No bribe was taken by govt hospital to treat child suffering from diarrhoea, says TN health minister

CHENNAI: State health minister Ma Subramanian clarified that no bribe was taken to treat a child who was suffering from diarrhoea at the Egmore Children's Hospital and that the money asked to be paid was merely a deposit amount. He also added that the allegation has distressed hospital workers who work hard to help the public.

On Thursday, an 11-year-old boy, R Yuvaraj, from a family of migrant labourers who were residents of Saidapet, died due to severe diarrhoea at the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital. Following this, his sister, Meera Kumari (7), was admitted to Egmore Children's Hospital with similar symptoms after which the father of the children alleged that the hospital had taken a bribe of Rs 1000 to treat his daughter.

Folllwing the allegation, Ma Subramanian offered an explanation stating that a deposit amount of Rs 1000 is generally taken from people visiting the hospital from other states. "This is the norm in many other states and this practice was mistaken as bribe by the family. This confusion and the allegation that followed has caused a lot of stress and mental trauma among the hospital workers who work hard to help the public," he said.

The minister also added that government hospitals function solely for the public and hence, everyone should understand that and work towards making the operations seamless.

He also said that reports of water contamination causing diarrhoea symptoms in the two children were proven to be wrong after drinking water samples were tested. "Close to 700 families live in that area in Saidapet and no one else has fallen ill. Only the deceased child's post-mortem report will reveal what caused his death," the health minister said.

Sources said that an inquiry revealed that the migrant family from Bihar had returned to Chennai 10 days ago and that the children had eaten food from outside and later developed diarrhoea symptoms. On Thursday, the boy was taken to Kalaignar Centenary Hospital and later admitted to Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital where he died. His sister who complained of the same symptoms is being treated presently and is reportedly stable.

The incident has kicked up a political storm with the Leader of the Opposition Edappadi K Palaniswami demanding contamination-free drinking water for Chennai residents. Following the incident, Chennai Corporation kickstarted health camps in Saidapet and the Chennai Metro Water has started collecting drinking water samples from the locality.

"The civic body is planning to organise health camps in places where migrant workers employed in construction sites are residing," Ma Subramanian said, after inspecting such areas coming under his constituency.

It may be noted that there were media reports stating water contamination in parts of Choolaimedu, Chintadripet, Purasawalkam and Saidapet.

Chengalpettu, Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur Government hospitals have also recorded diarrhoea cases in the past few weeks.

(With additional inputs from Bureau)