Gorakhpur Hospital Tragedy : It’s Genocide, Says BJP MP Sakshi Maharaj
GORAKHPUR : Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, has admitted that oxygen supply was disrupted, but denied that it led to the deaths. Yes, the supply of liquid oxygen was disrupted yesterday (Thursday) due to pending payment. I have requested suppliers not to disrupt the supply,” told District Magistrate Rajeev Rautela .
“The Chief Minister has given us proper instruction on this issue. We will leave for Gorakhpur soon and after details analysis of the situation will take further decision on the same,” Tandon said. Earlier in the day, the alleged disruption in the supply of liquid oxygen at the hospital claimed lives of three more children.
In a major development, raids were conducted at the Lucknow-based firm, which used to supply oxygen cylinders to Gorakhpur’s Baba Raghav Das Medical College Hospital, where 63 children lost their lives due to encephalitis, claims report of a leading news channel.
The hospital in its report stated that nearly 300 extra oxygen cylinders were provided late on Friday evening because of the pending previous bills. It also informed that even after several requests, the distributor of the liquid oxygen in the hospital stopped the supply due to the over pending payment. However, authorities at the gas agency dismissed hospital report saying,”Deaths are not due to oxygen supply cut-off, no one can stop supply like this, we know consequences.”
Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh Health Minister Siddharth Nath Singh has assured quick action against those involved in the alleged disruption in the supply of liquid oxygen. “People responsible for this will not be spared. Quick action will be taken against the ones responsible for this, as it is a very serious issue,” he said after meeting Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
The families of the children have claimed that the doctors were not treating them well and the hospital was not even providing the medicines which were required for the treatment. As per the locals, though the hospital is supposed to provide free medical assistance, neither there is proper medical facility available nor are the patients provided free medicines. According to data procured from the BRD hospital, in past five days – from August 7 to August 11, a total of 60 deaths have occurred in the hospital.
The tragedy has triggered a political blame game in the state with the Congress demanding the resignation of state health minister Siddharth Nath Singh. A party delegation, led by former Union health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, visited the hospital. “This is a very sad incident and the entire nation is grieved. This happened because of the carelessness of the state government. We find the state government at fault in this. The state health minister should resign immediately,” Azad told reporters.
Hitting back, Siddharth Nath Singh said the opposition should not “politicize” the deaths. “Proper investigation will be done and quick action will be taken,” he added. Singh is scheduled to visit the hospital in Gorakhpur on Saturday and will brief the Chief Minister after that. BJP MP Sakshi Maharaj lashes out at Yogi Adityanth government. “One or two deaths in different, but 30 deaths is genocide,” he says.
