Chief Minister Eknath Shinde denied there were shortages of medicines and staff.
Enough orders were not placed to meet the medicine demand of government hospitals in Maharashtra, alleged a drug's body after 31 patients died in a span of 48 hours at a state facility.
An NDTV ground report indicated shortage of medicines being a factor that led to the unfolding of the hospital horror. However, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde denied there were shortages of medicines and staff.
Haffkine Biopharmaceutical, which supplies medicines to government facilities, placed only 10-12 orders this year against the usual annual average of up to 2,000 orders to supply medicines to medical colleges and government hospitals, said Abhay Pandey, President, All Food and Drug License Holders Foundation.
This shows there was a shortage of medicines in medical colleges and government hospitals, said Mr Pandey, adding that Haffkine is responsible for meeting 70% of the medicine demands.
Recently, the state formed an authority for supplying medicines and they have published 8-10 tenders so far, but the orders are not final yet, said Mr Pandey.
"So, the hospitals are now dependent on local suppliers. But the local suppliers owe over Rs 100 crore to these hospitals. Despite repeated requests, these dues were not cleared. This could be one of the key reasons behind the shortage of medicines," he added.
Dr Shankarrao Chavan Government Medical College and Hospital in Nanded in central Maharashtra witnessed 31 patient deaths in 48 hours since September 30.
Mr Shinde yesterday said his government had taken the deaths very seriously, but asserted there was no medicine shortage.