‘Yogi unaware, 9 died during his visit’
IN THE DARK? Parents who lost their kids say staff told them to quietly take away the bodies through the ward’s rear door because the CM was holding a meeting in the premises
As many as nine children admitted to BRD Medical College in Gorakhpur died in the three-and-a-half hours Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath spent at the facility on August 9 afternoon.
But he may not have been informed about the tragedy, even as the staff ensured grieving parents made no noise and slinked away with the bodies, according to an eyewitness who lost his son at the hospital a day later.
All nine deaths were in the encephalitis ward.
“The doctors told the parents to quietly take away the bodies through the ward’s rear door because the CM was holding a meeting,” Shailendra Gupta of Jainpur village told HT.
“The ward boy wrapped the bodies in bed sheets and told attendants to move out without making noise. The medical officers did not want any disturbance in the CM’s presence,” Gupta, whose son was in the ward, said.
Incidentally, the CM had visited the ward before getting into a meeting to review facilities at the hospital.
The 100-bed ward was overflowing. At least 200 patients were admitted and many were forced to share beds.
After the review meeting, the then principal of BRD Medical College, Rajiv Mishra (now suspended) handed over a memorandum to the CM seeking ₹11 crore for the purchase of medicines, equipment and payment of arrears to employees.
“There were five children on the bed with my son that day. Two of them died,” said Gupta. He alleged children were in distress due to disruption in oxygen supply.
“Children were gasping for breath. When we told the doctors, they gave us artificial manual breathing unit (AMBU) bags and asked us to keep pressing the bag to supply oxygen to the children.”
Gupta added, “I kept pumping the AMBU bag to save my child’s life after the doctors expressed helplessness in restoring oxygen supply. On August 10, my son passed away.”
Radheyshyam, a resident of Khorabar, whose daughter was also admitted to the ward, said oxygen supply was completely disrupted on the night of August 10. “Around two dozen children, including my daughter, died within hours,” he added. The state government has sought help of some doctors in Delhi to determine if any deaths occurred due to a lack of oxygen.
A government sources said that a team of doctors from Delhi has already visited the hospital to examine various aspects.
“We are expecting a report from the doctors to find out whether any deaths happened due to lack of oxygen,” said a senior official here.
A committee headed by chief secretary Rajive Kumar is conducting the probe into the BRD medical college tragedy and is expected to submit a report to the CM by the end of the week or by early next week. February 13: Pushpa Sales writes to principal of the BRD Medical College in Gorakhpur to clear dues for the oxygen supply or they will be forced to disrupt supplies. The principal responds by requesting the company to not stop supplies in public interest and that payment would be made as soon as funds are available
February 28: Pushpa Sales writes to the BRD principal and principal secretary, medical education, stating dues had mounted to w42,70,294. No response
March 22: The company sends a reminder. No action
April 3: The firm tells college and state officials that dues now total w52,34,774, and supplies will be stopped if not paid. No response April 6 and 7: The company sends emails to BRD principal, principal secretary medical education and DG medical education, with copies of past correspondence. No response April 12: Company writes to say dues total )55,06,921, and non-payment for last six months makes it difficult for them to source supplies. No action
April 17: Same points reiterated again in letter to BRD principal and state officials. No action. April 24: The company says dues now total w57,73,768 and that oxygen supplier INOX has verbally warned of stopping supplies if Pushpa Sales did not pay up w40 lakh in a week’s time. No action taken
May2: Similar letter. No action May 16: The company acknowledges payment of )19,81,619 on May 11, seeks remaining amount May 29: The company says dues again up to w 50,80,496. No action June 3: Pushpa Sales writes to district magistrate of Gorakhpur, saying the contract was for payment within 15 days for each supply but it was delayed by four-five months. The letter also goes on to point out that the monsoon season is fast approaching and the number of patients will go up and so will oxygen consumption, hence payments were needed to maintain supply round-the-clock. No action.
June 13: Now the pending amount was w45,64,504 (in June the company received about w5 lakh). No action
July7: The company writes to state officials with a list of all pending bills, amounting to w56,31,848. No action
July18: Pushpa Sales says INOX has informed about stopping gas supply unless w40 lakh was paid. No action July 30: The company sends legal notice to BRD College stating dues now total )63,65,702, with copies to all state officials. No response.
August 1: Pushpa Sales warns it can maintain supply only for the next four or five days if the payment was not released. Copies of the letter sent to state officials. No response
August 8: Company writes to BRD principal saying gas left in the college tank will last only 2-3 days; supply was hindered due to non-payment. No response August 9: Manish Bhandari, director of Pushpa Sales, writes to minister for medical education about the critical situation at BRD college. No response
August 10-11: The alleged shortage of oxygen supply leads to deaths of 30 children in 48 hrs.
These children would have made the nation proud had they lived, but they lost their lives. This incident was very shameful and horrifying. Everyone knows the children died due to the unavailability of oxygen. The collector may have been pressurised to say otherwise.