Why was Raj govt not alert on deaths in Kota hospital: Irani

In the wake of death of more than 100 infants at a Kota hospital in December, Union minister Smriti Irani on Friday accused the Rajasthan government of not being alert despite the death toll crossing 900 last year.

The Women and Child Development minister said the issue is related to the health ministry and the National Commission for protection of Child Rights will submit its report to her ministry in this regard.

She said she was hurt by remarks made by Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on the issue.

"But presently the kind of sentences I am hearing from the Chief Minister of Rajasthan hurts me as a mother and Indian citizen. Why did the Rajasthan government not take any action despite so many deaths because children who were dying were poor," she said on the sidelines of an event.

As per the statistics quoted by the state authorities, 963 children have died in the year 2019 at J K Lon government hospital while this figure was above 1000 in the preceding year.