Junked panel would have re-examined all O2 deaths in city: Jain

The committee said that the deaths were due to “respiratory failure” and not because of a shortage of oxygen.

ll oxygen shortage deaths in the Capital, including those at Jaipur Golden hospital, which a previous Delhi government committee had ruled were down to other reasons, would have been examined by a six-member committee set up by the Delhi government in end-May to distribute ₹5 lakh compensation among family members, said Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain on Friday.

The Delhi unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party, at the time, justified the move, since a similar committee was constituted weeks ahead of the city administration’s order, on the direction of the Supreme Court. (ANI file photo)

“The committee had to submit their report within a day, so it should be considered a preliminary report. For final findings, the new committee would have looked at these cases. The Delhi government set up a committee on May 27 that could award up to ₹5 lakh compensation for deaths due to oxygen shortage. But, the LG disbanded the committee on May 21,” said Jain on Friday.

The first committee being referred to is a four-member committee constituted by Delhi government in end-April on the orders of the Delhi high court that examined the deaths of 21 patients at Jaipur Golden hospital in the intervening night of April 23 and 24. The committee said that the deaths were due to “respiratory failure” and not because of a shortage of oxygen.

This comes days after the Union health ministry in Parliament said that no state reported any fatality due to oxygen shortage, as Delhi’s deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia accusing the Centre of “lying”.

“If I say there were deaths due to oxygen shortage, you would ask me how many, who were these people, which hospital were they admitted to. We would have been able to provide all this data if the committee had been formed,” said Jain.

The Delhi unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party, at the time, justified the move, since a similar committee was constituted weeks ahead of the city administration’s order, on the direction of the Supreme Court.