MP Assembly seeks answers but minister doesn’t have any

When Bacchan listed the arrangements put up by anganwadi officials after October 28 — the deaths had been reported by then — the Deputy Speaker intervened.

‘‘Respected Minister, the MLA wants to know where your anganwadi workers went to provide relief before the matter was reported in the newspapers on October 28,’’ he asked. Bacchan promised a reply once he got the facts.

Singh then pointed out that information was not available with the administration though the tribals were dying for more than a month. ‘‘I want to ask the Minister how many of the 17 people dead got a medical check-up and what the post-mortem reports said,’’ he asked.

As Bacchan fumbled for an answer, the Deputy Speaker intervened again: ‘‘Respected Minister, the MLA is asking whether a post-mortem was done or not, and what did the report say.’’ Bacchan admitted no post-mortem was conducted.

Asked by BJP MLA Bhupendra Singh to list out the relief work in the last four months — when the rains had failed and the stone quarries providing jobs had shut — Bacchan again admitted he had no details to give as the government stepped in only after October 28.

When the MLAs demanded a House committee to probe the deaths, the Minister said that doctors had reached the villages, so an inquiry was not needed. He had to agree to get the medical reports of the tribals placed before the House.

A senior doctor in Ganj Basoda tehsil said: ‘‘None of those who died got treatment. Teams going to a village that reported deaths found malnourished children. We can conclude this is the probable cause of deaths.’’