Balaghat resident Ajab Lal Lilhare regarding the deaths of about 32 Baiga tribal children in Balaghat. The Court described the deaths as "most unfortunate" and requested the governments to provide compensation to the families and to take effective measures to protect other children suffering from severe malnutrition and a lack of drinking water facilities.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant issued notice on the petition and said, "What has happened is a very unfortunate thing." While the bench was initially inclined to refer the matter to the Madhya Pradesh High Court, advocate Varun Thakur, who argued the petition, pointed out that the problem concerns children of the Baiga tribe, which is present in both Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

The petition states that since January 2026, when the Balaghat‑Seoni MP and local authorities were first informed of the worsening health situation among children, the authorities in Madhya Pradesh remained in a "bureaucratic slumber" until the first death occurred after August. The cause of death, following visits by epidemiological teams, was confirmed to be measles‑rubella. The virus preys lethally on children whose immune systems are compromised by long‑term protein‑calorie malnutrition and a severe lack of vitamin A supplementation.

In January, a social worker alerted local authorities that a severe, undiagnosed paediatric epidemic was rapidly spreading among Baiga children in Balaghat. The district has no doctors, diagnostic facilities or essential medicines in its forest belt. Sporadic health camps organised in January and February this year were prematurely abandoned without active surveillance, serological testing or vital cold‑chain immunisation drives.

The local Anganwadi centres did not provide daily supplementary nutritional meals to tribal infants, and ration supplies for joint families were restricted to single‑member allocations, causing systemic starvation. The petition seeks a response from the state authorities over their failure to act in time and prevent the deaths.

The petition also seeks a direction from the court to declare the Baihar‑Birsa block region of Balaghat district "epidemic prone" under the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897. It requests compensation for the victims’ families, along with a supply of 10 litres of drinking water per person per day and nutritious food. The petition notes that following reports of the deaths, the district administration issued a blanket gag order under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS), penalising citizens and grassroots whistleblowers for photographing, recording or publishing administrative failures in public health institutions.

The petition raises concerns about the surviving children in the Balaghat area and seeks consolidated, time‑bound directions and structural changes to ensure transparency in reporting deaths, immunisation drives, nutrition delivery and compensation to affected families.

The Baiga tribe is one of India’s most ancient communities. It is geographically isolated and characterised by low literacy rates and stagnant demographic growth, making its members extremely vulnerable. The nearest community health centre to Balaghat is almost 40 kilometres away, and even this centre lacks effective nursing care and emergency referral transport, forcing the tribal population to rely on unqualified practitioners, further threatening their existence.