Congress workers in Kota on Monday manhandled and protested against the investigation team sent by the BJP to investigate the death of 77 children in J K Lon Hospital in 24 days of December.
As many as 77 deaths had been registered in the LK Lon hospital in Kota till December 24, with 10 deaths taking place in 48 hours on December 23 and 24. The hospital had conducted an inquiry and given a report that the deaths were not caused due to negligence. It went on to say that the children had been brought in critical condition.
The team comprising two former health ministers in the BJP government Kalicharan Saraf and Rajendra Rathore reached the hospital on Monday where Congress workers were present in large numbers and prevented them from going into the hospital. They had to be escorted inside by the police where they conducted their investigation. A team of women BJP MPs will visit Kota on Tuesday to inquire about the incident.
“The police wanted us to take the back door to enter the hospital, but we refused. Workers of Congress party were opposing our presence and tried to stop us from going in the hospital. There is shocking shortage of equipment and staff in the hospital and the conditions are most unhygienic,” said Kalicharan Saraf, former health minister to Free Press Journal.
“Out of 72 warmers for babies only 23 were working. Hardly 25% percent of equipment including ventilators is functional. A CCU with 63 beds has just 20 nursing staff. Water from the toilets is seeping through the walls and the wards stink. The place is most unhygienic for children who are critically ill,” added Saraf.
A team of four women BJP MPs led by Rita Joshi Bahuguna will reach Kota on Tuesday to inquire about the deaths of the children and report to the BJP central leadership.
State BJP team will submit its report to the state party chief Satish Poonia on Tuesday. Poonia had visited the hospital on Saturday and met the patients and their attendants. He had cited negiligence as the cause of the deaths and termed the government investigation as a cover up. Further, Poonia had announced a team of their party leaders who would probe the incident. He had also declared that a fund of Rs 50 lakh would be donated to the hospital by the five MLAs of his party from Kota through their fund.
The hospital report added stated that 10 children who died over 48 hours were critical and on ventilator support. Five of them were just a day old and died within a few hours if being admitted.
Of the other five deaths, 3 were on December 23, a five month old died due to acute pneumonia, and a one and a half month old died due to a congenital heart disease and a seven year old due to acute respiratory distress syndrome. On December 24 a one and a half month old died due to seizure disorder and a two month old died due to acute pneumonia.
