"No lack of medicines or staff": Maharashtra CM on Nanded hospital tragedy

In response to the tragic loss of 31 lives at the Dr Shankarrao Chavan Government Medical College and Hospital in Nanded within a span of 48 hours, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has assured the public that his government is treating the situation with the utmost seriousness. Denying allegations of medicine shortages and understaffing, Shinde asserted that appropriate action would be taken following a detailed inquiry into the incident.

Talking to reporters after the weekly cabinet meeting here, Shinde said adequate medicine stock and medical staff were available at the hospital. Many of the deceased were old people with heart ailments, underweight infants or accident victims, he added.

"The deaths are unfortunate. We have taken the incident very seriously. An inquiry has been ordered and action will be taken appropriately," the chief minister said.

Meanwhile, the Opposition parties have mounted an attack on the Eknath Shinde government over the deaths in a Nanded government hospital, with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and NCP chief Sharad Pawar bemoaning the apathy of the state government. NCP leader Sharad Pawar took to X to call out 'the failure of government systems.' "Just two months ago, there was an unfortunate incident where 18 people died in a single night in Kalwa Hospital of Thane Municipal Corporation," he said, adding that the government refused to take the incident seriously, causing it to repeat.

"This shows the failure of government systems. At least considering the seriousness of these unfortunate incidents, the state government needs to ensure that concrete steps are taken so that these incidents are not repeated, and the lives of innocent patients are saved," Pawar, the prominent leader of Opposition MVA, added.