Muzaffarpur MP Ajay Nishad blames '4G' for deaths of 134 children due to AES

NEW DELHI: Muzaffarpur MP Ajay Nishad on Tuesday blamed 4G - Gaon (village), Garmi (heat), Gareebi (poverty) and Gandagi (poor hygiene) for the deaths of 134 children due to Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) in Bihar.

"It is to be seen how the number of deaths be brought down to zero. I believe that we should concentrate and work on 4G - Gaon, Garmi, Gareebi, Gandgi (village, heat, poverty, uncleanliness). This disease (AES) is somewhere connected to these factors. Patients coming in are very poor, most of them are from SC category & other backward classes. Their lifestyle belongs to a very low category. That needs to be raised. Parents take time to understand when their children fall sick, they need to be made aware," Nishad said. A total of 107 children died in Muzaffarpur, 12 in Vaishali, five in Samastipur, two each in Motihari and Patna and six in Begusarai.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday visited Muzaffarpur's Sri Krishna Medical College and Hospital (SKMCH) to review the situation following the deaths of 134 children due to deadly viral disease. The Bihar chief minister faced protests from the relatives of patients for visiting the hospital two weeks after the outbreak of AES in Muzaffarpur.

Meanwhile, Janata Dal -United MP Dinesh Yadav on Tuesday tried to defend Bihar Health Minister Mangal Pandey for asking cricket score during a meeting, which was convened to hold discussions over AES deaths, saying it was feeling of nationalism that prompted the minister to do so. Mangal Pandey was on Sunday caught on camera asking the score of India-Pakistan cricket match during a meeting held to discuss the situation in the wake of deaths of children in Muzaffarour.

Pandey was busy in a meeting with Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan and his deputy Ashwini Kumar Choubey when he appeared more concerned about the cricket match and was heard asking about the score of the match. “Kitne wickets gaye? (How many wickets have been taken?)," Pandey can be heard saying. 

Encephalitis, called 'Chamki' fever in Hindi, is a viral disease, which causes mild flu-like symptoms such as high fever, convulsions and headaches and has been claiming lives in the district for the past few weeks.