Revanth demands Harish’s resignation as health minister over pregnant women deaths

HYDERABAD: TPCC president A. Revanth Reddy on Friday demanded the resignation of health minister T. Harish Rao owning moral responsibility for the death of two pregnant women at the Malakpet government hospital. Utter negligence during delivery led to their death, he said.

The Malakpet incident and the one at Ibrahimpatnam, where four women had died due to botched botched-up family planning surgeries on August 25 last year, showed the negligent approach of the state government when it came to providing appropriate medical care to pregnant women, he said.

The government was claiming that it was building multi-specialty hospitals but on the ground it had failed to extend even basic safety for patients, he said. This lackadaisical attitude has been helping private hospitals in Hyderabad while the general public has lost confidence in government hospitals, he said.

Despite the deaths at Ibrahimpatnam, the health department had failed to learn from the incidents, he said.

The role of Harish Rao was only restricted to delivering political speeches and is unfit to continue as the health minister, the Congress leader said.

Reddy demanded that the state government pay Rs.1 crore ex gratia to the family members of the women who had died in government hospitals.