The death of 63 children in Baba Raghav Das Medical College, the biggest state-run hospital of Uttar Pradesh’s Gorakhpur constituency has left the entire country in distress. The news was covered even by media houses of other nations. Condolences poured in from every sect of the indian society. But the ones whose words matter, managed to remain silent on the entire tragedy.
PM Narendra Modi, who is free enough to tweet a welcome message for Nitish Kumar in the late hours, free to criticise the non-BJP ruled state governments, free to even send out his condolences to our neighbour nations, has not been free as yet to speak on the death of over 60 children in just 5 days.
As for the state government, they are busy trying to find a way out for themselves. The CM blamed open defecation for the deaths, while his deputy found medical negligence responsible. But it seems CM Yogi Adityanath forgot that he has been in charge of Gorakhpur since the past 20 years.
The media too was ironically not free enough to take up this serious issue. They were busy asking madrasas to celebrate independence day to prove their nationality. A Times Now anchor went on to label the madrasas issue more important than the death of 63 innocents.
9 children died on the day CM Yogi Adityanath visited the hospital to inaugurate a new ICU and CCU ward. Over 3000 deaths have been registered in the last 6 years in the same hospital. Medical practitioners at Baba Raghav Das (BRD) Medical College in have every now and then complained about the lack of funds and negligence. Before the paid media ends up hiding the truth, here is an answer to every what, how, and why you deserve to know.
Here Is What Exactly Happened!
Pushpa gas agency, the supplier of oxygen to the BRD hospital had been constantly writing to the authorities asking them to clear up the pending dues of Rs 68 lakh. They had warned them on several occasions that the supply might be disrupted if the dues are not cleared. The authorities made a partial payment of Rs 21 lakh that too after the supply had been disrupted.
The hospital had been treating many patients of encephalitis and hence oxygen’s requirement was quite significant. The supply was disrupted on Thursday when the company had issued a second warning letter on August 8 without getting any response. This resulted in the death of 32 children in a span of just 48 hours. Many deaths were reported in the next few days as well with the toll now reaching an official figure of 63.
Here is what the authorities and government have done so far
If all the statements from the medical practitioners and the parents of the deceased are taken into account, it has been a failure of the people running the constituency. But as for now, the government has suspended the BRD nodal officer and a few more officials. The list of suspended people include that of Kafeel Khan, the doctor who spent from his own pocket to get a few oxygen cylinders and save a few lives.
Speaking about CM Yogi Adityanath, he believes the “Dirty surroundings and open defecation are behind children’s death in hospital.” The blame game is the only thing that is prevailing so far in the ugly scenario. Media houses that didn’t report about the incident have now come up with their own investigated stories to cover up the faults of government.
The CM has also assured that the ones found guilty won’t be spared. One would wonder who is responsible for the “lack of sanitation and defecating in the open”, if not the ones in charge of the constituency since the past 20 years.
The troll army attempted to hide the issue as well. Identical tweets were rolled out to trend #MyNewIndia in a bid to hide the complete issue.
The opposition meanwhile termed the tragedy a ‘murder’. Akhilesh Yadav, former UP CM tweeted, “Families of the dead were sent off with the bodies, they did not even do autopsies… extremely unfortunate.”
It remains to be seen who does what after this heart wrenching tragedy. On a concluding note, it is strange to see the government spending crores to arrange ambulance service for cows but failing to clear a pending bill of Rs 68 lakh for the care of human souls.
The question though remains, who is at fault? The government or the people who chose this government? Whoever is responsible doesn’t alter the fact that the pain suffered by the families of the victimized kids has been immense.
We just hope that the ones responsible consider humanity first and step up to accept their fault instead of blaming others. We send out our sincere condolences for the children and parents who’ve suffered. RIP!