BJP targets Odisha Govt over death of 13 children at Keonjhar DHH
BJP targets Odisha Govt over death of 13 children at Keonjhar DHH
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Bhubaneswar: The state administration has been under fire from the BJP for its inadequate healthcare infrastructure and for the deaths of children in the Keonjhar region of Odisha.
The chief whip of the BJP, Mohan Majhi, said in a statement to the media on Thursday at the party headquarters in Bhubaneswar that it is regrettable that the state has been reporting child malnutrition deaths despite adequate funding having been approved by the Center.
Majhi alleged that the state government had neglected the healthcare in rural areas in response to the reported death of 13 children in Keonjhar in just 18 days. "The passing of children is regrettable and utterly unacceptable. According to him, many of the kids who passed away at the district headquarters hospital (DHH) during that time were undernourished.
Majhi claimed that Prime Minister Poshan Yojana had been established with the intention of assisting the states in improving the nutritional status of their children. According to him, the state received Rs 279 crore under the programme from the Centre just last month. In addition, he stated that the Rs 8,583 crore collected under the DMF (district mineral fund) has not been used.
The BJP leader from Keonjhar claimed that even the DHH in the district lacks a childcare specialist, accusing the state government of being careless in developing the healthcare services in rural areas.
In addition to inadequate medical facilities, he said that poor road connectivity has contributed to a number of fatalities because ambulances are unable to get to the area. According to the government's response to Majhi's inquiry in the Assembly, 5,025 villages in Odisha are still inaccessible due to a lack of roads.
