This Article is From Nov 12, 2014

Chhattisgarh Sterilisation Deaths: Hospital Was Shut Since April, Has no Basic Infrastructure

Chhattisgarh Sterilisation Deaths: Hospital Was Shut Since April, Has no Basic Infrastructure

The medical team from AIIMS inspects patients at Bilaspur's Apollo Hospital.

Bilaspur: The Nemi Chand Jain hospital in Bilaspur's Pendari, where operations to sterilise 83 women were conducted on Saturday, had not been functioning since April. It does not even have the most basic infrastructure - beds and stretchers or surgical equipment.

Eleven of the women had died within 72 hours of the operation. The rest are fighting for their lives.

During a visit to the hospital, one of the guards told NDTV the hospital had been shut since April. Last week's camp was the first time the hospital came into use in six months.

The operation theatre, where the surgeries had been carried out, has been sealed by the police. In the rooms, NDTV found stacks of mattresses on the ground. Part of the hospital had been under construction when it shut. It had been left as it was. The rooms were anything but clean. There was no furniture to speak of.

Preliminary examinations indicated that the women had died of toxic shock, which could have been brought about by contaminated surgical equipment, Amar Singh Thakur, Bilaspur's Joint Director of Health, had told NDTV.

Today, taking suo motu cognizance of the case, the Chhattisgarh High Court sought a detailed report from the state government within 10 days.

But in Delhi, the Supreme Court refused to take a similar step. "The Chief Minister has taken up the issue with the Prime Minister. We cannot take it suo motu," a bench headed by Chief Justice H L Dattu said.

The National Human Rights Commission has also asked the Chhattisgarh government to file a report within two weeks regarding the death of the women.

The Congress had called a day-long bandh, demanding the resignation of Chief Minister Raman Singh and Health Minister Amar Agarwal, who is also the legislator representing Bilaspur.
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