shedpur: The sit-in programme of East Singhbhum Congress committee organized in protest of 164 infants� deaths at Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Medical College and Hospital (MGMCH) came to a conclusion at Sakchi roundabout on Wednesday.
Many senior leaders of the party were present on the occasion. They included former Union Minister Subodhkant Sahay, former state education minister of Jharkhand Gitashree Oraon and national secretary Dr Arun Oraon.
Addressing party members, Sahay accused the state government of failing in prevention of infants� deaths in the state hospitals, especially at MGMCH. He said the health department authorities should have taken precautionary measures to contain the threat looming large on the health of infants admitted in the paediatric ward of the hospital.
Earlier, Congress members and supporters took out a �healthy Jharkhand awareness rally� through Sakchi and DC office before culminating at Sakchi roundabout. The agitation was led by the party’s national spokesperson Dr Ajoy Kumar and Subodhkant Sahay.
The protest programme was conducted by the district Congress president of Seraikela-Kharsawan Debu Chatterjee.
Addressing the gathering, Dr Ajoy said the Chief Minister had not spoken a word about this tragedy or visited the hospital, despite it being in his home district. � The situation is becoming grave.
Immediate action must be taken to control the situation. The BJP government is claiming that these deaths are due to malnutrition.
It is important to note that out of the six incubators in Jamshedpur, two incubators are not functional. Also, one incubator is supposed to take care of one infant, while the government and the hospital authorities were keeping 3-4 infants in a single incubator,� noted the leader.
Dr Oraon too, criticized the government for the death of a large number of infants and demanded improvement in the healthcare system in Jharkhand.
Among those present during the agitation programme included Vijay Khan, Anand Bihari Dubey, Ravindra Jha, Usha Singh, Rakesh Sahu, Manjeet Kaur, Ramashraya Prasad, SRA Rizvi Chhabban and Aparna Guha.