- Tuesday, February 25, 2025
Sources in the government and government of Maharashtra said there was no shortage of doctor or medicine.
By: Shubham Ghosh
THE controversy around the frequent deaths of patients at a government hospital in Nanded in the western Indian state of Maharashtra has turned deeper with seven more patients dying late on Monday (2), raising the toll to 31.
The Shankarrao Chavan Government Hospital made the headlines earlier after 24 patients died in as many hours. Among the 31 deceased, 16 were infants. It was also learnt that the condition of as many as 71 patients were critical.
While the opposition slammed the state government over the state of health infrastructure in India’s most developed state, Dr Shyamrao Wakode, dean of the hospital, refused to admit there the deaths were caused by medical negligence. He also asserted that there was no shortage of either medicine or doctor and claimed that the patients did not respond to the treatment, NDTV reported.
Maharashtra’s medical education minister Hasan Mushrif, who was on his way to Nanded, told Asian News International that such an incident should not have happened. He also said that there was no shortage of doctors or medicines and that they would probe every death and the guilty would be punished.
Sources in the state government said a committee has been set up to investigate the deaths.
“A three-member expert committee from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district has been formed with a mandate to submit a report. I am personally visiting the hospital to review the situation,” Dr Dilip Mhaisekar, director, Directorate of Medical Education and Research, Mumbai, told Press Trust of India on Monday.
The opposition lashed out at the Eknath Shinde-led government of Maharashtra which also includes prime minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party.
Mallikarjun Kharge, president of the opposition Indian National Congress, sought a detailed probe, describing the incident as “extremely painful, serious and worrying”.
He also referred to a similar incident at a government hospital in Thane in the same state in August, when 18 patients died in a short period.
Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi targeted Modi’s BJP over the incident. In a post on X, he said the BJP government spends millions on publicity but there was no money to buy medicines for children.
His sister and top Congress official Priyanka Gandhi demanded strict action against the guilty and compensation for the families of the deceased.
Raj Thackeray, chief of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, said the health of the state was on ventilator.
The dean of the hospital said on Monday that many of the newborns that died were about three days old and had “very low weight”.
Addressing the media yesterday, the hospital’s dean had said the 12 newborns who died in the hospital on September 30-October 1 were in the 0-3 days age group and had “very low weight”.
Nanded district administration said among the adults who died in the hospital were people with heart, liver and kidney issues and pregnancy-related complications.
