Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Thursday conveyed to the Rajasthan government that no State-run hospital should report any infant death because of poor facilities or negligence, said State party incharge Avinash Pande after briefing her on the recent deaths in a government-run hospital in Kota.
“Soniaji is very sensitive of these infant deaths. She has directed the State government and Chief Minister [Ashok Gehlot] that there should not be a single infant death in the future because of medical negligence or lack of facilities,” Mr. Pande told The Hindu.
With over 100 deaths reported from the Kota hospital in the last few weeks, the issue has become political with the BJP targeting the Congress chief and party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra for their silence.
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From Uttar Pradesh, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath asked if the two didn’t feel the grief of the mothers who lost their children.
Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati too had said Ms. Vadra could come to Uttar Pradesh but didn’t travel to Kota.
“The BJP is trying to distract the attention of the people from burning issues like the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the National Register of Citizens. As I said we don’t justify a single death but the numbers are far lower than during the BJP government,” Mr. Pande countered.
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The Congress leader also said the State government had constituted a high-level inquiry to probe the causes and suggest remedies.
“Mr. Gehlot had already independently sent a report of the steps taken by his government to the party president,” Mr. Pande said.
