Need to fix accountability on infant deaths, says Pilot

Rajasthan Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot on Saturday called for fixing accountability for the death of infants at the J.K. Lon Hospital at Kota, and said it would not help to blame the previous BJP government as the Congress had been in power for the past 13 months.

Talking to reporters in Kota after visiting the hospital, he said the State’s response to the deaths should have been “more sensitive”. “Our response was not satisfactory, to some extent. We should have been more compassionate. Since we are in power, we have to be responsible and face the consequences,” he said.

Seven more children died at the hospital in the first four days of 2020, after 100 infants died in December 2019.

Mr. Pilot, who also met some of the families of the children, said one “could not escape responsibility by citing the number.”

Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot had said infants had died at the hospital even when the BJP was in power, and the number of deaths had come down under Congress rule. State Health Minister Raghu Sharma, who went to Kota on Friday, accused the BJP of politicising the matter.

Mr. Pilot, who is also the president of the Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee, said that not just Congress president Sonia Gandhi but also the entire country was concerned about the deaths. “The entire country has been shaken up... It is not a small incident, but a heart-wrenching matter,” he said.