JK Lon undergoes superficial makeover to calm the storm

Despite the visit of many prominent faces after the deaths of 110 children in JK Lon Hospital in Kota, not much has changed in and around the premises but a superficial makeover is being done to calm the storm.

The municipal corporation has assigned duties to its staff to clean the hospital premises, but only for a month. The hospital premises were never cleaned by any municipal corporation employee before. It is just that since January 1 that duties have been assigned to the employees to clean the hospital," says the employee who has been assigned the charge to clean the hospital which sees thousands of people visiting from across Rajasthan and surrounding states.

"Presently, the duty has been assigned for a month," he confirmed to IANS.

Earlier, there were animals seen roaming around the hospital, which have now been taken away by corporation employees, said one Deepak who had come from Bundi to get his son treated.

While the corporation employee remains busy cleaning the hospital from outside, the inside stays equally dirty though staff could be seen wiping the floors.

The arrangement looks superficial as the staircase going towards children's wards could be seen surrounded by dirt and filth with open dustbins, inviting all kinds of infections, but this part is well ignored by the cleaning staff and surprisingly no one monitors him to check if he is doing his job thoroughly. The spitting surprisingly invites no one's attention including doctors who have been going upstairs to take rounds in children's wards twice a day.

The moisture in walls due to seepage is very much evident in wards but as it can't be concealed overnight, it remains where it is. The hospital toilets remain as dirty and unhygienic as ever.

What surprises many is the fact that newborn kids with their attendants are being allowed to sit under open sky in biting cold.

IANS asked a woman sitting with a three-day-old baby the reason behind it and she said that there is no space for us to sit inside and hence we have to come outside in this cold weather. The surroundings were quite unhygienic.

Hospital superintendent Suresh Dulara, when asked why new born infants are allowed to sit in biting cold outside, said, "The newborns need to be given some light and hence we allow them to sit outside."

On the contrary, a doctor on Saturday termed it as one of the reasons for an infant's death that the grandmother of the kid took the newborn out in the cold which led to his death.

The story doesn't end here as there are parents seen running from pillar to post with their infants in their lap to get tests done and to collect the reports but had to return empty-handed as their sonography and other tests could not be completed.

Sunita, from Atru, a parent of an infant suffering from pneumonia, said, "My kid is here since December 25. We went to collect reports but did not get them."

Another parent said that his child has blood infection but she is made to run around for the report, but it is not been given for the last three days.

Similar tales were heard from other prents. A mother said that she has gone with her kid thrice for tests but no sonography was done.

When Dulara was asked about it, he said, "There are certain challenges in government hospitals. Sunday is a holiday for the staff and we have limited hours to operationalise. We work from 9.00 a.m. to 11.00 a.m. There being so much of rush, we can't accommodate all the kids for tests."

Surprisingly, the gynec isolation ward is also seen covered with paper boards and toilets in the worst condition.

A hospital employee on condition of anonymity said that the water tank in the hospitals have never been cleaned and there might be worms in it. The superficial cleanliness is being done, but the hospital remains the way as it is, he added.

Meanwhile, the hospital gave a busy look even on Sunday when an electrician was seen fitting a tube light in a dark corridor, two of the three employees were seen wiping the floors, a mason was doing repair work on a wall.

It was also a pleasant surprise to see doctors and nurses on Sunday which it seems has happened for the first time in years, said a hospital staff, adding that trainees were asked to be present on Sunday but never ever any senior visited the hospital on off days. Let's see if this trend continues, asked an employee of the hospital.

Sources confirmed that there was a fight for contracts in hospital to decide which companies should be given the projects for different tasks. Those who can give commissions to the then hospital superintendent and HOD paediatricians had to be selected. As both the superintendent and the HOD were at loggerheads, the works were not allocated to anyone and hence the medical services at the hospital continued to be in shambles.IANS