New Delhi: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) issued notices to the Chief Secretary (CS) and the Director General of Police (DGP) of Uttar Pradesh over reported fire incident in a Medical College in the Jhansi district of Uttar Pradesh resulting in the death of 10 newborn babies, NHRC said on Saturday.
The Commission has sought a detailed report on the matter within one week from them. The report should include the status of the FIR registered in the matter, action taken against the responsible officials, the medical treatment being provided to the injured and compensation, if any, paid to the aggrieved families, NHRC statement said.
The Commission would also like to know about the steps taken or proposed by the authorities to ensure that such incidents do not recur, the statement read.
The Commission took suo motu cognizance of a media report that at least 10 newborn babies have died after a fire broke out in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of the Maharani Laxmibai Medical College on Friday. Apart from these deaths, a total 16 babies sustained injuries while 37 were rescued. Reportedly, the police authorities have confirmed that the fire was caused by an electrical short circuit and the babies, who died, were in incubators at the time of the incident, the NHRC claimed.
The Commission has observed that the contents of the media report are indeed disturbing and indicate negligence resulting in a grave violation of human rights of the victim babies as they were in the care of a government institution, it stated.
