Is Maharashtra's health care system deteriorating day by day? This question arises after a government hospital in Nanded reported 24 deaths in just 24 hours. Dr. Shankarrao Chavan Government Medical College and Hospital in Nanded reported 24 deaths in 24 hours on September 30, which includes six newborn females and six newborn males with various pediatric ailments, as well as 12 adults. The death toll rose to 31 between October 1–2, which includes 16 infants and 15 adults. Meanwhile, 24 people died in Ghati Hospital in Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar during the same period. The reasons behind this are: lack of medical help, medicine shortages, and a scarcity of other life-saving equipment and devices. This sent shockwaves throughout the entire nation, and questions began to arise about the government. Opposition parties started blaming each other, and many leaders released statements regarding the situation.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi tweeted that "The news of the death of 24 people, including 12 newborns, due to a shortage of medicines in the government hospital in Nanded, Maharashtra, is extremely sad. I express my deepest condolences to all the bereaved families. The BJP government spends thousands of crores of rupees on its publicity, but there is no money for medicines for children. In the eyes of the BJP, the lives of the poor have no value."

Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray also posted about this and expressed his grief about the incident.

MP Hemant Patil of Hingoli from the Shinde camp of Shiv Sena visited the hospital and expressed anger over the unhygienic toilet, making the dean clean it.

Maharashtra Education Minister Hasan Mushrif visited the hospital on October 2 and assured that the government is planning to appoint doctors on a contract basis until the vacancies are filled by the regular recruitment process.

The authorities at Shankarrao Chavan Government Hospital explained that the hospital is a tertiary-level care center and patients come here from different areas, as it is the only healthcare center in a 70–80 km radius. There is a large number of patients admitted to the hospital, which sometimes exceeds the institute's budget, and that's why there was a shortage of medicine and medical help in the hospital. However, on Tuesday, October 2, they released a statement saying that the government had already sanctioned a significant amount of 12 crore rupees to this hospital, and there was no shortage of medicine and medical help for treating the patients. But the patients admitted were in critical condition and in their last stages, and their bodies were not responding to medicine.

Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde said that an investigation has started and strict action will be taken against the culprits. At the last count, Nagpur’s Government Medical College and Hospital also reported 14 deaths in 24 hours, while another government hospital in Nagpur reported 9 deaths in the same time frame. The hospital authorities said that the hospital has a capacity of 1900 beds and 9–10 people die daily; most of the deceased patients were critical.

(Input from various media sources)

(Rehash/Bittu Babulalji Agrawal)