Delhi. Swaraj India has expressed deep shock and grief at the tragic death of 30 children in a UP govt-run hospital in Gorakhpur. It has come to light that the unfortunate incident occurred because the supply of Liquid-Oxygen was discontinued due to non-payment of dues to the supplier. Also, the data coming out of the state-run Baba Raghav Das Hospital has shown that at least 60 children have died in five days from 7th August To 11thAugust.
The party has taken strong exception to the callousness and abject misgovernance of medical facilities in Gorakhpur, Loksabha constituency that has returned Yogi Adityanath as its MP since 1988. UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has been the self-proclaimed conservator of Gorakhpur which has seen children die of Encephalitis year after year. However, the unfortunate death of 30 children in 24 hours in BRD Medical College is shocking since the children did not die because of illness. They died because the hospital could not supply them Oxygen to breathe. This becomes all the more alarming since the Chief Minister is said to visit the hospital just about two days before the incident.
“Wonder what the visit was about if the Chief Minister did not even consider it worthwhile to find if the basic facilities to the pediatric ward, that he personally visited, were adequate?” asked Yogendra Yadav, Swaraj India President.
What is even more worrying is that the Chief Minister or his cabinet colleagues refuses to take responsibility. The entire incident is being put off as mismanagement at the officer level. This pulls the façade off the BJP as a party that stands to claim high moral ground at the slightest instance.
Swaraj India has demanded an independent enquiry into the tragedy terming the tragic incident not just an epidemic, but be treated as culpable homicide. Also, what Yogi Adityanath as the elected representative of Gorakhpur can do to begin with is to seek forgiveness from his electorate for failing to protect our children.
