Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah on Monday demanded a judicial inquiry into the death of two dozen patients in Chamarajanagar, even as he asked Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, Health Minister K Sudhakar and district in-charge S Suresh Kumar to resign.
“The death of 24 people is murder by the government,” Siddaramaiah said. “Owning moral responsibility, the CM, the health minister and the district in-charge minister should resign. Also, the government should give Rs 25 lakh to the families of each of the deceased,” he said.
“The Chamarajanagar district hospital has 180 beds of which 120 are oxygen beds. There are 20 ventilators. The Covid-19 patients need 350 oxygen cylinders daily that are supplied from Mysuru. The oxygen problem started on Friday, but the government didn’t wake up. The deputy commissioners of Mysuru and Chamarajanagar should have coordinated with each other,” he said.
Later in the day, a delegation led by Karnataka Congress president D K Shivakumar met Chief Secretary P Ravi Kumar to discuss the pandemic situation, especially oxygen supply and availability of beds.
“The oxygen demand is 1,750 tonnes. The Centre has allocated 850 tonnes to the state, which is almost 50%,” Shivakumar said after meeting Kumar.
“The government has sufficient space in state-run hospitals to increase the number of beds. I’ve offered my hostel for a 500-bed facility. But the government isn’t adding beds because of the shortage of oxygen,” he said.
KPCC working president Ramalinga Reddy said he had petitioned the Karnataka State Human Rights Commission on the Chamarajanagar incident.