Months after the contaminated Coldrif cough syrup-induced acute kidney injury claimed the lives of at least 19 children in Parasia town of southern Madhya Pradesh's Chhindwara district, the coal-belt town continues to remain without a single permanent paediatrician.
The Parasia Civil Hospital, the main government healthcare facility serving the coal belt's largest town, has been without a permanent paediatrician since November 2025, when its senior child specialist, Dr Praveen Soni, was arrested by the Chhindwara district Special Investigation Team (SIT) in connection with the deaths of 19 children in Parasia and six other adjoining areas of Chhindwara and Betul districts in the cough syrup poisoning case.
The situation is graver as Parasia town also does not have a private practising paediatrician. Retired government doctor Dr S S Thakur, who had been running a private clinic after retirement, and government doctor Dr Aman Siddiqui, who was allegedly engaged in private practice, were both arrested in March 2026 in the same high-profile case involving the deaths of children.
The issue of Parasia Civil Hospital functioning without a permanent paediatrician was recently raised by three-time local Congress MLA Sohanlal Valmik in the Madhya Pradesh Vidhan Sabha.
Valmik, who staged a day-long protest in Parasia on May 7, 2026, demanding the appointment of a permanent paediatrician at the Civil Hospital, said that following the protest, the Chhindwara district Chief Medical and Health Officer (CMHO) had only been able to make a temporary arrangement by deputing two paediatricians posted at the Chhindwara District Hospital to provide services at Parasia Civil Hospital three days a week.
"The absence of a permanent paediatrician at Parasia Civil Hospital is forcing families in the coal belt's main town to travel either to Chhindwara city, about 30 km away, or to Nagpur in neighbouring Maharashtra, nearly 150 km away, for treatment of their children. Not only has the treatment of children in Parasia been severely affected, but the number of deliveries at the Civil Hospital has also declined due to the absence of a qualified, regular child specialist to provide specialised care to newborns," the Congress MLA told The New Indian Express on Friday.
"Most deliveries are now taking place at private maternity homes in Parasia, as they are able to hire paediatricians from Chhindwara city on call," Valmik added.
The three-time legislator further said that despite writing multiple letters between December 2025 and May 2026 to the district CMHO, the district collector, and the state's Deputy Chief Minister and Health Minister Rajendra Shukla, the issue of appointing a permanent paediatrician at Parasia Civil Hospital remains unresolved.
Replying to the Congress MLA's question in the Vidhan Sabha on Wednesday, Deputy Chief Minister and Public Health and Medical Education Minister Rajendra Shukla acknowledged that a permanent paediatrician is yet to be posted at Parasia Civil Hospital.
"In April 2026, under an order issued by the Health Directorate, one contractual postgraduate paediatrician and five other contractual postgraduate doctors were posted to the hospital. However, none of them joined duty. Filling vacancies is a continuous process, and appointments will be made," Shukla said, without specifying any timeline for the appointment of a regular paediatrician at the hospital.
At least 19 children from Parasia town and six others from different parts of Chhindwara and neighbouring Betul district died in September and October 2025 after being administered the contaminated Coldrif cough syrup, which had been prescribed by government doctors Dr Praveen Soni and Dr Aman Siddiqui, as well as retired paediatrician Dr S S Thakur.
While some of the children died in hospitals in Chhindwara district due to acute kidney injury caused by the contaminated cough syrup, others succumbed during treatment at hospitals in Nagpur, Maharashtra.
The three paediatricians are among those arrested by the SIT in connection with the case and remain in judicial custody, having not yet been granted bail by the court.
