New Delhi, Jan 17: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi met with the patients and their attendants awaiting treatment at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi. He accused the Centre and the Delhi government of being “insensitive” to them.

The Congress party shared the information on its social media handle.

In a post on X, the party said Rahul Gandhi visited the institute on Thursday night where he interacted with the patients and their attendants.

The party posted videos of the visit where Gandhi can be seen talking to the people and assuring them. He listened to their problems and some shared written notes with him which Gandhi passed on to his staff.

“Waiting for months for treatment, inconvenience and insensitivity of the government – this is the reality of Delhi AIIMS today. The situation is such that people who have come from far-off places bearing the burden of illness of their loved ones are forced to sleep on footpaths and subways in this freezing cold,” the Congress said in the post.

Giving details of the visit, the party said, “… Leader of Opposition Shri @RahulGandhi met the patients waiting for treatment, talked to them and listened to their problems.

The post said the Leader of Opposition met patients and their families outside Delhi AIIMS. “People who have come from far away places for treatment are forced to sleep on the roads, footpaths and subways here,” said the party.

While attacking the Centre and the AAP-ruled Delhi government, the Congress said, “The Modi Government and the Delhi Government have left them to their own. They have turned their back on their responsibility.”

Rahul Gandhi in a post in Hindi on Instagram wrote, “Burden of disease, biting cold, and government insensitivity today I met patients and their families outside AIIMS who have come from far and wide in search of treatment.”

“On their path to get treatment, they are forced to sleep on roads, footpaths and subways – just keeping a flame of hope burning amidst the cold ground, hunger, and inconveniences,” Gandhi further said.

One of the patients said, “He asked me for my phone number, and said that his team will contact me and help me as much as possible. My daughter is 13 years old and is a blood cancer patient. We arrived here on 3 December and there has not been proper treatment since then.”

A patient, Govind Lal, said, “He asked me about my stay here. He also asked about the treatment of my daughters.” A kin of a patient said they have been waiting in the cold and have no other option as they are poor.

Kolkata, Jan 16: The West Bengal health department has suspended 12 doctors after the death of a woman and a newborn baby in the alleged expiry saline case, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced on Thursday.

Five women fell ill after being allegedly administered expired Ringer’s Lactate at a state-run medical college and hospital in West Midnapore district. One of the five women, Mamoni Ruidas died on January 10, and the baby passed away on Thursday morning. The baby was of Rekha Shaw, one of the five surviving women.

“Parallel probes by the state health department and the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in the matter had proved the negligence of these doctors towards duty beyond doubt. Had these doctors performed their duties properly, these lives could have been saved. These 12 doctors have been suspended already. Apart from that the CID is conducting a probe into the matter and legal proceedings will be adopted against the doctors as per findings and legal provisions,” the Chief Minister said.

These suspended doctors include the medical superintendent-cum vice-principal (MSVP) and the resident medical officer of the said medical college & hospital.

The CM also said that had there been CCTVs within the operation theatres, the offenders could have been caught red-handed. “I think that CCTV machines should be installed in each and every operation theatre and I have asked the state health secretary to take necessary action on this count,” the Chief Minister said.

She said the compensation of Rs 5,00,000 will be provided by the state government to the family members of the deceased woman.

“At the same time, we would also be offering a job to one member of the family if they want,” the Chief Minister said.

She also said that there is a rule of eight hours of duty for the senior doctors, which many of them are not following. “Such negligence towards medical duty is equivalent to a criminal offence. So we need to take strong action. If you think that you are unable to perform the prescribed duties you can quit your job and go to any other state,” the Chief Minister said.

Chief Secretary Manoj Pant, who accompanied the Chief Minister at the press conference, said that from the investigation it is clear the operation protocols were not followed in this particular case. “The junior doctors were given the responsibility of the operation in the absence of senior doctors,” Pant said.

However, the Chief Minister disagreed with the popular thought that the administration of expired Ringer’s Lactate was responsible for the tragedies at the said medical college and hospital. “Had it been the case, then there would have been similar reports from other hospitals in the state where the same solution was used,” the Chief Minister said.

Kolkata, Jan 16: A division bench of the Calcutta High Court, on Thursday, directed the West Bengal government to pay compensation to the families of all the victims who had fallen sick, with one woman and a child already dead, after being allegedly administered with expired Ringer’s Lactate at a state-run medical college and hospital last week.

While one woman, Mamoni Ruidas died on January 10, the latest victim on Thursday morning was the newborn baby of another mother Rekha Shaw, who had also fallen sick last week after being allegedly administered with the expired Ringer’s Lactate. Three other women are currently under treatment.

Two public interest litigations (PILs) were filed in the matter earlier this week at the Calcutta High Court.

Acting on the PILs, the Calcutta High Court’s division bench of Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam and Justice Hirnamay Bhattacharya, on Thursday, besides directing the state government to pay compensation to the families of the victims, also directed the administration to submit an action-take report in the matter to the court within the next two week.

In the report, the division bench directed the Chief Secretary Manoj Pant, to elaborate on the details of actions taken against the Ringer’s Lactate supplying entity Paschim Banga Pharmaceuticals Pvt Ltd, which was blacklisted first by the Karnataka government and subsequently by the West Bengal government.

Meanwhile, the state health department has already ordered the removal of the erstwhile special secretary to the state health department (medicine department) Chaitali Chakraborty in connection with the “expired” saline tragedy. She has been replaced by Suvanjan Das.

On Wednesday, the leader of opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari demanded that Central agencies like the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) be involved in the ongoing probe into the matter being conducted by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of West Bengal Police and a team of the state health department.

The state health department first directed the medical superintendents-cum-vice principals of all medical colleges and hospitals and all the chief medical officers of the districts “to ensure total stoppage of the existing stock of Compound Sodium Lactate Injection (RL) supplied by Paschim Banga Pharmaceuticals Pvt Ltd in his/her jurisdiction”. Later, the state government also directed the removal of stocks of all medicines supplied by the said company from all healthcare entities in the state.