Days after 75 Covid patients died due to oxygen shortage at Goa's largest Covid hospital, the Goa Medical College (GMC), state Congress president Girish Chodankar filed a criminal complaint against Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and Health Minister Vishwajit Rane, claiming the deaths occurred due to mismanagement of health infrastructure.
In the complaint, Chodankar has alleged that "hundreds of patients" had died at the same hospital due to oxygen shortage since April and alleged that Sawant and Rane were "equally responsible and liable" for their deaths due to "their intentional act and or omission on their part of not to supply adequate oxygen cylinders to GMC".
"This complaint reflects the pain and the anguish of all Goans, who have been completely failed and let-down by the present state government on account of their sheer incompetence; criminal negligence; mismanagement and complete disregard to the lives of the peoples in handling the Covid-19 pandemic situation," Chodankar has said in his complaint.
"Since the onslaught second wave of Covid-19 pandemic i.e somewhere since April 2021, hundreds of people have died at Goa Medical College (GMC) due to shortage and or failure of the Government to maintain uninterrupted supply of medical oxygen," the complaint, which has been filed at the Agacaim police station in North Goa also said.
Between May 11-14, 75 persons reportedly died at the GMC, an apex health facility in Goa, due to oxygen shortage. While the Health Minister first insisted that 26 patients died on May 11 due to oxygen shortage, the dean of the medical college Dr. Shivanand Bandekar said that oxygen shortage could not be linked to the deaths.
Published 17 May 2021, 16:43 IST