Jajpur: The face of Nagada malnutrition, Manasi Pradhan died of malaria at the Kaliapani TISCO Hospital on Friday. She was two years old.
Manasi was suffering from malaria fever and was admitted in the hospital yesterday.
Her skinny, skeletal visage became the global face of the heart wrenching malnutrition case in Nagada village in Jajpur district in the state last year.
Last summer, as many as 19 children had died due to malnutrition in a period of three months in the village. In the complete absence of road communication, no doctors ever visited the village nor did any medicines reach. Nagada did not even have an agwanwadi kendra to look after its children.
The malnutrition affected children belong to the Juang community, one of the primitive tribal groups in the state.
After the story of malnutrition made national headlines, the state government took several initiatives to provide basic facilities to the villagers.