India / To cover up CAA stir: Raj Minister on 'politics' over infant deaths

The deaths of infants at JK Lon Hospital in Rajasthan’s Kota has turned into a full-blown war between the ruling Congress and the Opposition BJP.

Rajasthan’s health minister Raghu Sharma has attacked the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). “BJP’s politics over death of children in Kota is directed by the PMO, as they don’t have anything else to cover up over the anti-CAA protests. In 2015, 2016 and 2017, when the BJP was in power, hospital authority had sought funds. Why wasn’t money released then?” Sharma said on Wednesday.

He had said on Tuesday that the Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) has actually improved under the Gehlot government. “The IMR stood at 7.62 per cent in 2014... we have reduced it to 5.55 per cent in 2019,” Sharma had said.

A BJP delegation, which visited the hospital on Tuesday, had attacked Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot. “While children were dying in the hospital, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot went to Jharkhand and was celebrating the formation of the government there. Mothers of dead children are still weeping but the CM is not here to wipe their tears,” said BJP leader Locket Chatterjee, who was part of the three-member delegation.

Chatterjee also attacked former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, saying while he visited other states to highlight issues, he gave a miss to Rajasthan, a state where his party ruled. Kanta Kardam and Jaskaur Meena were other members of the BJP panel.

At least 91 infants have died at the government hospital during the past month, 10 of them in just two days - December 23 and 24.

The Rajasthan government formed a three-member committee of doctors to investigate the issue after Lok Sabha Speaker and Kota MP Om Birla tweeted about it.

The government panel cleared the hospital authorities of any lapses, but said that it was short of beds, functioning at 150 per cent of its capacity. The panel also ruled that the infants were given the right treatment.

Hospital superintendent Dr Amrit Lal Bairwa said most of these kids were very sick when they came to the hospital. “Most of the kids referred to us were in extremely critical condition, out of which, 1-3 kids die every day on an average,” he said.

Hospital records show that 72 infants died in January, 61 in February, 63 in March, 77 in April, 80 in May, 65 in June, 76 in July, 87 in August, 90 in September, 91 in October and 101 in November.

Though Bairwa said the rate of infant mortality at the hospital was sliding over the years, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) issued show-cause notices to medical education secretary and called Kota’s Chief Medical and Health Officer (CMHO) to its New Delhi office on January 3.