The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has slammed the Ashok Gehlot government in Rajasthan over the deaths of infants in Kota. BJP’s state unit chief Satish Poonia held the state government responsible for the deaths. He said the government has shown insensitivity to the deaths of 10 infants within 48 hours.
“Gehlot’s statement that deaths tend to take place in the hospital is really sorrowful and disappointing. These deaths were not supposed to have occurred,” the BJP leader told reporters after visiting the Kota hospital to assess the situation.
The death of 12 infants this week in the state government-run JK Lon Hospital rocked the city. Lok Sabha Speaker and local MP Om Birla urged Rajasthan Chief Minister Gehlot to act sensitively on the issue.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Saturday told media that children die in hospitals, there is nothing new in it. “This year has the least deaths in the last six years. Even one child’s death is unfortunate. But in the past, 1500 to 1300 children died in a year. This year, the figure is 900. There are daily few deaths in every hospital in the state and country, nothing new,” news agency ANI had quoted him as saying.
According to a report by the superintendent of the hospital, where all the deaths occurred, 77 children died this month itself till December 24, while a total of 940 infants died this year.
Poonia also interacted with the attendants of infants undergoing medical treatment at the Neonatal (NICU) and Pediatric (PICU) Intensive Care Units and other wards. He expressed displeasure at poor infrastructure, lack of maintenance and insufficient nursing and medical staff at the hospital.
“It is unfortunate that none of the state government’s ministers has visited the hospital to take stock of the situation after tragic deaths of 10 kids within a short span of 48 hours,” he said.
The state government has set up a three-member panel of doctors of SMS Medical College to investigate the deaths of children at the Kota hospital. The government has changed the superintendent of the hospital and several senior officials of the medical department, including Medical Education Secretary, Vaibhav Galaria are camping in Kota to investigate the possible causes of death of the children.
Meanwhile, the saffron party said it will send its two former health ministers Kalicharan Saraf and Rajendra Singh Rathore along with some experts to Kota on Monday.
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Source: Financial Express
