The state government informed the assembly about 15,013 deaths of infants due to treatments for various ailments at Sick Newborn Care Units set up in almost all districts across Gujarat.
Congress MLAs raised questions regarding this. Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel said that 15,013 infants died during treatment out of the 1.06 lakh, who were admitted.
Randeep Surjewala, the chief spokesperson of Congress, held the BJP government responsible for the deaths. Patel in his written reply mentioned that 71,744 infants were born in civil hospitals. Another 34,727 infants who were born elsewhere we referred to the care units. Ahmedabad reported 4,332 deaths, followed by Vadodara with 2,362 deaths and then Surat with 1,986 among others.
When eyebrows were raised regarding government’s measures, Nitin Patel also listed down various facilities which were improved in these units. The measures included giving priority to the appointment of pediatricians and medical officers, special training for doctors and nursing staff and adequate stock of equipment maintenance among other facilities.
