Mumbai, October 02, 2023 (PPI-OT): At least 24 people, including 12 newborn children, died within 24 hours at a government hospital in Maharashtra state in India.

The authorities at Shankarrao Chavan Government Hospital in Nanded district on Monday said the deaths occurred due to shortage of medicines.

The hospital’s dean said the 12 children who died included six girls and six boys. He added that the twelve adults who died were due to various ailments, including snake bites.

He said the hospital is only a “tertiary-level care centre” but patients come from different areas because it is the only healthcare centre in a 70-80 km radius. The number of patients admitted to the hospital sometimes exceeds the institute’s budget, and that is why there was a shortage in medicines, he added.

The dean also said the hospital was supposed to buy the medicines from an institute named Haffkine, but it did not happen. He added that the patients were given medicines after they were bought from local stores.

Reacting to the news, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) spokesperson Vikas Lawande, in a post on X, said, “24 deaths, including 12 newborn babies in 24 hours in a government hospital in Nanded, were only due to lack of supply of medicine by the state government. Shame on the BJP-led state government that advertises festivals and events.”

Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi also slammed the BJP-led state government and said, “Please don’t call them deaths, these are murders due to absolute negligence on the part of the unconstitutional state government.”

The NCP Working President Supriya Sule demanded Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde to order a probe into the incident and said the ministers concerned should be taken off their posts. She added that the families of the deceased should be compensated.

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