Thane hospital deaths: Need white paper on deaths at civic hospital, says Congress leader Wadettiwar

Vijay Wadettiwar. File Pic

Maharashtra Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar on Thursday sought a 'white paper' on the condition of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Hospital in Thane's Kalwa, which hit the headlines after 18 persons died in a 24-hour period on Saturday and Sunday.

Wadettiwar, who is the Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, was speaking to reporters after visiting the sprawling facility and holding discussions with Thane Municipal Corporation additional commissioner (health services) Sandeep Malvi, medical superintendent Dr Aniruddha Malgaonkar and dean Dr Rakesh Barot.

Blaming the civic body for the deaths, Wadettiwar said the kin of the deceased must be given Rs 10 lakh each as compensation.

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More than 50 per cent of the permanent posts at the hospital are vacant, including that of cardiologist, neurosurgeon and oncologist, and critical patients are sometimes not visited by specialists even after 48 hours of admission, he alleged.

Due to reasons best known to it, the TMC had refused to hand over the hospital to the Maharashtra government when such a request was made during the time Prithviraj Chavan was chief minister, Wadettiwar said.

He slammed the Eknath Shinde government and questioned how it planned to recruit doctors for hospitals in remote areas of the state in Vidarbha, Gadchiroli or Konkan when it is not able to do so at a facility in Thane near Mumbai.

"The situation is similar in primary health centres and rural hospitals in other parts of the state. The TMC spends thousands of crores in beautification and cleanliness but cannot spend Rs 500 crore to improve health infrastructure," he claimed.

Wadettiwar said his party would launch an agitation on the issues plaguing Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Hospital in Kalwa.

(with PTI inputs)