Govt cracks the whip on BRD officials
GORAKHPUR TRAGEDY Authorities say criminal cases will be registered against the hospital staff indicted by probe committee
The Yogi Adityanath government has begun cracking the whip on staffers allegedly responsible for the BRD Medical College Hospital tragedy, where over 30 children died due to purported disruption of oxygen supply in a 48-hour period between August 9 and 11.
An official spokesman said criminal cases were being registered against those indicted by the probe committee, headed by chief secretary Rajive Kumar. The panel, also comprising health secretary Alok Kumar and finance secretary Mukesh Mittal, submitted its report to chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday.
BRD principal secretary (medical education) Anita Bhatnagar Jain has been shifted, with additional charge of the department being handed over to principal secretary (revenue department) Rajnish Dubey.
The committee has recommended that criminal cases be registered against hospital officials found guilty of negligence. Action is also likely to be taken against Pushpa Sales, the private company that discontinued oxygen supply to the Gorakhpur official over non-payment of dues amounting to around ₹67 lakh. “Criminal cases are being registered against six persons and entities, including Pushpa Sales,” said a senior officer.
Sources said the committee had taken Gorakhpur district magistrate Rajeev Rautela’s report into account for filing its own. Rautela had charged former principal Rajiv Mishra and anaesthesia department head Satish Kumar with failing to ensure uninterrupted liquid oxygen supply to the hospital. Chief pharmacist Gajanan Jaiswal was also accused of not maintaining logbooks and stock books for oxygen cylinders.
Among the others held responsible for the tragedy in the district magistrate’s report were three staff members of the accounts department, who had allegedly failed to process the payment of bills on time, and Dr Kafeel Khan, the official in charge of the encephalitis ward.
The Rajive Kumar-led panel has also charted out an action plan to prevent the recurrence of such incidents in the future.