Jhansi: Does Human Life Matter Less in BJP-ruled States? Where is Our Outrage?

Reports from the Maharani Laxmi Bai Medical College's neonatal ICU suggest that it was a tragedy waiting to happen.

The charred ward at the Maharani Laxmi Bai Medical College in Jhansi.

(Photo: PTI)

The lack of national outrage at the devastating fire in a Jhansi hospital that has claimed the lives of a dozen infants is appalling. This is, indeed, surprising in a country where for months together, the media and political circles were united in outrage over the horrendous rape of a young woman doctor in Kolkata.

One wonders whether this relative apathy to the horrifying institutional failure in Jhansi is because it occurred in BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh and not an Opposition-ruled state, or a general callousness to the death of children compared to the more sensational aspects of rape.

What is even more shocking is the tame acceptance of the dismissal by the authorities in Uttar Pradesh of the deaths as the result of a mere "accident" caused by a fire triggered by an electrical short circuit, and not any criminal negligence.

This flies in the face of the notice issued by the National Human Rights Commission to the Uttar Pradesh government and the state's police chief in connection with the incident, which it described as "disturbing". The commission observed that the contents of the reports of the fire tragedy were "indeed disturbing and indicate negligence" resulting in a "grave violation" of the human rights of the victims as they were in the care of a government institution.

Reports from the fire in the neonatal intensive care unit of the Maharani Laxmi Bai Medical College suggest that it was a tragedy waiting to happen. The neonatal care unit was operating at almost three times its capacity. One report quoted a relative saying that each bed in the hospital accommodated at least five children.

To make matters worse, none of the fire extinguishers were working in the hospital and so the fire could not be put out. The alarm system in the premises was also defective and there could be no prompt evacuation of the infants. Yet, the state has chosen to completely whitewash the lack of adequate safety measures on the biggest paediatric hospital in Jhansi and the police have pointedly not filed a first information report against the hospital authorities, despite angry protests by the parents of the children.

BJP leaders in Uttar Pradesh appear to have washed their hands off the case. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is busy campaigning across the state for the crucial assembly by-polls and has done little except express lip sympathy and announce ex-gratia payment to the parents of the dead infants.

Deputy CM Brajesh Pathak, who is also the Health Minister, did visit the hospital amidst much fanfare.

Videos on social media showed that the roads leading to the hospital were sprinkled with lime and the compound outside the premises was hastily cleaned before the minister arrived even as the parents grieved their dead and injured children.

Mr Pathak, of course, has given a clean chit to the hospital authorities but seemed more upset at the videos showing the elaborate preparations for his visit. He has ordered an enquiry into the lime sprinkling and cleaning exercise before his visit, even as the rescue operations continued from the burning hospital.

Not surprisingly, the Opposition has jumped into the fray. "Look at the insensitivity of the BJP government. On one hand, children were burned to death, and their families were weeping and grieving. On the other hand, lime was being sprinkled on the roads to welcome the Deputy Chief Minister. The families even claimed that the entire compound was filthy, but it was cleaned up before the Deputy Chief Minister's visit," the Congress party tweeted.

The Samajwadi Party, an ally of the Congress, said that government hospitals in Uttar Pradesh had become a den of misery, corruption and negligence. "There were no arrangements in the hospital to save the children... The BJP is a completely insensitive party. People are dying, but these people will never take responsibility," party spokesperson Juhie Singh said.

Unfortunately, political sloganeering on the Jhansi tragedy is unlikely to help matters and will only provoke bluster and denial from the BJP government both at the state and the centre. The real problem lies elsewhere.

Hospital tragedies like these are not surprising in Uttar Pradesh, where according to a 2021 survey, there is one doctor for 1,218 patients, a chilling statistic way below the national average.

Given the total lack of adequate safety and health equipment in hospitals across India’s most populous state, only a complete overhaul can prevent an incident like this from happening once again.

(The writer is a Delhi-based senior journalist and the author of ‘Behenji: A Political Biography of Mayawati’. This is an opinion piece. The views expressed above are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for the same.)