Indore: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday launched a scathing attack on the Centre and the Madhya Pradesh government as two newborns died allegedly after rat bites at the Maharaja Yashwantrao Hospital.
Blaming poor management at the state-run hospital, the Leader of Opposition called it an “outright murder”, and not an accident.
“This is no accident, this is outright murder. This incident is so horrific, inhuman, and insensitive that even hearing about it sends shivers down the spine. A mother has been robbed of her child, simply because the government failed to fulfil its most basic responsibility,” Rahul wrote in Hindi on X.
One of the babies suffered injury to the hand and the other in the shoulder, with succumbing to the injuries within a couple of days.
Hospital staff who were responsible for the infants’ safety were suspended. An investigation into the matter has been launched.
Rahul sought PM Narendra Modi’s response over the incident, alleging that only rich people were getting treatment as the health sector has been handed over to private companies.
“The health sector has been deliberately handed over to private hands — where treatment is now only for the rich, and for the poor, government hospitals are no longer life-saving, but have become dens of death. The administration, as always, says – ‘There will be an investigation’ – but the question is – when you can’t even ensure the safety of newborn children, what right do you have to run the government?” Rahul said.
“PM Modi and the Chief Minister of MP (Mohan Yadav) should hang their heads in shame. Your government has stripped millions of poor people in the country of their right to health — and now children are being snatched from mothers’ laps. Modi ji, this voice is rising on behalf of those lakhs of parents who are today victims of governmental negligence. What will be your response? We will not remain silent. This fight is for the rights of every poor person, every family, every child,” the Congress MP added.
