Children’s deaths: All kids sent back to shelter; still no word on report results

While the findings of a probe report on the deaths of five children at a shelter for special kids here were yet to be made public despite several assurances by officials, the last among 20 children who were being treated in hospitals was discharged and sent back to the facility’s care on Wednesday.

“The child, who is prone to severe epileptic seizures, was kept under observation for longer than the remaining kids to eliminate the possibility of him suffering from any other ailment,” said Dr SK Pandey, the chief medical superintendent of Balrampur Hospital. Gopala, 14, was admitted to Lok Bandhu Hospital on March 23, and referred to Balrampur Hospital the same day, where his treatment continued in its ICU.

The kids from Nirvan Rajkiya Bal Griha located on Mohaan Road were hospitalised in Lok Bandhu Raj Narayan Hospital, Balrampur Hospital and King George’s Medical University after they fell sick allegedly due to contaminated water.

Sixteen children from Nirvana Rajkiya Bal Griha Visheshikrit were hospitalised at LBRN Hospital, three at Balrampur Hospital and one at King George’s Medical University. Five others had died during treatment. “Over the following days, all children were discharged after their treatment and observation period of at least two to three days,” said the medical superintendent of LBRN Hospital, Dr AS Tripathi.

Women and child development’s (WCD’s) worker Archana Singh, who was among the people managing the children’s hospital visits and overseeing their health condition, said, “We took the last child back to the shelter this afternoon. I visited the shelter today to check the conditions, and all amenities seemed in order. We are getting some check-ups done for some of the children who were discharged earlier, to have their health reports up to date,” she said. These remaining health checkups will be completed on Thursday.

While the WCD director Sandeep Kaur had said that some response on the findings of the magisterial inquiry would be shared come Thursday, she seemed unsure of the status of the analysis of the said report on Wednesday. The report was submitted to the authorities on April 2. It was announced that its findings would be made public on April 4. On April 7, Kaur said the analysis might take another two days.