111 Infants Die in Rajkot, 85 in Ahmedabad; CM Rupani Evades Query

Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani refused to respond to the media’s question about the deaths of newborns in the state.

A closer look at the highs and lows of Vijay Rupani’s regime in Narendra Modi’s Gujarat.

(Photo: The Quint)

Amid the spurt in the death of infants in Kota’s JK Lon hospital, similar deaths have emerged in two civil hospitals in Gujarat’s Rajkot and Ahmedabad.

111 children died in the month of December at Rajkot Civil Hospital, ANI quoted the Dean of Rajkot Civil Hospital Manish Mehta as saying.

In Ahmedabad Civil Hospital, 85 infants died in December alone.

“In December, 455 newborns were admitted in neonatal intensive care unit (ICU), of them 85 died,” Superintendent of Ahmedabad Civil Hospital GS Rathod said.

As many as 1,235 infant deaths were reported in 2019 in Rajkot civil hospital, The Hindu reported.

Meanwhile, Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani refused to respond to the media’s question about the deaths of newborns in the state.

According to the State government officials, the mortality number is high because the civil hospital in Rajkot caters to several districts.

The officials also credited the rise in number of deliveries in November and December for the increase in infant mortality.

(With inputs from ANI and The Hindu)