Jharkhand: After Jamshedpur, now controversy over death of children in RIMS

As of now, I am the MS. The letter seeking my removal says that I should be transferred to a post that is equivalent to that of MS. There is no such post available. If I don’t get an equivalent post, I would not get my salary, as it would be considered a break in the service. Therefore, I have written back clarifying my position, said Dr Chowdhary.

A section of RIMS teachers also held a protest meeting seeking clarification on the same, besides demanding that government provide adequate infrastructure to RIMS for it to be able to perform. Under the circumstances, we need another RIMS in terms of manpower etc to be able to perform and said Dr Prabhat Kumar, one of the protesting teachers.

According to official sources, the removal was on account of alleged non-cooperation by Chowdhary in connection with an audit exercise in an old matter.

The issue of deaths of children was first taken by Congress a couple of days ago in connection with Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Medical College and Hospital (MGMMCH) in Jamshedpur when it came to light that 52 children had died over 30 days.

Meanwhile, a local daily reported on Wednesday that more than 200 children had died in the last two months in RIMS. Even as there was uproar over it, the RIMS administration held a press conference defending the rather high numbers on account of various issues. The move to remove the MS was being seen in the same context; although the official reasons did not mention any such thing.

As per official figures, out of 646 children (0-14 years of age) admitted in RIMS paediatrics ward in August, 103 died. In July, this figure stood at 110, with 698 admitted. In the last seven months, the number of deaths stood at 660, with around 5,000 being admitted since January. Paediatrics Head of Department (HoD), Dr A K Chowdhary, said that a large number of these deaths occurred within the first 24 hours of hospitalisation, as these children were brought at the last stage. More importantly, during transit they are without any medical support, like oxygen, or a para-medical staff or a doctor. If there was a support system, their chances of survival would be high, he told The Indian Express. Another problem was that many of them were malnourished.

Already, RIMS and even MGMMCH have attributed the deaths to lack of infrastructure, staff and pressure, as lakhs of patients from across the region depend on these hospitals for treatment.

Congress leader and former Union minister Subodh Kant Sahay, who held a one-day dharna outside RIMS on the issue, said: That RIMS is over-worked is well known. But what has stopped the government to recruit more doctors; provide more infrastructure? And the worst part is the insensitivity. The RIMS doctors are showing figures and percentages to claim that they have saved so many.