Advertisement
This Article is From Feb 27, 2011

Jodhpur: After 13 maternal deaths, Chief Minister steps in

Jodhpur: After the shocking death of 13 women during childbirth in two weeks at the Umaid Hospital in Jodhpur, the Chief Minister of Rajasthan, Ashok Gehlot has finally stepped in.

Gehlot was in Jodhpur on Sunday where the anger over maternal deaths is spreading.

Earlier, the Chief Minister announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh each for the kin of all the 13 pregnant women who died at the hospitals.

The relatives, though, demanded immediate action against the accused.

On Sunday, a pregnant woman, Bhavna, died of excessive bleeding at the Mahatma Gandhi Hospital a week after delivering a baby girl. Her case too was similar to the earlier maternal deaths where most women died after suffering a haemorrhage and bled to death.

"Whoever has made spurious medicines should be punished. The process of awarding the tender to the manufacturer of the medicines should also be looked into, especially the role of the powerful in awarding such contracts", said Narendra, husband of the victim.

The government's investigation into these deaths hasn't yet thrown up definite answers.

While hospital authorities say they are convinced that spurious glucose administered to the victims resulted in their deaths, the administration's clean chit to the doctors and denying the presence of infection in the operation theatres before the probe has ended has surprised many.

But the government insisted that it wasn't trying to cover up for medical negligence.

"We aren't trying to save anybody but we have to first investigate and then arrive at a conclusion", said Parikh.

In the meantime, the crackdown on spurious IV fluids continues with the police having seized 900 cartons of the stock in a suburb of Jodhpur.

Stockists were trying to send the consignment back to Indore where the medicines were manufactured.

Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world

Follow us:
Listen to the latest songs, only on JioSaavn.com