Akhilesh slams UP health minister for Jhansi tragedy; Mayawati seeks strict action

New Delhi, Nov 16 (IANS) Former Chief Minister and Samajwadi Party (SP) chief, Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday expressed grief over the death of 10 newborns at a hospital in Jhansi, blaming the fire tragedy on negligent medical management in Uttar Pradesh and poor quality equipment, while Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati demanded strict legal punishment for the accused responsible for the incident.

“The cause of the fire is being said to be a fire in the ‘oxygen concentrator.’ This is a direct case of negligence of medical management and administration or of poor quality oxygen concentrator,” he wrote on social media platform X.

The SP leader demanded strict punitive action against those responsible and urged Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to focus on improving the state’s healthcare system instead of election campaigns.

“Only the families who have lost their children can understand the pain. This is not only a governmental responsibility but also a moral one,” he added.

Yadav criticised the Health Minister for failing to strengthen the healthcare system, alleging that the minister’s focus on divisive politics has contributed to the state’s deteriorating medical services. He called for Rs 1 crore compensation for each bereaved family and better medical care for the injured babies, urging the government to prevent such tragedies in the future.

Former UP Chief Minister and BSP chief Mayawati also expressed her anguish over the death of 10 newborn babies. She demanded strict legal punishment for the accused responsible for the incident.

In a post on X, Mayawati said, “The extremely sad incident of the death of 10 newborn babies due to the fire in Maharani Laxmi Bai Medical College, Jhansi, UP, has naturally caused uproar and anger. Strict legal punishment is necessary for the culprits responsible for such fatal negligence. It is impossible to compensate for such incidents, the government must help the affected families in every possible way.”

Earlier on Saturday, Deputy Chief Minister of UP Brajesh Pathak inspected the Maharani Laxmi Bai Medical College in Jhansi where at least 10 children were killed and 16 are battling for their lives after a massive fire broke out at the hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) on Friday night.

The fire, possibly due to a short circuit, broke out in the NICU of the medical college in Jhansi.

According to hospital officials, there were 54 infants admitted to the NICU ward, and as many as 45 infants were rescued.

–IANS

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