The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has taken suo motu cognisance of The Indian Express report which found that between April 2025 and March 2026, and has issued a notice to the state’s Chief Secretary seeking a detailed report within two weeks.
In a statement issued Tuesday, the Commission said it had taken cognisance of the report about the deaths “during pre and post-delivery in the Sidhi district… primarily due to lack of awareness and medical facilities”.
“The Commission has observed that the contents of the media report, if true, raise a serious issue of violation of human rights. Therefore, it has issued a notice to the Chief Secretary, Government of Madhya Pradesh, seeking a detailed report within two weeks,” the statement said.
The NHRC noted that Sidhi had “consistently ranked among the bottom three districts in the Community Maternal Health League grading conducted by the State Health Department”.
Referring to the findings in the report, the Commission said that out of the 53 maternal deaths, the average age of the deceased women was 26 years and most were first- or second-time mothers.
“The news report has also revealed a lack of basic infrastructure, including doctors and technical experts at Community Health Centres, Primary Health Centres and the District Hospital, due to which patients are referred to higher medical facilities in the faraway Rewa District, risking life in transit,” the NHRC said.
It further noted the transportation difficulties faced by pregnant women in remote villages. Quoting an ambulance driver whom The Indian Express spoke to, the Commission said several villages lacked proper road connectivity and that women often had to be carried on cots for two to three kilometres before reaching an ambulance, particularly during the monsoon season.
Leader of Opposition in Madhya Pradesh, Congress’s Umang Singhar, welcomed the NHRC decision and said the intervention vindicated concerns he had raised earlier regarding the state of healthcare services in the district.
He demanded that the state government conduct a high-level review of maternal health services across Madhya Pradesh rather than limiting the inquiry to Sidhi district.
BJP spokesperson Hitesh Bajpai said maternal mortality indicators had shown substantial improvement over the past two decades, though significant challenges remained, particularly in remote and tribal regions.
“There has been a significant improvement in the Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR), especially over the last two decades, and we are continuing to make progress. However, there is still much work to be done. In remote and tribal areas, shortages of specialised medical human resources such as gynaecologists, obstetricians and trained midwives can make deliveries more complicated. The government is addressing these challenges by expanding healthcare infrastructure, opening new medical colleges and increasing the availability of medical personnel,” Bajpai said.
He added that maternal mortality is also influenced by broader public health issues such as anaemia and malnutrition among pregnant women. “The BJP government has therefore been focusing on improving healthcare infrastructure and nutrition outcomes in tribal regions. Given Madhya Pradesh’s large tribal population and the difficulties of providing healthcare in remote areas, these remain significant challenges, but efforts are being made to address them,” he said.
