BENGALURU: After the abduction of a newborn baby girl from Jayanagar General Hospital ICU on Friday, ironically, the Health Minister K R Ramesh Kumar inaugurated a 100-bedded mother and child wing in the same premises on Saturday.
The hospital does not have a single security guard even now manning the premises. Though the hospital had requested for 10 security guards the Department hadn’t processed the request on a priority basis leading to a grave security lapse, said medical superintendent Lokesh B S.
Even on Saturday, there were only nurses and doctors in the ICU with no one manning the entrance. This is not the practice in Vani Vilas hospital and Indira Gandhi Institute of Child Health, which are hospitals run by the Medical Education Department.
Health commissioner Subodh Yadav said, “It is not up to the department to provide security guards. Malleswaram General Hospital and Jayanagar General Hospital should outsource security services, call for tenders or make their own arrangements. They could also use the Arogya Raksha Samiti funds if money is an issue. I had a meeting on this issue and have personally gone through the documents. The onus is totally on the hospital to ensure security.”
Police said on Saturday that they were going through CCTV footage and were trying to trace the person who took away the baby. Further investigations are on.