Gorakhpur tragedy: Report suggests mismanagement, two doctors held responsible
At least 72 children, including newborns, have died in the last seven days in the hospital, located in Uttar Pradesh's Gorakhpur district.
The report prepared by District Magistrate Rajeev Rautela has found Dr Satish Kumar and Dr. Rajeev Mishra guilty.
Kumar is the head of the hospital's anesthesia department, who was tasked with the responsibility of overseeing supply of oxygen and Mishra is the medical college's suspended principal, who has been blamed for his lackadaisical attitude and his delayed payments to Pushpa Sales, the firm that supplied oxygen cylinders to the hospital.
However, the report has not named Dr Kafeel Khan, the head pediatrician, who was the only other doctor to be sacked along with Mishra.
Though the report concluded that the hospital's oxygen supply log was in a mess, it blamed the firm for cutting off the supply.
A case has also been registered by a couple who hail from Bihar after they lost their child.
Baba Raghav Das Medical College is the biggest state-run hospital in Gorakhpur, which also happens to be UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's Lok Sabha constituency.
The UP Chief Minister has come under fire from several opposition parties, who has questioned his management skills.
Addressing a rally in Bengaluru on Wednesday, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi said, "The BJP believes that there are enough private hospitals for the rich and so they aren't bothered about government hospitals."
Opposition leader and Congress supremo Sonia Gandhi too had condemned the incident.
Gandhi was quoted in the media as saying, "I am pained beyond words by the tragic deaths of 30 children in Gorakhpur. My heart goes out to their families."
Another opposition top brass Lalu Prasad Yadav, who heads the Bihar-based Rashtriya Janata Dal outfit, took shots at UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
Questioning the UP Chief Minister's competence, Yadav had tweeted, "Pained to hear abt loss of innocent lives in #Gorakhpur hospital. Total incompetence & negligence of Yogi govt. Culprits must be punished."
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