Senior Congress leader and former Sambalpur MP Sriballav Panigrahi on Thursday submitted a memorandum to Governor SC Jamir at the Raj Bhavan here seeking his intervention for a high-level judicial probe into the tragic death of nine newborn babies in a span of 24 hours at the VSS Medical College Hospital, Burla. He also urged the Governor to visit the spot.
Panigrahi pointed out to the Governor that the VSS Medical College Hospital is the only major facility meant to provide quality treatment to the people of backward western Odisha. It is due to lack of adequate staff and negligence of the existent staff that led to the death of the nine infants, he said, further pointing out that as many as 409 newborns have died in this hospital during the last seven months.
Instead of viewing this matter seriously, the State Government casually appointed a three-member team to inquiry into the incident and gave a clean chit to the hospital management, doctors and other staff, which amounts to a cruel joke to the people depending on the hospital, Panigrahi said.