Gross callousness, says NHRC, demands report
GORAKHPUR TRAGEDY Day after CM’s visit, 5 more children die at hospital
NHRC criticised the Uttar Pradesh government for its “gross callousness” and demanded a report on the death of at least 64 children at BRD Medical College, even as five more children died at the state-run facility on Monday.
The deaths have caused nationwide outrage. The opposition is gunning for chief minister Yogi Adityanath, refusing to buy his argument that the children died of encephalitis and not because oxygen supply was cut by a private firm over non-payment of dues.
“This indicates towards gross callousness on part of the hospital administration and the medical education and health departments of the government of Uttar Pradesh,” the National Human Right Commission said of the deaths.
Hindustan Times saw three children die at the Baba Raghav Das Medical College on Monday. Parents and relatives told HT that two more infants had died earlier in the day.
The deaths were not confirmed by the hospital as no one was willing to talk to media.
The NHRC asked chief secretary Rajive Kumar to submit within four weeks steps taken for relief and rehabilitation of the affected families as well as the action taken against the guilty officers.
The commission, which took note of media reports, said the deaths, in such large numbers in a government hospital, amounted to violation of right to life and health. The deaths due to Japanese Encephalitis were discussed with the chief secretary and other officers but despite assurances, the situation had not improved, it said.
A day after Adityanath visited the hospital and promised all help, two children, both diagnosed with acute encephalitis syndrome, were sharing a bed.
Flitting in an out of consciousness, seven-year- old Savan, a resident of the city’s Taramandal area and Aradhya, resident of Campierganj, were on oxygen support. “I requested the staff for separate beds but they said no beds were vacant due to the large number of admissions,” Savan’s uncle Ajit said.
The government’s decision to remove Dr Kafeel Khan as the nodal officer of paediatrics department has come under fire. The resident doctors of AIIMSDelhi alleged that Kafeel Khan was made a “scapegoat” for the infrastructural lapses and failure of the government.
In Gorakhpur, the Lok Sabha constituency of Adityanath, a shutdown called by the Samajwadi Party, Congress and Left parties against the children’s death didn’t get much response.
Most of the shops remained open. The SP and Left leaders staged a joint demonstration while Congress activists sat in protest in front of Mahatma Gandhi’s statue in Townhall.