Sterilisation deaths: Rahul Gandhi accuses Chhattisgarh ​govt of cover-up, meets families​

Raipur: Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday held the Chhattisgarh government responsible for the death of 13 women who underwent tubectomies in government sterilisation camps in Bilaspur district.

Rahul, who visited the district to take stock of the situation, said that the tragedy is a result of not just negligence, but corruption and use of expired medicines also. He further accused the Raman Singh's government of covering up facts.

“The job of the government is to provide facility to the people and to run hospitals in a proper manner. However, here the camps were not organised properly. It is the responsibility of the state government and the health minister, but they are not accepting it. They are trying to burn the medicines off,” said Rahul.

On his visit, Rahul also met the families of the deceased and assured them of providing all possible help. “I met the familes of women who died in the incident. I feel sorrow for the pain they are undergoing,” said Rahul.

“When mother of a family suffer from anything, the entire family gets hurt,” added he.

The state health authorities on Friday said medicines contaminated with zinc phosphide, which is used as a rodenticide, could have led to the death of 13 women.

"Prima facie it can be said that the condition of the women (operated at camps) deteriorated after consuming zinc phosphide-contaminated drugs. The symptoms witnessed in women were those generally seen after consuming zinc phosphide commonly used in rodenticide," Principal Secretary of Health Department Dr Alok Shukla told reporters after visiting the affected women here at Apollo Hospital.

Ciprocin-500 tablets manufactured by Mahawar Pharma Pvt Ltd were administered to the women both at Pendari and Gaurela sterilisation camps after their procedures.

During the raid at the manufacturing unit of company in Raipur, rodenticide was found lying there, in which zinc phosphide is used for killing rats, he said.

(With PTI inputs)