rewrite this content and keep HTML tags
The lack of national outrage over the massive fire that broke out in a hospital in Jhansi, in which a dozen infants lost their lives, is appalling. This is truly surprising in a country where for months the media and political circles were united in outrage over this Horrific rape of a young female doctor in Kolkata,
One wonders whether this relative indifference towards the catastrophic institutional failure in Jhansi is because it happened BJP ruled Uttar Pradesh And not the opposition-ruled state or the general indifference towards the deaths of children compared to the more sensational aspects of rape.
What is even more shocking is that the authorities in Uttar Pradesh accepted to dismiss the deaths caused by the fire caused by an electrical short circuit as a mere “accident” and not due to any criminal negligence.
This is in contrast to the notice issued by the National Human Rights Commission to the Uttar Pradesh government and the state police chief regarding the incident, which the commission described as “disturbing”. The Commission found that the contents of the report into the fire tragedy were “really disturbing and suggestive of negligence” which resulted in a “serious violation” of the human rights of the victims as they were in the care of a government institution.
Reports of a fire in the neonatal intensive care unit of Maharani Lakshmi Bai Medical College reveal that it was a tragedy waiting to happen. The neonatal care unit was operating at almost three times its capacity. A report quoted a relative as saying that there were at least five children on each bed in the hospital.
To make matters worse, there were no working fire extinguishers in the hospital, so the fire could not be extinguished. The alarm system in the complex was also faulty so the babies could not be taken out immediately. Yet, the state has decided to completely crack down on the lack of adequate security measures at Jhansi’s largest pediatric hospital and the police have, despite angry protests from the children’s parents, filed a First Information Report against the hospital authorities. Has not been registered.
It appears that BJP leaders in Uttar Pradesh have distanced themselves from the issue. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is busy campaigning across the state for the crucial assembly by-elections and has done nothing except express sympathy and announce ex-gratia to the parents of dead infants.
Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak, who is also the Health Minister, visited the hospital amid much fanfare.
Videos on social media showed lime being sprinkled on the roads leading to the hospital and the premises outside the complex being quickly cleared before the minister arrived, while parents gathered near their dead and injured children. Were mourning for.
Of course, Mr Pathak has given a clean chit to the hospital authorities, but he seemed more disappointed by the video showing the extensive preparations for his visit. He has ordered lime sprinkling and cleanliness check ahead of his visit, while rescue operations from the burning hospital are underway.
It is not surprising that the opposition has also jumped into the fray. “Look at the insensitivity of the BJP government. On one hand, children were burnt to death and their families were crying and grieving. On the other hand, lime was being sprinkled on the roads to welcome the Deputy Chief Minister. The family also claimed that the entire complex Was dirty, but was cleaned before Deputy Chief Minister’s visit,” the Congress party tweeted.
Congress’s ally Samajwadi Party said that government hospitals in Uttar Pradesh have become dens of poor condition, corruption and negligence. Party spokesperson Juhi Singh said, “There were no arrangements in the hospital to save the children…BJP is a completely insensitive party. People are dying, but these people will never take responsibility.”
Unfortunately, political sloganeering over the Jhansi tragedy is unlikely to help matters and will only provoke posturing and denial on the part of the BJP government both in the state and at the Centre. The real problem lies somewhere else.
Such hospital tragedies come as no surprise in Uttar Pradesh, where, according to a 2021 survey, there is one doctor for 1,218 patients, much lower than the national average.
Given the total lack of adequate security and health equipment in hospitals in India’s most populous state, only a complete overhaul can prevent such an incident from happening once again.
(The author is a senior Delhi-based journalist and author of ‘Behanji: A Political Biography of Mayawati’. This is an opinion article. The views expressed above are the author’s own.The QuintNeither endorses nor is responsible for it.)
