Jaipur: Three children belonging to the Sahariya tribe had died of malnutrition in Kishanganj block of Baran district in the past one month. All the three were in the age bracket of 2 to 3 years. One of them, two-and-a-half year old Deepak from Moida village, who underwent treatment at a malnutrition treatment centre (MTC) for 10 days died after he was discharged from the centre. Another two-and-a-half year old girl Saloni, who belonged to Suwas village, died in the last week of October while two-yearold girl Tanisha died in early November, who had a kidney disorder as well. Shyam Sunder Sharma, coordinator of Cecoedecon, an NGO, working for Sahariya tribe in Kishanganj block, said: “All the three children who died in just one month were malnourished.” He said they died as they were physically weak and were not properly taken care of by their parents. “All the children died outside hospitals. Also, a survey was conducted by us a few days ago, in which we found that 42 children were in a bad shape and required immediate medical attention,” Sharma said. As per the National Family Health Survey-III in 2006 carried out in the state, 79.1% of children from 6 to 35 months are aneamic. In children below 3 years of age, 40.1% had stunted growth, 22.5% showed wasting and 36.8% are underweight. Ashok Gehlot had announced Rs 60 lakh for the Sahariya tribe apart from an annual fund of Rs 621 crore from Centre and state government to fight malnutrition in the state. Funds for kids misused: Vyas Jaipur: Three children belonging to the Sahariya tribe had died of malnutrition in Kishanganj block of Baran district in the past one month. All the three were in the age bracket of 2 to 3 years. But the assembly’s woman and child welfare committee chairperson and Sursagar MLA Surya Kant Vyas alleged that the funds which are meant for children are misused in the absence of proper monitoring. “The Centre sends a lot of funds for malnourished children but it is being misused. It is not being spent on them properly. There is no proper monitoring to ensure that the funds are spent properly.” Vyas has returned from Madhya Pradesh as she was a member of a team which visited the Sahariya tribal areas there. “In Rajasthan, the condition of Sahariya tribe is not very encouraging. A lot of efforts are required to stop malnourished children from dying. I don’t have the figures at the moment but there are many children dying due to malnutrition.” But the state government claimed that the cases of malnutrition have reduced in the past few years as a lot of money has been spent on the tribes.