Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi visited Bilaspur on Saturday where botched sterilization surgeries left 13 women dead. Gandhi will be MET the family members of the victims and took stock of the corrective measures being taken by the state government.
Rahul meets affected families,alleges cover-up Bilaspur, Nov 15 (PTI) Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Saturday accused the Chhattisgarh government of trying to "cover-up" after he met the victims of botched sterilisation surgeries that have left 13 women dead and said corruption had a "role" in the tragedy.
"Truth is that it is not only a case of negligence. Here corruption has a role, fake medicines have a role," Gandhi told reporters.
After visiting the victims at their villages and hospital, Gandhi slammed the Raman Singh dispensation for "not taking responsibility" for the tragedy and demanded a thorough investigation. The sterilisation surgeries at Bilaspur's government-run medical camps have so far claimed lives of 13 young women and left nearly 138 ill.
"The camp was not run properly and so many people were harmed. The state government is not taking responsibility and in turn medicines are being burnt and there has been efforts to cover-up the matter," the Congress leader said.
Gandhi met family members of those who lost their lives and visited the hospital where the affected women are being treated. "First thing, it should be found out what had happened. Certainly, something was amiss somewhere. The government is responsible and the Health Minister (is responsible)," he said adding, "I felt very sad. The entire family suffers when the mother suffers."
"I am meeting people since morning, I’m very saddened by things they told me," Rahul Gandhi on Bilaspur incident. "It’s not just a case of negligence, there is also a role of corruption and expired medicines. It is the responsibility of state government but they are trying to cover up facts," he said.
"It is the responsibility of the state government and the Health Minister, but they are not accepting it, " he added
The BJP government in Chhattisgarh has constituted a probe panel under a retired judge to investigate the botched surgeries.
The Congress has sought the resignation of the state's health minister Amar Agarwal.
The minister, however, rejected the demand and added that the party will decide his fate. "Whenever an incident takes place, it is the responsibility of the government....I take moral responsibility for the incident. There is no question of resignation. I don't take decisions. It is for the party to decide," he said. He said that protocol set for sterilisation procedure has been violated.
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh had on Thursday announced the setting up of a "transparent and unbiased" judicial probe into the tragedy while accusing Congress of trying to politicise the issue
The Chhattisgarh government has constituted a probe panel under a retired judge to investigate the botched surgeries at Bilaspur’s government-run medical camps which have so far left 13 young women dead while nearly 138 others have been taken ill.
The terms of reference of the probe include ascertaining the quality of medicines and equipment used and whether the standard protocol for performance of such surgeries was followed for the sterilisation procedure. It will also fix accountability and recommend measures to prevent recurrence of such incidents.
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