Amid claims of world class infrastructure, shining roads, affluent villages and towns, exceptional health facilities soon to be coming in Jharkhand, a newborn girl child was eaten up by stray dogs inside the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) campus in the wee hours on Sunday. And, in the name of 'action' the government washed off its hands by ordering a probe committee for the incident.On the direction on the CM on Monday, Health Secretary K Vidyasagar formed a three-member probe committee headed by Health Directorate's lady doctor Vidya Gupta. "The committee has been asked to inspect the matter under Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act and submit a report by Tuesday," the Secretary said.
The CM took the matter "seriously" and said that such incident should not take place in near future. However, it was he who had given instructions to the authorities at RIMS about a month ago to ensure proper security at the premier health institution and streamline the system there.The incident took place on Sunday morning when security guards found stray dogs eating a bloodstained stuff in the RIMS campus. When they shooed the dogs off they could not believe it was the head of a newborn child. Sources maintained that the remaining parts of the body recovered were kept in the trolley room near the Central Emergency Ward. "The Supervisor had instructed the night-shift trolley man not to open the room at any cost. later, the body parts were removed from the room," a staff said requesting anonymity.
Health Minister Ram Chandra Chandravanshi, however, was quick to accept that the incident was due to a systemic failure. "We cannot say anything about such a tragic incident, Just that the CM has acted very strongly and we are going to nab the culprits. We never expected such an incident to take place but now when it has happened I have served a show cause to the RIMS Director also. We are going to have a full-time Director soon at RIMS," Chandravanshi said.
On being asked why there was lax security at RIMS campus where street dogs can eat a newborn, the Minister said, "Security has been strengthened and we have also asked the administration to provide 24X7 police force but that has not been given yet. The stray dogs have remained a problem since long we need to streamline everything as soon as possible," he said.Meanwhile, taking suo-moto-cognizance of the issue, Jharkhand State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (JSCPCR) has written a letter to Health Secretary and RIMS Acting Director seeking the family background of the baby. "There are many foster care centres within the state capital. Instead of throwing babies, people can donate them to the foster care centres. We have asked K Vidyasagar and the Director to give us the report of the incident," said JSCPCR Member Ranjana Choudhary.
A reality check of the spot at RIMS on Monday and other areas of the medical premises could hardly show that the RIMS fraternity is alert enough to avoid such ghastly incident. "Hum log kutto ko bhaganye ya duty karengeIJ (Will keep away the dogs or concentrate on our dutyIJ)," said a security guard. Guards were seen checking the people only at the main entrance gate, while at other entrance gates, there was no one to check the people entering the hospital. Besides, the stray dogs were roaming around the campus.
The RIMS authorities were unable to trace the parents of the deceased baby. A Sister at the maternity ward said, "The mother and baby were missing after few hours of the delivery. We are still searching her through the name and address enrolled in the register. But, she had mentioned three names with incorrect addresses." A staff at Bariatu Police Station said that it is the responsibility of RIMS to take action over the incident as they have not received any updated information.
Commenting on the issue, Ganesh Reddy of Citizen's Foundation, who has also served as state representative for NCPCR, termed it as a conspired murder of the child and said that the guilty persons must be punished. "There should be fear of law so that such incidents do not take place in society. The case should be tackled both by police and the society. It's a shameful incident for Jharkhand as a state," he said.
