Bihar Health Minister Mangal Pandey, accompanied by Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan and MoS Health and Family Ashwini Kumar Choubey, was addressing a press conference on June 16, 2019, the day India faced Pakistan in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019.
Over 90 children, at the time of interaction with reporters, had already passed away due to the suspected Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) and the state of Bihar was reeling under a severe health crisis.
But Pandey, sometime during the conference, gave a shock, asking, "How many wickets have fallen?"
A video shared by ANI shows Pandey, Vardhan and Chaubey sitting together on a sofa when the Bihar minister posed a question to reporters. The reporters responded, "4 wickets".
Advertisement
The video raised doubts Bihar administration's seriousness towards a chronic issue staring in the face of the state.
Pandey's question puzzled many on social media, especially after Chaubey was allegedly caught taking a nap during another presser.
On Tuesday, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will visit Muzaffarpur where 126 children have already died due to suspected AES and many others are battling it in government hospitals.
