Srinagar, May 16: Chairman of Peoples Conference, Sajad Lone, Wednesday lashed out at the State Government over what he termed as the “criminal state of administrative negligence” and callousness in the valley's only children hospital.
“A Chief Minister who cannot be sensitive to the care and safety of this nation's children cannot be capable of bringing this state out of a deep infrastructural and administrative rot that has diminished the incentives of peace and empowerment,” Sajad said in a statement.
Reacting to the media reports on infant fatalities at the G B Pant Hospital in Srinagar, Sajad stated that he is a father of two little children and is angered and distraught at this government's “negligent and devil-may-care attitude” towards something as important as the health and well-being of children.
“A significant number of these fatalities were preventable and were a consequence of administrative negligence and infrastructural deficiencies. Ordinary Kashmiris have been voicing alarms and concerns about the G B Pant mess for years but all pleas of sympathy have fallen on deaf ears,” he added.
Sajad added that he was shocked and embarrassed by the State Government's ‘casual’ reaction to the media reports that stated that an alarming number of admitted children were losing their lives at the hospital. “It has been 3 years that the present government has been in power and it still has the nerve to talk about teething problems at Kashmir's only pediatric hospital. More than 3 dozen children have lost their lives at the G B Pant hospital in the last fortnight with 9 of those children losing their lives in one day alone - a milestone of apathy and misgovernance for a government that is neck deep in corruption,” Sajad added.
He said the G B Pant Hospital is an Associated Hospital of the Medical College Srinagar and falls under the administrative control of the Medical Education Ministry and not the Cantonment Board. Hence the State Government is singularly and primarily accountable for all these deaths. “It is time for Kashmiris to wake up for the sake of their children and if not for their dreams of prosperity and dignity, strive for their right to life.”
Sajad Lone demanded that the Chief Minister should accept moral responsibility for these deaths especially since he is a father himself and apologize to Kashmiris for his “callous and inept” style of dealing with this state's most glaring issues.

Lastupdate on : Wed, 16 May 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Wed, 16 May 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Thu, 17 May 2012 00:00:00 IST