Varanasi hospital deaths: Congress wants UP Health Minister sacked

New Delhi, Oct 5 (IANS) The Congress on Thursday demanded dismissal of Uttar Pradesh Health Minister Siddharth Nath Singh over the death of 14 patients in the surgical ward of a hospital in Varanasi.

A party leader alleged that industrial-grade gas was supplied to the ward by a firm that did not have licence to produce any type of medical gas.

Talking to media persons here, Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala also demanded resignation of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and filing of a criminal case against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Harshvardhan Bajpayi, who is linked to the firm that supplied the gas.

Surjewala said 14 patients died in the surgical ward of Banaras Hindu University's (BHU) Sunder Lal Hospital between June 6 and 8 this year, as industrial-grade gas was used to administer anaesthesia.

"There can be no greater act of criminal culpability on the part of the Uttar Pradesh government as well as the hospital administration than this," he said.

The Congress leader said an inquiry was ordered after people moved the Allahbad High Court and the report came out in July.

"The facts that have come out are shocking. And, according to a UP government RTI report, the firm that supplied the industrial-grade gas had no licence to produce medical gas of any nature, much less anaesthesia," Surjewala said.

One of the owners of the firm is Harshvardhan Bajpayi, BJP MLA from Allahbad North, he added.

"The Prime Minister used to say he will convert Varanasi into Kyoto. Can this be done by playing with people's lives in this fashion," Surjewala asked.

He said there had been several cases of hospital deaths in the state earlier as well due to negligence.

Surjewala said a criminal case should be registered against the owners of the firm as also the hospital administration.

The state Health Minister should be sacked and if Yogi Adiyanath had any sense of morality left, he should step down as Chief Minister, he said.