E-Paper
Jhansi hospital fire: NHRC issues notice to U.P, says incident disturbing
The NHRC asked the state to include the status of the FIR in the matter, action taken against the responsible officials, medical treatment being provided to the injured and compensation, if any, paid to the aggrieved families, in its reply.
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has taken suo motu cognisance of the November 15 fire at Maharani Laxmibai Medical College in Jhansi that led to the death of 17 infants so far, and issued a notice to Uttar Pradesh over the incident. In its notice to the chief secretary and director general of police of the state, the NHRC described the incident as disturbing, indicating negligence on the campus resulted in a grave violation of human rights of several babies in the care of a government institution.
The NHRC asked the state to include the status of the FIR in the matter, action taken against the responsible officials, medical treatment being provided to the injured and compensation, if any, paid to the aggrieved families, in its reply.
The state had constituted a probe committee under the director general of medical education, Kinjal Singh, on November 16, requiring to file a reply in 7 days. The report is yet to be filed.
“Apart from the deaths, 16 babies sustained injuries out of the 37 rescued. Reportedly, the police authorities have confirmed that the fire was caused by an electrical short circuit and the babies, who died, were in incubators at the time of the incident. The Commission has observed that the contents of media reports indicate negligence resulting in a grave violation of human rights of the victim babies as they were in the care of a government institution,” read the notice.
“The report should include the status of the FIR registered in the matter, action taken against the responsible officials, the medical treatment being provided to the injured and compensation if any, paid to the aggrieved families. The Commission would also like to know about the steps taken/ proposed by the authorities to ensure that such incidents do not recur,” said the notice.
