Cong targets Dy CM over health crisis in MP's Chhindwara

Chhindwara, Oct 6 (IANS) The Madhya Pradesh Congress, on Monday, launched a scathing attack at Deputy Chief Minister Rajendra Shukla, accusing him of giving a clean chit to Coldrif cough syrup that allegedly caused the death of 16 children in the Chhindwara district in the past more than 40 days.

Congress led by State party President Jitu Patwari and Leader of Opposition (LoP) Umang Singhar questioned Shukla's earlier statement that cough syrup was not the reason behind the death of children.

Shukla, who is leading the state's Health and Medical Education departments, had made this statement on October 1.

"Deputy Chief Minister Rajendra Shukla, who is Health Minister as well, should answer that why a cough syrup which was already banned in Madhya Pradesh, was made available in the market, and how could he give a clean chit to Coldrif before even proper investigation done in this case?" LoP Singhar asked.

The Congress demanded that Rajendra Shukla should be removed from his ministerial post, and an independent inquiry should order to find the exact reasons behind growing crisis in health services in Madhya Pradesh.

"Suspending a doctor is not justice. Health Minister Rajendra Shukla and Health Secretary and other senior health officials should be held responsible for this tragic incident. We are expecting tough decisions from Chief Minister Mohan Yadav when he is set to visit Chhindwara, otherwise, it would just whitewash the crime," Patwari said during his visit to Chhindwara on Monday.

During a visit to Chhindwara, nearly hours before Chief Minister Mohan Yadav on Monday, Patwari also asked that why post-mortem of victims (children) wasn't done.

The State Congress President claimed that the post-mortem of one victim was done on Sunday only after the issue was highlighted.

According to official information, Chhindwara district administration had ordered a banned on sale of Coldrif cough syrup on September 30 after the death toll had reached to 10.

The district administration had also banned another cough syrup -- Nextro DS, which was consumed by two children.

During initial inquiry, one thing was common among all the children who got infected: 80 per cent of them used one cough syrup, and the remaining used another cough syrup.

Meanwhile, a doctor identified as Praveen Soni, who had prescribed Coldrif to most of the victims was arrested.

An FIR was registered early Sunday morning at the Parasia police station against promoters of Sresan Pharmaceuticals, the Tamil Nadu-based manufacturer of Coldrif, and Praveen Soni.

--IANS

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