Azamgarh: Amid tall claims of development and counter claims during the ongoing general elections, public health infrastructure in eastern Uttar Pradesh's Azamgarh district is in the ICU. While deliveries are being conducted in candlelight in the district hospital, dead bodies preserved in its mortuary are allegedly being harmed by rodents.

Many patients complained they did not get any relief despite having the much-hyped Ayushman health card issued by the Central government. Raja Gupta, a resident of the district, alleged an eye hospital is not accepting the card. “When private hospitals refuse to accept it, what is the benefit of such schemes? The government is fooling everyone,” he told The Mooknayak.

Anand Jaiswal, a resident of Alapur Assembly segment of Ambedkar Nagar district, said, “The uncle of BJP Shakti Kendra Convenor Ved Prakash Maurya suffered a renal failure. He was undergoing treatment at the Azamgarh District Hospital, which referred him to the Lohia Hospital in Lucknow owing to lack of specialized treatment.”

Patients at Atraulia Health Center in the district are facing multiple problems because of frequent power outages for long hours. Last week, if patients are to be believed, there was no electricity supply to the facility for over 24 hours, creating a lot of trouble for women who were expecting deliveries in a day or two.

It is alleged that the hospital administration refused to use generator services as a backup during the period. As a result, the patients had to spend the night with the help of candles and hand fans.

When contacted for comments, Chief Medical Officer Azamgarh Indrabhan Tiwari said, “I have taken cognisance of the matter. If the allegation is found to be true, strict action would be taken against errant officials. Let me tell you that due to transformer failure in the area, there has been no power supply in the area since Saturday morning.”

Eyes, Thumb Torn Off at Mortuary

The incident allegedly took place at Azamgarh District Hospital. A man died when an autorickshaw went out of control and overturned near Chewara village under Devgaon Kotwali area. The police brought his body to the mortuary for a postmortem examination.

The deceased was identified as Rammurat Chauhan (65), a resident of Kerakat under Naumatia Kusharna police station of Jaunpur district.

After his relatives received his dead remains following the autopsy on Wednesday, they found a thumb and an eye missing. The face was also gnawed at many places.

Talking to The Mooknayak, Dharmendra Chauhan accused the hospital administration of being negligent. “My uncle died in Azamgarh on Tuesday. His body was sent by the police for a post-mortem. The police informed us about the incident. We all reached the district hospital in the afternoon. But we were told that the autopsy would be carried out the next day. When we were handed over the body on Wednesday, an eye and a thumb were missing. Rat gnawing marks were visible at many places on the body,” he narrated the ordeal, demanding actions against the guilty.

Pharmacist Arvind Kumar admitted rats have caused havoc in the hospital. He said a letter has been written to the CMO in this regard. However, the CMO denied the allegation.

CMO Tiwari claimed rodents have not caused any harm to the body. “I myself inspected the mortuary. The thumb, which is said to have been torn off, was damaged during the accident, which also caused scratches on the body. Arrangements have been made to prevent rats from entering the mortuary. It will be repaired soon,” he said.

Azamgarh went to polls today in the sixth phase of the Lok Sabha elections. Known as the stronghold of the Samajwadi Party (SP), the constituency is witnessing a razor sharp contest between the Opposition SP and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) — which is ruling both the Centre as well as the state. Late Mulayam Singh Yadav and his son Akhilesh Yadav saved the seat from being hit by the Modi wave in 2014 and 2019 elections respectively.

However, in the by-election held in 2022 after Akhilesh was elected as an MLA, Bhojpuri film artist Dinesh Lal Yadav aka Niruha won from here on a BJP ticket. The saffron party has once again given trusted Niruha this election, while Akhilesh’s cousin Dharmendra Yadav is in the fray as an SP nominee.