MADURAI: The family of the three-year-old boy C. Varunesh, who has been undergoing treatment at Government Rajaji Hospital for the past one month after he reportedly consumed acid in his anganwadi, has requested a visit by senior doctors from Institute of Child Health (ICH) in Chennai.
In a letter sent to Health Secretary, Collector and other senior officials with the help of Madurai-based health rights activist C. Anandaraj, the boy’s mother C. Valarmathi has said that his son’s recovery would be better if doctors from ICH, the premier government-run institution for child health in the State, provided treatment.
Speaking to The Hindu, Ms. Valarmathi, however, stressed that she had no complaints with the treatment presently provided by the doctors at GRH.
“Varunesh has shown improvement. More than 10 doctors visit him every day. The hospital is also ensuring that he gets good nutrition as he is still taking only liquid food,” she said.
“However, the doctors say that since Varunesh has incurred serious damage in internal organs, he might face issues for a prolonged time. Hence, I feel that a visit by experts from Chennai will help,” she added.
GRH doctors said that the boy, who is presently kept at the Intensive Respiratory Care Unit (IRCU), was being provided best care and his condition has improvement better than what they had initially expected.
Also, since the entire family, which is dependent on daily wages, is unable to go for work for the past one month, Ms. Valarmathi has also requested an interim compensation from the government since the incident happened due to negligence of the anganwadi staff.
The incident happened on November 12 when Varunesh mistakenly consumed acid kept in a beverage bottle for cleaning toilets at his anganwadi in Vellaiyampatti near Alanganallur here. Instead of ensuring immediate medical attention, the boy was allegedly sent back home by the anganwadi staff without informing the family what exactly happened.
Following the incident, Collector K. Veera Raghava Rao had suspended the worker and helper of the anganwadi.
