Maharashtra government medical colleges, on Thursday, signed an MoU with the National Safety Council of India to conduct a fire audit by June 30 and address shortcomings. The MoU was signed in the presence of the Medial Education Minister Amit Deshmukh. The trigger was the recent fire outbreaks in hospitals that killed COVID-19 patients.
“An MoU was signed between government medical colleges and the National Safety Council of India. It was decided to conduct a fire audit of all government colleges before June 30 to rectify the shortcomings immediately,’’ said Deshmukh in a tweet.
As reported by the Free Press Journal, Deshmukh, on May 5, had announced that the department would conduct a fire audit and safety inspection in all the 22 government medical colleges. He added that the safety audit of government medical colleges and hospitals and affiliated institutions, including the fire prevention audit, are under the control of the union Ministry of Labour and Employment. He had said that it would be done through the National Security Council.
The minister said the fire safety audit is aimed at hospitals’ quality improvement, patients’ welfare and securing manpower. The security check will cost around Rs 37.22 lakh.
Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar had announced that the fire audit will be conducted at all hospitals in the state after nine newborns died at Bhandara district general hospital in January. Later, nine deaths were also reported at Bhandup’s Sunrise hospital. Thackeray had said the government will not spare anyone and the culprits will be punished.
