Pigs Inside Campus, Broken Windows In Kota Hospital Where 940 Children Died This Year

Healthcare sector in India is in desperate need of immediate attention. In 2017, a state-run hospital in Gorakhpur reported deaths of hundreds of children of encephalitis and the deaths pointed to a health system that is in shambles.

In 2019, JK Lone Hospital in Kota reported deaths of 940 children.

Ninety-one infants died within a month.

Until Friday, the hospital had recorded 77 deaths in December. 12 within the week and 940 in the whole year.

Among the findings of the top child rights body NCPCR during the inspection of the hospital, revealed broken windows and pigs roaming inside the hospital campus was a common sight.

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A team from the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) team visited the hospital after which its chairperson Priyank Kanoongo issued a show-cause notice to Vaibhav Galtiya, Secretary of Medical Education Department in Rajasthan government, and sought an action taken report from him on its findings.

"It is evident that there was no glass in windows panes, gates were broken and as a result the admitted children were suffering from extreme weather conditions," Kanoongo said.

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He added that the general maintenance and upkeep of the hospital is in the worst possible condition.

"Pigs were found roaming inside the campus of the hospital," he said in the notice.

The notice also read that there is an acute shortage of staff in the hospital.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has set up a high-level committee of expert doctors and subject experts to inquire about the cause of deaths of new-borns and submit a report at the earlier to prevent such events in the future.