On Sunday, Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani refused to answer questions and walked away when asked about reports of deaths of almost 200 children and infants in two government hospitals in Rajkot and Ahmedabad.
In a video released by news agency ANI, in which it can be seen that Rupani walks away when asked about reports of deaths of infants in hospitals in Rajkot and Ahmedabad.
According to ANI, As many as 269 infants died at a government hospital in Rajkot in the last three months of 2019 with the highest number of deaths being recorded in December. While 87 and 71 children died at Rajkot Civil Hospital in October and November respectively, the infant deaths in December stood at 111, according to Manish Mehta, the hospital's head. The official attributed the deaths to the shortage of facilities for properly treating children at the hospital.
In 2019, Rajkot recorded 1235 deaths of infants, while, Jamnagar recorded 639 deaths.The state government argues that around 400 children are admitted in hospitals every month out of which, 80-90 children die of premature delivery and malnutrition at the time of birth, reported India Today.
