Twenty-four people, including 12 newborns died in 24 hours in a hospital in Maharashtra’s Nanded drawing flak from opposition parties. Slamming the Eknath Shinde government, Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar called it a “failure of government system” and pressed to ensure the safety of patients in the future. The incident happened at Shankarao Chavan Government Medical College Hospital due to a shortage of medicines.
In a post of X, Pawar highlighted that this is a repeat incident. “Just two months ago, there was an unfortunate incident where 18 people died in a single night in Kalwa Hospital of Thane Municipal Corporation. But due to not taking this incident seriously, such a very serious incident was repeated in the government hospital in Nanded.”
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“This shows the failure of government systems. At least considering the seriousness of these unfortunate incidents, the state government needs to ensure that concrete steps are taken so that these incidents are not repeated and the lives of innocent patients are saved,” he said.
Meanwhile, Congress asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to break his "silence" on the incident. The party demanded strict action against those responsible and compensation for the affected families.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge posted on X, "Our deepest condolences to the families of the victims. Such incidents taking place repeatedly have raised a question mark on the health system of the state government."
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Party leader and former Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan said the Shinde government must make arrangements for medical staff as well as funds for the Nanded GMCH on priority.
Chavan alleged that the hospital has 500 beds but some 1,200 patients are admitted at present. "It is natural that medical staff and doctors are overburdened due to such a large number of patients. I will speak to state deputy chief minister and finance minister Ajit Pawar seeking his intervention for funds," he said.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Priyanka Chaturvedi said, “This is shameful, please don’t call them deaths, this is murder due to absolute negligence on the part of the unconstitutional state government. They are so busy planning influencer events or foreign trips that they have forgotten their basic job is to serve the state.”
A three-member expert committee from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (formerly Aurangabad) district has been formed with a mandate to submit a report by Tuesday afternoon, Dr Dilip Mhaisekar, Director, Medical Education and Research, Maharashtra, told PTI.
A similar incident happened in August when within 24 hours, 18 patients died in Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Hospital in Kalwa in Thane district. The deaths had sparked a furore across the state.
