Jodhpur: Former chief minister Ashok Gehlot Tuesday accused the state govt of failing to address concerns over recent maternal health cases in Kota and Jodhpur, and demanded that it disclose the findings of its investigation into complications reported after caesarean deliveries.Speaking to reporters at the Circuit House during his visit to Jodhpur, Gehlot said the deaths of women after childbirth and reports of severe infections in Kota were “extremely alarming.”“Women go to hospitals for safe deliveries, but if they end up suffering from infections, deaths or even kidney failure, it is a matter of grave concern,” he said.Referring to similar cases reported from Bikaner, Kota and now Jodhpur, Gehlot said the incidents had created fear among the public. He urged the govt to explain the reasons behind the complications reported in Kota and clarify whether they were linked to infections, operation theatre conditions or medicines.Questioning the govt’s assertion that the Jodhpur cases were different from those in Kota, Gehlot said the administration was yet to explain what had caused the complications in the Kota case.“The govt must tell the people what actually went wrong in Kota. Without completing the investigation, it is not appropriate to claim that the Jodhpur incident is different from Kota,” he said.Gehlot welcomed the govt’s decision to involve AIIMS and other medical experts in the probe, but said that more than one-and-a-half months after the Kota incident, the cause still had not been made public.During his visit, Gehlot met women undergoing treatment and their family members at Paota District Hospital. He later visited AIIMS Jodhpur and interacted with the relatives of two critically ill patients.Later, in a post on X, Gehlot criticised health minister Gajendra Singh Khimsar over his recent remarks that occasional deaths cannot always be termed a failure of the healthcare system. Gehlot said the minister’s statements repeatedly sparked controversy.“During the Vasundhara Raje govt, he was known as a good minister. This time, I don’t know what has happened; his remarks keep backfiring,” Gehlot said.
