With an aching stomach, little Kajal made the long
journey from the local primary health care centre to the government hospital at
Chapra in Saran district of Patna. Her brother Rajesh Sah, who rushed her for
treatment, saw his sister die before his eyes. Rajesh told that, at the Chapra
Sadar hospital, the doctor said there was no needle and not enough oxygen for
everyone. I saw my sister convulse twice. She did not move later and I called
the doctor. He asked me for my mobile phone and using its light, he checked her
eyes and declared her dead. In Chapra, the facilities were worse than those at
the PHC.
The death toll in the Bihar mid-day meal tragedy mounted to 23. Every
devastated family in Gandaman village, from where the victims hailed, attribute
the deaths to the delay in treatment.
Sad state of PHC in Bihar :- When news of the children falling sick spread
in the village, anxious parents and guardians first rushed them to the PHC.
“There,” said Ramanand Rai, who lost his five-year-old daughter, also named
Kajal, “we were told there are no doctors. They said there is no water here ‘so
make your own arrangements.’ So I took my daughter to a private clinic like the
rest. There the doctor said this case was beyond him.” People made a dash for
the solitary ambulance that was carrying one patient. Mr. Raid told that, the
driver was not ready to take so many at one go, but we forced him to take the
children to the Chapra hospital. All the way I kept checking my daughter’s
pulse. But when I put her on the hospital bed, she had died.
“Why has the government
opened these hospitals if they cannot provide treatment? Shut them!” cried
Vinod Mahato, uncle of Arti (8), Shanti (6) and Bikas (5). The family lost all
the three children, throwing their parents into a state of shock. “The
treatment itself started three to four hours late. Till then we were just
moving from one place to another. The government is only playing politics with
the bodies of the poor,” Mr. Mahato said. He said the children mentioned at
home that the lunch tasted bitter like ‘neem’, but the headmistress Meena
Kumari insisted they eat it. “She herself did not eat the meal, nor did her
nieces. This is a clear conspiracy,” he said.
Shankar Thakur lost his only
daughter, Kumari (7). “What can I possibly want now? Who can bring my daughter
back? I can only hope that hospitals provide good facilities hereon. Many
lives were lost only because of the delay,” he said.
Denies
charge:- Many
parents said the doctor at the PHC initially refused to treat the children as
he was on fast. However, A.R. Ansari, medical officer in-charge, denied the
charge saying he was conducting a training programme at the time and had
mobilised resources immediately. The two doctors at the PHCs had to be summoned
immediately. A couple, employed on contract basis at the PHC, turn up only to
mark attendance. The duo runs a nursing home. Over 50 children were brought to
the PHC. Asked if atropine, an antidote to phosphorous poisoning was given,
PHC’s store in-charge Satish Chandra Jha said the doctors had not asked for it.
Mr. Ansari, however, said atropine was administered to the victims.
This is the country where private parties are running
education & medicine, and Government is running LIQUOR SHOPS. Until unless education
& medicine in this country is made free for every one, nothing is going to
happen. Mafias running Schools and Colleges and is there any worth reflected in
these places. Money being their only motto. Hospitals which are private have
worse and pathetic than education. Does any one care why in a private hospital
they charge us like as if we are going for a space travel? Until People pay
lakhs and crores to study in a medical college is stopped, nothing is going to change.
No comments:
Post a Comment