Ashutosh Tandon was also informed on dwindling supply of oxygen in BRD
While the Uttar Pradesh government and its Ministers have claimed that they were not informed about the alleged irregularities in the BRD hospital, documents that have surfaced seem to indicate otherwise.
The documents show that U.P. Medical Education Minister Ashtosh Tandon was informed of the alleged irregularities and also kept in the loop by the supplier in the matter of the oxygen supply crisis.
At 4:30 pm on August 11, a few hours before the news of the children’s death broke, the Chief Medical Superintendent (CMS) of the medical college Rama Shankar Shukla informed the Principal that the stock of liquid oxygen was dwindling and that the firm contracted to supply it was not doing it.
In the letter, the CMS urged the Principal R.K. Mishra to ensure supply “at the earliest” so that the “lives of the seriously ill patients admitted in the hospital can be saved.”
The Principal was also asked to arrange for alternative means of replenishing the stock of medical oxygen and consult the Gorakhpur DM and Divisional Commissioner to ensure its supply.
The documents have also put U.P. Medical Education Minister Ashutosh Tandon under a cloud.
Mounting dues
On August 9, a day before 23 children died in the hospital and when oxygen supply was reportedly interrupted, director of Pushpa Sales Private Limited Manish Bhandari wrote to Mr. Tandon requesting urgent payment of the mounting dues. The documents made public by the firm showed that of the dozen reminders it had sent to the BRD hospital and authorities in the UP government since February, at least one, on April 6, was also marked to the Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and State Health Minister Sidharthnath Singh.
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