The Congress on Tuesday demanded a judicial probe into the deaths of several children in different states, allegedly caused by the consumption of a contaminated cough syrup. The party also urged the governments of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan to provide adequate compensation to the affected families.
Addressing a press conference at the AICC headquarters, Leaders of Opposition Tika Ram Jully and Umang Singhar said there was gross negligence on the part of the authorities in allowing the sale of the cough syrup despite reports of related deaths in the past. “The company supplying the cough syrup had been blacklisted earlier, and despite that, it was allowed to supply the syrup,” they said. The syrup was found to contain a highly toxic chemical, diethylene glycol (DEG), known to cause kidney damage in children.
Singhar and Jully pointed out that the main reason for such gross negligence was the systematic failure of administration in the two states, where both Chief Ministers have to “look towards Delhi” for every step they take and every move they make. They demanded a thorough investigation to identify all the culprits involved in this massive scandal.
The Congress leaders emphasised that most of the families whose children died came from economically poor backgrounds and have suffered a double blow of losing their kids and incurring huge debts due to treatment expenses. “These families must be adequately compensated to help them come out of the debt,” they said.
Seeking a judicial probe, the Congress leaders pointed out that such a tragedy involving the death of about 20 kids could have been avoided if the authorities had taken timely action. The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has also taken cognizance of the matter and issued notices to the Health Departments of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.
The government has taken steps to address the issue, including risk-based inspections at 19 pharmaceutical manufacturing units across six states. The Health Ministry has also advised states to step up disease surveillance and reporting.