NHRC issues notice to Bihar Govt. after child dies due to lack of medical aid

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has taken suo motu cognizance of a media report that in the model Village Dharhara of Bihar a little girl died of diarrhea due to lack of basic medical facilities.

The commission has observed that the contents of the press report, if true, amount to serious violation of right to health of the girl.

A notice has been issued to the Government of Bihar through its Principal Secretary (Health and Family Welfare), calling for a detailed report in the matter within four weeks.

Reportedly, Dharhara is the village where, on the birth of a girl child, the Chief Minister has been planting saplings for the last three years. The Chief Minister had also planted a sapling in the year 2013 for Rani Kumari, the girl who succumbed to diarrhea.

According to the news report, the Health Centre in the village is in shambles and is often locked. The Chief Minister and his Health Minister had promised a six bed hospital during their visit to the village in 2010 but the same has not been constructed so far.

Reportedly, the father of the deceased girl also believes that his daughter would have been alive if the Health Centre had been functioning.

The residents of the village, who were hailed for their practice of planting ten trees-Mangos and Lichies, on the birth of every girl child, expected that after four visits of the State Chief Minister, some development would happen but the situation has not improved.