Sticking to it's earlier statement, chief minister Yogi Adityanath claimed here on Saturday night that no children died in Gorakhpur BRD Medical College hospital due to shortage of oxygen.
However the state health ministers admitted that there was shortage of oxygen on August 10 between 1130 hrs to 1330 hrs when the children were given artifical respetory system. But they too denied any death due to shortage of oxygen when 23 children died on August 10.
Making a statement after more than 24 hours of the disclosure of the deaths, Yogi told reporters here after an emergency meeting with union minuster of state for health Anupriya Patel and two state health ministers, that already the principal of the BRD medical college has been suspended while a committee headed by chief secretary would probe into the role of the private company supplying the oxygen.
`` The matter is under investigation and the guilty will be brought to justice. Government will not accept any excuse and action will be taken against the guilty to prevent the reoccurrence of such incidents’’, Yogi Adityanath said. However, he gave clean chit to health minister claiming that when the pending bills of the supplier was already dispatched on August 5 so how come the minister was responsible. Union minuster of state for health Anupriya Patel said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was concerned with the incident and assured all cooperation to UP on health sector
State health minister Sidharthnath Singh claimed that during the past three years the death of children due to encephilites in August was between 19 to 22 per day but this year it was just around 10 death this August in the first 12 days. He claimed that there was low pressure on oxygen on August 20 in the morning between0730 hrs to 1130 hrs but artifical respiratory system was used for two hours thereafter. He too denied any death due to shortfall of oxygen though 23 children died.
Earlier Yogi Adityanath on Saturday morning had dispatched the medical and health minister Siddarthnath Singh and medical education minister Ashutosh Tandon to Gorakhpur for on the spot study of the situation. Both the ministers visited the hospital at the BRD medical college and the family members of the children.