Jharkhand health crisis: High court questions govt on rising number of deaths due to encephalitis

Ranchi: The Jharkhand High Court on Friday took suo moto cognisance of the deaths of 164 children in a Jamshedpur hospital in the last four months and has sought reply from the Raghubar Das government.

[caption id=“attachment_3961615” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. PTI[/caption] The court took cognisance based on the report of the District and Sessions judge of Jamshedpur. The Jamshedpur District and Sessions judge had visited the hospital and submitted a report to the high court. Over 800 children have died in two medical hospitals in Jharkhand with the majority of deaths due to encephalitis. In the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Hospital (MGM), the deaths of 164 children have been reported. So far this year, 660 children have died at the Rajendra Institute of Medical Science (RIMS) in Ranchi while 164 deaths have been reported in the last four months from Jamshedpur’s Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Hospital. The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has issued notice to the Jharkhand government over the deaths of 52 children in the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Hospital in one month.