Centre to send team as report says 60% devices not working at Kota hospital

New Delhi: Over 70% of radiant warmers have been found non-functional in Kota's JK Lon hospital where 100 infant deaths have triggered a political slugfest between the Congress’ Rajasthan government and the opposition BJP. Alarmed by the poor state of medical care at the Kota hospital, Union health minister Harsh Vardhan has shot off a letter to chief minister Ashok Gehlot while promising all technical help to save the lives of children.

Vardhan has pointed out that over 60% of equipment has been found non-functional for want of annual maintenance contract (AMC). “It has also been noted that in JK Lon hospital, 70% of the radiant warmers are not functional and the bed nurse ratio is 13:1 against the standard 4:1. It is learnt that out of 533 equipment, 320 are not functional for want of annual maintenance contract (AMC) and there is absence of oxygen pipeline in the Special Newborn Care Unit. Also, this hospital has bed occupancy of 180% and mortality in SNCU in November has been reported to be 23.4% against 14-18% mortality reported in the previous months,” Vardhan has written.

The health ministry has constituted a multi-disciplinary team of experts to support the state government for gap analysis. The high-level team includes Kuldeep Singh (head of Pediatrics and Dean Academies, AIIMS Jodhpur), Deepak Saxena (senior regional director, Rajasthan, ministry of health and family welfare), Arun Singh (Professor of Neonatology, AIIMS Jodhpur), Himanshu Bhushan (adviser, National Health Systems Resource Centre). The team of experts will carry out a joint gap analysis along with the state government in terms of clinical protocols, service delivery, manpower availability and equipment for maternal, newborn and paediatric care services at Kota Medical College.


The health minister wrote the letter after a spike in infant deaths was reported and a scathing report by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR). “The available information from Special Newborn Care Units (SNCU) online software and the report from the state has been reviewed and it showed higher mortality rate of 20.2% in J K Lon hospital, Kota, during 2019 in comparison to the preceding two years (In 2018: 14.3%; In 2017: 4.3%),” Vardhan has written. There is a difference between the mortality rate statistics of the Centre and the state government.

The NCPCR team, which had visited JK Lon hospital last week, had noted severe lapses and glaring problems in the administration. It pointed out that newborns and infants were exposed to severe weather conditions as there were no glass in the window panes and the gates were broken. The NCPCR report also mentioned that pigs were found roaming inside the hospital campus and the general upkeep and maintenance of the hospital was in the “worst condition”. Kota is represented by BJP’s Om Birla, who is now Lok Sabha Speaker. Vardhan also held a meeting with Birla on the deaths.