106 infants die at Kota hospital in 34 days; Gehlot govt comes under heavy criticism

JK Lon Hospital in Kota.

New Delhi: The number of infant deaths in Kota has risen to 106, as two more children were reported to have died on Friday (January 3). One child died in the morning and the other died after the visit of Rajasthan health minister Raghu Sharma.

Speaking to reporters Sharma said that the hospital lacked funds and other facilities, and assured that the government will sanction more money to the hospital administration soon. "Arrangements for a centralised oxygen system, ventilator and nebulisers will be made available to the hospital by January 15. The hospital administration has sufficient funds. If more money is required, it will be sanctioned by the state government," he said.

Even as the number of death has risen significantly, the state authorities have reported that the number of deaths is low in comparison to earlier years. As per the statistics quoted by the state authorities 963 children have died in the year 2019 at J.K. Lon government hospital while this figure was above 1,000 in the preceding years. The incident has brought to the fore the severe lack of infrastructure in the state-run hospitals. From shortages of beds to insufficient funds have been some of the reasons behind the tragic incident. 

The Ashok Gehlot-led government has come under heavy criticism from all quarters following the death of infants at the hospital in Kota. CM Gehlot admitted to "some drawbacks" at the government-run hospitals but also claimed that if informed about the problems the government "will work on it". He said, "You will definitely find some drawbacks when you`ll visit any hospital across the country. I believe that if and when we`ll be informed about any lack of facility inside a hospital we will work towards it."

He assured that his government was working on reducing the infant mortality rate and requested that the matter should not be politicized. "It is extremely saddening even if one infant dies. We want that the Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) and Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) should be reduced in Rajasthan. This issue should not be politicized," he said.

While the National Human Rights Commission issued a notice to Rajasthan's Chief Secretary to submit a detailed report about the steps being taken to tackle the problem. NHRC took a suo moto cognizance of the media reports on infant deaths in Kota and asked the Chief Secretary to ensure that such incidents do not recur due to lack of infrastructure and health facilities at hospitals.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah slammed Rajasthan CM telling him to pay more attention to the infant death issue in his state rather than spending his time opposing CAA. "Gehlot ji, instead of opposing this (Citizenship Amendment Act) first focus on the children who are dying in Kota every day, show some concern, mothers are cursing you," he said.

Union Minister Smriti Irani too slammed CM Gehlot and questioned why no attention was paid by the state government on time. "It (Kota infant deaths) hints at the fact that even after continuous deaths of children, no attention was paid by the Rajasthan govt towards it. The govt needs to answer whom would they penalise for this?," news agency ANI quoted Smriti Irani as saying. 

Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati called Gehlot's handling of the incident as his incompetence and said it was shameful and condemnable the way Gehlot is politicising the issue.

Meanwhile, demonstrations were held outside the JK Lon Hospital to protest against the deaths of more than 100 infants. Rajesh Kumar, Additional Superintendent of Police in Kota said few demonstrators were detained as a precautionary measure to maintain the law and order situation in the area.