Congress slams AAP for starvation deaths in national capital

Days after the starvation deaths of three minor girls here, Congress on Thursday slammed the Aam Aadmi Party government for "complete failure of system" in the national capital.

The party's Delhi chief Ajay Maken met the bereaved family. "Such a sad and disheartening incident. It raises questions and clearly shows how the overall system has failed," he told reporters later.

He also expressed shock over "malnutrition deaths" in the national capital, which has the highest per capita income in the country.

"It raises a lot of questions as the family was residing in Delhi for around four years," Maken claimed.

"Despite being here for such a long time the family did not have a ration card. How could the elder daughter who went to school die of malnutrition and starvation despite midday meals being provided in the school?

"Where is employment -- the father could not work and provide basic nutrition to his children," the Congress leader asked.

Slamming the Arvind Kejriwal government, he said, "Where was the Aam Aadmi canteen which was promised wherein the poor were supposed to get a meal for Rs 10?"

Maken said if people living in Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia's constituency could meet such a fate, "imagine what would be the everyday challenges faced by people living in other areas".

Three sisters -- aged two, four and eight -- were discovered unconscious in their one-room house in Mandawali area on Tuesday. Lal Bahadur Shastri (LBS) Hospital said the children were brought dead.

An autopsy at the LHS on Wednesday suggested that starvation "appears" to be the cause of their demise.

The Delhi government has ordered a magisterial probe into the deaths.

--IANS

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