In the wake of the death of 10 newborns in a fire that broke out in the Maharani Lakshmibai Medical College in Jhansi, the Uttar Pradesh government has decided to launch safety checks in every hospital in the state afresh.

A Fire Department team will start conducting verification of every government and private hospital and medical college from Monday.

In view of the incidence of fire in hospitals in the state, the Union Health Ministry had already given instructions to investigate the mishaps.

Sources claimed here on Sunday that the Directorate of Electrical Safety carried out inspections at government and non-government hospitals of the state in June 2024. During the inspection of around 524 hospitals, many shortcomings were found in the SGPGI and the Maharani Lakshmibai Medical College, Jhansi. Following the inspections, instructions were issued to the college administration to take steps to improve and avoid such mishaps.

After the incident in Jhansi, the Directorate has decided to run the campaign from Monday all over again. In the fresh campaign, it will be confirmed whether the deficiencies in the hospitals have been rectified after the issuance of the instructions to do so. If not, a notice will be issued to them and a letter will be sent to the government including the Medical Education Department, and the Health Department.

Earlier, mock drills were conducted in government colleges reports of which were sent to the departments, but private hospitals and medical colleges paid no attention to it. After the Jhansi incident, instructions have been issued to them for fresh verification.

Meanwhile, the Fire Department in Lucknow has sent notices to about 80 hospitals running without security arrangements. According to the letter sent to the CMOs, there have been no proper fire safety arrangements in these hospitals for many years. What’s more, KGMU and Balrampur are also included in the hospitals operating against the standards despite treating thousands of patients from all over the state every day.

There are a total of 906 government and private hospitals and nursing homes operating in the state capital, of them only 301 have NOC.

According to Chief Fire Officer (CFO) Mangesh Kumar, more than two hundred hospitals running in Lucknow are not meeting the fire safety standards. Notices were given to them earlier too, but they have taken no steps to mitigate the situation.

Meanwhile, the incident at the Jhansi Medical College once again reminded us of the incident at the Baba Raghavdas Medical College, Gorakhpur in the year 2017. At that time, a report was lodged against many people including the principal and pediatrician, who had to go to jail.

More than 50 children died due to a lack of oxygen at BRD Medical College. During the investigation, it was revealed that the hospital had not paid Rs 69 lakh for oxygen, after which the firm had stopped the supply of oxygen to the hospital. After investigation, the then Principal Dr. RK Mishra, Pediatrician Dr Kafeel Khan, and owners of the oxygen supplying company were sent to jail.

Similar negligence is coming to light in Jhansi Hospital too. Adequate arrangements to extinguish fire have not been found in the hospital. The fire extinguishers had expired in the year 2021. What’s surprising is that the owner of the company that installed the fire extinguishers died during the COVID pandemic, after which the company stopped the supply and maintenance of the extinguishers.

At present, department officials are claiming that the investigation has been started. If negligence is found in the report, strict action will be taken against the accused.