At least nine more infants have died in the last two days of December at the JK Lon hospital here, taking the death toll to 100 for the month, officials said on Wednesday. While four children died on December 30, five more on December 31, all mainly due to low birth weight, the hospital superintendent Dr. Suresh Dulara said.

The death of nine children at the government-run hospital during a 48-hour period on December 23-24 had triggered opposition criticism. Hospital authorities, however, said the number of deaths reported at the health facility in 2019 was less than 1,005 in 2018.

Medical college principal Dr. Vijay Sardana said an order has been issued for installation of central oxygen supply line at the hospital and the work would be completed within 15 days.

On Tuesday, a BJP parliamentary team comprising of MPs Locket Chatterjee, Kanta Kardam and Jaskaur Meena visited the hospital and expressed concern over its infrastructure. The panel said two to three children were found on single beds and the hospital did not have enough nurses.

Earlier, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) had served a show-cause notice to the Congress government in the state.

“Pigs were found roaming inside the campus of the hospital,” its chairperson Priyank Kanoongo had said. A Rajasthan government committee ruled that the infants were given the right treatment.

Source: PTI

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