HYDERABAD, April 1: The child smuggling racket which stirred the public conscience turned tragic when two of the nine hospitalised infants of the Gandhinagar creche of Action for Social Development (ASD), succumbed at the Niloufer Hospital here today. The victims were aged between two and three months.The conditions of the remaining children, affected either by chicken pox or respiratory problems, are stated to be grim. Six children of the Mahendra Hills care centre of Good Samaritan are being treated at the Gandhi hospital.More than 200 children have been rescued from the two centres after the police established that the two NGOs had been involved in smuggling of infants to foreign countries for adoption by childless couples.The death of the two children has exposed the callousness of the officials of the Women and Child Welfare Department (the coordinating agency assigned to look after the rescued children) in nursing the children, as the racket was busted a week ago.Attributing the illness ofchildren to frequent visits by journalists and others to the two centres, Women and Child Welfare Department secretary Chandana Khan reportedly requested the police to prevent ``unnecessary people'' from entering the creches.Meanwhile, two more infants from the Mahendra Hills home were admitted to the Gandhi hospital last night, taking the total number of hospitalised children from the centre to eight. Attendants at both the centres have been complaining that Women and Child Welfare Department staff have been moving around in the premises with their footwear on, ignoring the need to maintain hygiene.Meanwhile, moved by the plight of the children at the Gandhinagar centre, East Zone DCP A R Anuradha is learnt to have contacted corporate hospitals in the city to provide medicare to the babies.City Police Commissioner S R Sukumara told The Indian Express that it was the responsibility of the Department to take care of the children in the two creches. ``Our job is over with the detection of the case andarrest of the accused. Anyhow, we are also planning to invite private participation to provide succour to the rescued infants,'' he said.At Niloufer Hospital, meanwhile, doctors say some infants were first affected with chicken pox and the disease soon spread as the organisers failed to segregate the infected children from others. Despite an assurance from the commissioner of Women and Child Welfare Department that the Government would pay their salaries, the 50-odd attendants working in the Gandhinagar centre and 15 at the Mahendra Hills Home appeared to be in a hurry to give up their jobs.Visits by politicians, Government officials and persistent questioning by police seem to have scared the attendants.
