Raj HC seeks state's explanation on infants' death in govt hospitals

Jodhpur: Terming the spate of infants' death in various government hospitals in the state "a serious matter", the Rajasthan High Court on Tuesday asked the state government to explain these deaths.

Taking suo motu cognisance of infants' deaths, including those in Kota's J K Lon Hospital, a Jodhpur bench of Chief Justice Indrajit Mahanty asked the state government to apprise it by February 10 of the total number of children's death in the state government hospitals.

The bench, which had Justice P S Bhati too on it, took the cognisance of infants deaths in the state's hospitals while adjudicating a public interest lawsuit on death of 90 infants in the Mahatma Gandhi Hospital at Banswara in 2017.

The bench took the cognisance when amicus curiae, during the hearing,

mentioned about newspapers' recent reports on spate of children's death in government hospitals in Kota, Jodhpur and Bikaner.

The bench subsequently asked the state government to file a detailed affidavit mentioning the total number children who died in various government hospitals and the causes of their death.

The bench also asked the government to apprise it of the total vacancies in various government hospitals for children in the state.