MUMBAI: One more death of a malnourished child from Jawhar taluk of Palghar district has come to light even as the state government came under attack for the deaths of 600 children due to malnutrition this year.

“Rahul Kashiram Wadkar from the Ruighar village of Jawhar taluk died at the government hospital at Nashik,” Vivek Pandit of Shramajivi Sanghatana, the NGO that has been working over the issue in the area for past few years told Express.

The death came to light on a day when State Women and Child Development Minister Pankaja Munde visited the villages where two children had died of malnutrition a fortnight back.

“The two-year-old severely malnourished boy was brought to the cottage hospital at Jawhar on Monday. His condition was very bad, but the hospital was not equipped to treat him appropriately,” a medical officer at the hospital said.

The child’s family shifted him to Nashik after they were persuaded by and were provided assistance by the Shramajivi Sanghatana.

“How many more deaths does the government need,” questioned Pandit while blaming the government for neglecting the issue. “The issue is that of the sensitivity of the administration. How many more deaths are needed for them act sensitively,”

Meanwhile, state Woman and Child Development Minister Pankaja Munde, who visited Sagar Wagh’s family at Kalambwadi in Mokhada taluk on Wednesday said that the administration has been geared up and the government is serious about handling the malnourishment issue.

“I’ve decided to monitor government schemes in the tribal district myself. I will visit all the seven tribal districts in the state every two months,” the minister said.