Rajasthan CM, Health Minister 'failed' to respond adequately to situation: Cong leader on maternal deaths

Jaipur, Jul 14 (PTI) Senior Congress leader and former Rajasthan minister Pratap Singh Khachariyawas on Tuesday accused the BJP government of evading responsibility for the maternal deaths in government hospitals across the state and demanded a compensation of Rs 1 crore each for the families of the deceased. Khachariyawas also accused Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma and Health Minister Gajendra Singh Khimsar of failing to respond adequately to the situation. Claiming that 19 women had died and that two others had lost their eyesight while six suffered kidney failure, Khachariyawas alleged that the deaths were caused by "substandard" or "spurious" medicines procured by the government. "The government cannot escape its responsibility. If fake medicines have been purchased, those responsible must be held accountable," he told PTI. The Congress leader demanded that the families of those who died be paid Rs 1 crore each as compensation and sought long-term support for women who allegedly suffered permanent disabilities. Khachariyawas also accused the BJP government of corruption in the procurement of medicines and alleged that the state was putting people's lives at risk through poor governance. Slamming the chief minister and the health minister, he alleged that they were unwilling to accept responsibility for the deaths. His remarks came after Khimsar said the recent maternal deaths reported from Kota, Bikaner, Bhilwara and Banswara were linked to multiple medical complications, including anaemia, hypertension, postpartum haemorrhage and nutritional deficiencies, and not a single common cause. Khimsar said on Monday that most of the women were high-risk patients referred from other healthcare facilities and maintained that the government was treating every case seriously while working to strengthen maternal healthcare services across the state. "In these cases, causes such as anaemia, high blood pressure, PPH and nutrition-related issues have been identified. These were referred cases and each had different medical complications," he had said. Five maternal deaths were reported in Bhilwara and four in Banswara. Earlier, similar deaths were reported from Bikaner and Kota. PTI SDA DV DV