The recent deaths of some 63 newly-born children in a Gorakhpur hospital allegedly due to lack of oxygen supply casts a deep shadow over the governance of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath as he continues to struggle to come to terms with controlling a vast and complex state.

And the tragedy hitting Gorakhpur – the Yogi’s home turf and a constituency he has represented for decades – is even more embarrassing.

Yogi’s successful style of administration in running a mutt in Gorakhpur and his relentless efforts to raise issues of his constituency in Parliament have held him in high esteem among the people of UP and his party colleagues. He had initially given hopes of good administration and people were looking forward to a change after the politics of the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party.

But as months progressed, hopes were belied and people have been left disappointed. The neo-natal deaths are the latest challenge for the Yogi administration. In the wake of these unfortunate deaths, a blame game has already begun.

The state administration is passing the buck to the oxygen suppliers. The Health Minister Sidharth Nath Singh has denied non-payment to the oxygen company while sources say that only part payment was done and a huge sum of Rs 26 lakh was still due. In UP there is a Medical Education Minister too.

Minister Ashutosh Tandon’s statements are also not really in sync with the Health Minister’s disclosures. Then the IAS health secretary has come out with a different statement. Basically, each functionary is on the defensive – probably an attempt to cover up their inadequacies.

Because let’s face it, this tragedy could have been avoided. UP is a difficult state to govern and the health sector has been long neglected with reports of incurable and rampant corruption in the health department specially in procurement of drugs and transfers/postings of the medical officers . But it must be thoroughly looked into as to how so many lives were lost and that too so cheaply.

Accountability must be fixed and those complicit taken to task. So far, only the Principal of the Baba Raghav Das Medical College, Rajiv Mishra has been sacked.

This move is perhaps a signal to the disgruntled and a feeble attempt at damage control. But more heads need to roll. It’s important to underscore that it was an abject failure on part of the state administration to oversee the functioning of the hospital/college. It seems as if the government is not serious about improving the medical administration. Or else only a few days ago, the CM himself had paid a visit to the hospital obviously to tone up working. Yet, it had no effect.

Also, in the recent past, the CM in an apparent bid to pull up the administration, suspended a few officials including a Sub Divisional Magistrate (SDM) during a tour of east UP’s Maharajgunj district. This may indicate that the CM has good intentions in ensuring bureaucratic accountability but it’s sad that his visits and actions had little impact. The Yogi till date doesn’t have a corruption taint against his name, but governing a state like UP is different from representing one parliamentary constituency.

Perhaps he is still not in control and has a long way to go. Any probe or commission of enquiry by the state government may not meet the expectations of the public. This is because there is a general perception that such temporary institutions are nothing but an eyewash to wait till the memories of the ghastly incident are erased from public mind. It would appear an objective exercise if a commission of enquiry is instituted comprising members from outside Uttar Pradesh. That will carry some credibility.

And there will be no implications or subsequent allegations of caste or religion. Going back to the unfortunate deaths, the sanitary conditions in Gorakhpur are abysmal to say the least. Open drains and lack of cleanliness are order of the day. Encephalitis and other vector and water borne diseases make the city (importantly the CM’s constituency) vulnerable from the point of view of health and hygiene.

With thousands of doctors and paramedics on the government pay rolls, it should not be difficult to ensure elementary health facilities. It may also be necessary to take another look at the professional competence of the medicos who have been graduating in alarming numbers from private and relatively unknown medical colleges and entrusted with saving lives .

The medical fraternity in UP must introspect afresh their capacity and take anew a pledge like the Hippocratic oath given to each medical graduate. But we cannot paint all with one brush.

As accountability on harsh terms must be fixed against those responsible for this negligence, Dr Kafeel Khan must not only be commended but felicitated in public for conforming to medical ethics by preventing loss of further lives and transporting oxygen cylinders himself.Perhaps the state of UP needs more Dr Kafeel Khans so that the poor and the aggrieved can safely rely on doctors and the hospital administration so as not to risk lives due to issues like lack of care or of oxygen supplies.

The erstwhile culture of owning moral responsibility for any tragedy etc. by ministers or those in high profile jobs is forgotten. The Railway Minister in Pandit Nehru’s cabinet, Lal Bahadur Shastri, had resigned due to a train accident that took lives. His maternal grandson, Sidharth Nath Singh is currently the health minister of UP.

Will he own up moral responsibility on the Gorakhpur deaths like his grandfather did?

(The writer is a retired IPS officer. The views expressed are personal.)