Lucknow/Gorakhpur : An inquiry by the Gorakhpur district administration has held a Lucknow-based firm responsible for disrupting oxygen supply to the BRD Medical College. The inquiry, into the supply of oxygen to the hospital on August 10 when 23 children died, also alleged that there was "financial anomaly" and overwriting in the log books. The five-member panel said Dr Satish Kumar, the head of department of anaesthesia, was "prima facie guilty of not discharging his duties". It also named Gajanan Jaiswal, the chief pharmacist, and Dr Rajiv Mishra, the principal of the medical college. The report was silent on the cause of the deaths and who was responsible.
However, chief medical officer Dr Ravindra Kumar, part of the panel, told PTI that the deaths were not due to lack of oxygen. "The oxygen supplier firm M/s Pushpa Sale Pvt Ltd, Lucknow had disrupted oxygen supply for which it is responsible, which it should not have done keeping in mind its life-saving job," the committee found. "Dr Kafeel Khan (nodal of 100-bed AES ward) had said that he had informed in writing about the ward's AC not working to Dr Satish Kumar, but they were not repaired in time.
Stating that he was in-charge of uninterrupted supply of liquid oxygen, it said, "Dr Satish had been prima facie guilty of not discharging his duties." Pointing to another lacuna, the committee said it was the job of Dr Satish and chief pharmacist Gajanan Jaiswal to maintain the stock book and log book of oxygen cylinders. However, these "were not maintained, and overwriting was done". PTI
