Rats Chew Patients' Feet In Rajasthan Government Hospital, Probe Launched

Following repeated complaints of rats gnawing feet of patients in the psychiatry department of the MDM Hospital in Jodhpur, the administration on Monday set up an inquiry committee to look into the matter.

The family members of at least four mentally ill patients complained about similar incidents in the past week, prompting the Mathura Das Mathur (MDM) Hospital administration to intervene.

"We have constituted a committee, which will first ascertain if the injuries sustained by the patients in the psychiatry department have been caused by rats or due to any other reason," Dilip Kachhwaha, Principal and Controller of SN Medical College and associated group of hospitals in Jodhpur, said.

Even as necessary steps will be taken based on the report, the hospital administration has been directed to initiate action against Rajasthan Pest Control, the agency responsible for pest control in the hospital, Mr Kachhwaha said.

Stating that there are risks involved in pesticide spray in the psychiatry ward considering the medical condition of the patients, the administration said it has decided to evacuate the ward.

The MDM hospital, which is Jodhpur division's largest government hospital, has become a home to rats with ongoing construction work and food waste littered on the floor providing a conducive habitat to the rodents.

Owing to the unhygienic conditions and open pits and craters, the population of rats at the hospital has been constantly increasing but there has been no action by the pest control agency, nor the administration, hospital sources said.

Referring to the latest incident, the head of the psychiatry department said he had warned the administration about the issue of the increasing rat population in the ward.

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