Hyderabad: The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) Working President KT Rama Rao (KTR) on Monday, September 23 announced that the party has formed a three member committee to investigate infant and maternal deaths at the Gandhi hospital.
The fact-finding committee comprises former Telangana health minister T Rajaiah, former MLA Dr Methuku Anand and MLA Dr Sanjay. KTR attacked the Congress government alleging that its attempt to prevent the fact-finding team of experienced doctors is a blatant attack on transparency and accountability.
He further questioned the government over its alleged attempt to prevent people from finding the reasons for maternal and infant deaths at the Gandhi Hospital. The committee aims to investigate the status of healthcare in Telangana.
“The report by this extremely experienced doctors will only help the government take the right decisions going forward. Is the Congress Govt. afraid of being held accountable for their catastrophic failure in healthcare? The people deserve answers,” KTR said.
The Rajanna Sircilla MLA went on to say that the BRS will will not rest or stop until the reality is exposed; no matter what chief minister A Revanth Reddy and the Congress think.
Data on deaths in Gandhi Hospital
Data regarding parental and infant deaths at Gandhi Hospital surfaced online, where reports claim that there were 241 infant deaths so far in the current financial year (2024-25), down from 430 the previous year (2023-24). In August alone, 48 paediatric deaths were recorded. The hospital has also seen 68 maternal deaths this year, compared to 108 last year.
Hyderabad: Data shows infant deaths at Gandhi Hospital; Congress, BRS trade blame
However, the health department’s official data states 52 infant deaths so far this year, compared to 84 in the previous year. The government’s data also reports only 9 infant deaths recorded in August.
Telangana health minister Damodar Raja Narasimha, in an effort to reassure the public, stated that doctors are doing everything possible to save lives, but acknowledged that some deaths are unfortunately unavoidable in tertiary care hospitals. “This is a reality in such facilities everywhere,” he stated on September 18.
He called for health audits to investigate the root causes of these fatalities, stressing that systemic issues in the healthcare sector must be addressed to prevent further tragedies.
