NAGPUR, Dec. 13 -- As many as 14,526 children aged below five died due to malnutrition in the last three years - 2022-23 to 2024-25 - in eight districts, including Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur and Amravati, in the state. This was stated by the state government in the legislative assembly on Friday. The government also told the lower house that Covid-19 deaths between January and October 2025 rose to 46, against 35 deaths during the corresponding period last year. In a written reply in the assembly, health minister Prakash Abitkar said that in Palghar, a tribal-dominated district, 303 children were found severely malnourished, while 2,663 were moderately malnourished, from the 1,34,362 children measured for weight and height. "According to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 2030, the target for the Neonatal Mortality Rate (NMR) is to bring it below 12 per 1,000 live births. As per the Sample Registration System (SRS) 2023 survey published in September 2025, Maharashtra's neonatal mortality rate for 2023 was 11 per 1,000 live births, which means the state has achieved the SDG target," the minister claimed. Abitkar said that under the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme, the government is implementing supplementary nutrition, regular health check-ups, the Amrit Aahar Yojana, special initiatives for SAM (severe acute malnutrition) children, and encouraging institutional delivery, early registration of pregnancy, a minimum of four antenatal check-ups and regular follow-ups. In a reply to another written question, Abitkar told the lower house there was a rise in the number of Covid-19 deaths between January and October 2025. During those ten months, 46 deaths were reported, against 35 during the same period in 2024. The number of infections during the same ten months of 2025 dropped sharply to 2,781 in January-October 2025, against 5,524 during the same period last year. Although the central government has set a target of 2023 to eradicate malaria, cases have risen to 19,855 in the specified ten months of 2025....