Jhansi hospital fire: CM Adityanath should leave election campaign and focus on poor condition of medical facilities, says Akhilesh Yadav

Lucknow: Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday said Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath should leave the election campaign for the ongoing bypolls in the state and focus on the poor condition of health and medical facilities.

He also said that the BJP government should pay Rs 1 crore 'samvednaa raashi' to all the bereaved families, who have lost their children in the tragedy at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of Jhansi Medical College and added that "Gorakhpur should not be repeated".

The former chief minister, however, did not elaborate about Gorakhpur in his post on X.

"The news of 10 children dying and many children getting injured due to fire in Jhansi Medical College is extremely sad and worrying. Heartfelt tributes to everyone," Yadav said in his post on X in Hindi.

"The cause of the fire is being said to be a fire in the 'oxygen concentrator'. This is a direct case of negligence of medical management and administration or of poor quality oxygen concentrator. Punitive action should be taken against all those responsible in this case. The chief minister should leave the election campaign and false claims of 'everything being fine' and focus on the poor condition of health and medical facilities," he said.

Yadav said "only the families who have lost their children can understand the pain and suffering".

"This is not only a governmental responsibility, but also a moral responsibility. It is hoped that those involved in electoral politics will get it investigated honestly in this hour of family disaster and will bring about radical changes in their so-called Health and Medical Ministry from top to bottom," he added.

Taking potshots at Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak, who also holds the medical health portfolio, Yadav said, "As for the 'Health and Medical Minister' of UP, there is nothing to say to him because it is because of him that the health and medical system in UP has deteriorated so much today. The minister, who is busy making low-level comments of narrow-communal politics, may not even remember that he is the 'health and medical minister'. He neither has any power nor any willpower, he just has a plaque with his name on it."

"First of all, the UP BJP government should provide world-class medical facilities to all the children suffering from burn injuries and give Rs 1 crore each as condolence money to all the bereaved families who have lost their children. Gorakhpur should not be repeated," he added.

Reacting to the incident, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati said the government must help the affected families in every possible way.

"The extremely sad incident of the death of 10 newborn babies due to fire in Maharani Laxmibai Medical College, Jhansi, UP, has naturally caused uproar and anger. Strict legal punishment is necessary for the culprits for such fatal negligence. It is impossible to compensate for such incidents, yet the government must help the affected families in every possible way," she said in a post on X in Hindi.

The Congress demanded a judicial inquiry into the incident and strict action against the culprits.

"The news of the death of 10 newborn babies and injuries to many due to a fire in the Special New Born Care Unit (SNCU) of Maharani Laxmi Bai Medical College, Jhansi, is extremely heart-wrenching. We pray for peace to the souls of the deceased children, strength to their families and speedy recovery of the injured," the Congress' Uttar Pradesh unit said in a post on X.

"The cause of the incident is said to be sparking in the oxygen concentrator. After all, how can such negligence happen in such a sensitive ward? This is the failure of the hospital, the health department and the health minister. We demand from the government that a judicial inquiry be conducted into the incident and strict action be taken against the culprits," the party said.

The Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) also demanded a thorough probe into the incident.

"It is a moment of grief for the families, who have lost their children in the tragic incident in Jhansi Medical College. The entire RLD family is standing with them. The matter should be thoroughly probed, and the guilty person(s) should not be spared," RLD spokesperson Ankur Saxena told PTI.

Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya in a post on X said, "The news of the death of many infants in a fire accident caused by a short circuit in the paediatric ward (SNCU) of the medical college in Jhansi district is extremely sad and heartbreaking. I pray to Lord Shri Ram to provide speedy recovery to the children injured in the accident and give a place to the departed souls in his feet. Om Shanti."

At least 10 children died in the fire that engulfed the children's ward of the medical college as 16 others injured battled for life on Saturday.

District Magistrate (DM) Avinash Kumar told reporters that the fire broke out around 10.45 pm on Friday in the NICU of the Maharani Laxmi Bai Medical College possibly due to an electrical short circuit.

The children, who were in the outer part of the NICU, were rescued along with some of those who were in the interior part.