“Doctors are provided with heaters while the children are left out in cold. Ailing children aren’t treated well, gross negligence is rampant. Instead of attending to the serious matter of the death of 100 children happening within the span of a month, the political parties busy themselves in counter-accusations. What could be more deplorable?” asked Chandra Singh Hada, 56, a resident of Kota district.
Meanwhile, the inopportune trend of child deaths in Kota’s JK Lone Hospital continues, unabated. With nine deaths of children within the last two days of December 2019, the child death count has exceeded 100. During December 23-24, 10 infants receiving treatment here had lost their lives.
The Kota division is the largest children’s hospital receiving patients from Kota and neighbouring districts of Jhalawad, Bara, Boondi and even other states. The National Child Rights Protection Commission has issued a show-cause notice to the State Medical Education Department in view of the continuing infant deaths in the hospital, besides giving summon to Kota’s Chief Medical Officer.
On December 31, BJP MPs (Member of Parliament), including Kanta Kardam and Jaskor Mina, had toured the hospital and discovered that 2-3 children laid on the same bed. There was also not adequate nursing staff in the hospital. Prior to this, the National Child Rights Protection Commission had issued a notice to the Congress government in the state.
Abhishek Maleti of Subhashraya Foundation, an organization working towards health issues in Kota, told Rural Connection over the phone: “Most of the kids dying in the hospitals have families of rural backgrounds that are largely poor and uneducated. Child deaths in such a huge number is a shame. Instead of assuming individual answerability, parties simply engage in trading charges.”
When asked what is causing children’s death in the hospital, Dr SC Dulara, medical superintendent of JK Lone Hospital told Rural Connection over the phone: “Nine children have died in the last two days of December but these deaths cannot be attributed to any shortcoming or negligence in the treatment. Most of the infants brought to the hospital were premature and had been grossly underweight.”
Local journalist of Kota, Anwar Khan, told another side of the story. He blamed the poor management of the hospital for the deaths. He said: “There is mismanagement everywhere in JK Lone Hospital. Heaps of garbage can be seen in the hospital precincts. The ICU and NICU do not have adequate equipment. Most of the existing critical equipment like ventilator, warmer and nebulizer lie defunct. The hospital windows are broken due to which patients and their caregivers are exposed to cold. Due to cold infections spread which prove fatal for the infants.”
As per the National Health Survey 2016, 71% of the children in Kota do not get the milk given within the first hour of birth. During April 2014 to March 2015, 29 expectant women lost their lives whereas their number rose to 51 in 2019.
The BJP’s state head, Satish Puniya, has attacked the government with charges of negligence in the matter. He has entreated the governor to look into the matter. Puniya said: “The hospital faces a dearth of medical equipment. Besides, due to lack of cleanliness, there are piles of dirt everywhere which may cause infection among small children.”
However, the state’s chief minister, Ashok Gehlot, while not dwelling in the reason behind the deaths, has tweeted enumerating the past performances of the Congress governments in the state and advised not to politicize the matter. He wrote in the tweet: “The government is sensitive to the issue of the infant death, however, it must not be politicized. The rate of infant death is on a steady decline in this particular hospital in Kota. We would work further to bring it lower. It is our priority that mother and child be healthy. It was our government who, for the first time, had in the state had established an ICU for children in 2003. We also had opened child ICU in Kota in 2011.”
He wrote further: “The Indian government’s expert team is also welcome for further improvements in the health facilities. We look forward to their discussions and cooperation in improving the medical facilities within the state. A healthy Rajasthan is our priority. Media is also welcome to present facts free from any pressure.”
He had tweeted to inform that he had spoken to Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan on the matter and has requested him to visit Kota.”
The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights had, during its inspection of the hospital, found that the window panes were missing and the doors were broken due to which the children may have caught a cold. Besides, the hospital was not maintained properly.
Shyam Nama, 52, a social worker helping the patients coming to JK Lone Hospital for treatment informed Rural Connection over the phone: “Child deaths in Kota is not a new issue. Children have been dying here for the past decade. Today, when the media has raised the issue, everyone has been crying foul. Not only the JK Lone administration but also the entire government is responsible for the child deaths on such a large scale. If only those children had received treatment at the local level, the situation would not have aggravated so much. Small town hospitals have been limited as mere referral centres. The government must pay attention to this.”
