9 more deaths in Kota hospital, December's toll rises to 100

Despite the political hue and cry over deaths of 10 infants within 48 hours in Kota’s J K Lon Hospital on December 23-24, newborns and infants continued to die in the hospital taking the death toll to 100 for the month.

Kota (Rajasthan):At least nine more infants have died in the last two days of December at the JK Lon hospital here, taking the death toll to 100 for the month, officials said on Wednesday.

The death of 10 children at the government-run hospital during a 48-hour period on December 23-24 had triggered opposition criticism.

Hospital authorities, however, said the number of deaths reported at the health facility in 2019 was less than 1,005 in 2018.

According to the hospital superintendent, the children died mainly due to low birth weight.

On Tuesday, a BJP parliamentary team comprising of MPs Locket Chatterjee, Kanta Kardam and Jaskaur Meena visited the hospital and expressed concern over its infrastructure.

The panel said two to three children were found on single beds and the hospital did not have enough nurses.

Earlier, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) had served a show-cause notice to the Congress government in the state.

"Pigs were found roaming inside the campus of the hospital," its chairperson Priyank Kanoongo had said.

A Rajasthan government committee ruled that the infants were given the right treatment.