296 children lost lives at BRD hospital in Aug

Even as the Congress on Wednesday demanded the resignation of UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for the children’s deaths at the Baba Raghav Das (BRD) Medical College Hospital here, its principal said on Wednesday that 296 children lost their lives at the hospital this month alone. The overall deaths at the hospital since January is 1,256.

Of the August figure, 213 died in the neo-natal ICU and 83 in the encephalitis ward, principal PK Singh said.

There have been 1,256 deaths since January this year at the state-run hospital, especially in the encephalitis, infant and children wards, he said.

Additional Director, (Health), Gorakhpur, Dr Pushkar Anand said that “in the past 24 hours, 17 children with encephalitis were admitted in the medical college and two died during treatment.”

Earlier, giving a break-up of the causalities at the hospital, Singh said that 37 children had died on August 27 and 28, of whom 26 died in the neo-natal ICU (NICU) and 11 in encephalitis wards.

The principal said children with different complications and ailments arising out of premature delivery, being underweight, jaundice, pneumonia, infectious diseases and encephalitis were admitted to the hospital, mostly in very serious condition.

The UP Special Task Force on Tuesday arrested a former principal of the government-run medical college and his wife allegedly in connection with the deaths of scores of children.

UP Congress chief Raj Babbar on Wednesday accused the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh “guilty” of the death of hundreds of children in Gorakhpur.