In a shocking display of outright callousness, a Community Health Centre (CHC) in Agra, refused to help a pregnant woman who had gone into labour until her husband supplied them with surgical gloves! The unborn baby died after the mother was denied medical assistance.

39-year-old Anil Kumar Chauhan, a farmer from Chawali  village that falls under Etmadpur block, had taken his 35-year-old wife Guddi Devi to the CHC on May 18 at 9:30 PM in an ambulance after she suffered labour pains. A woman staff at the CHC then examined her and asked Anil to return home with her at the time and asked them to come back to the next day.

Anil told The Times of India, “I pleaded with them to admit her as she was in pain and start the treatment, but to no avail. Later, I called the Etmadpur sub-divisional magistrate, Jyoti Rai, for help. On getting directions from the SDM, the staffers at the CHC misbehaved with me for complaining to the officer.”

If this was not enough, the CHC staff allegedly asked the distressed couple to bring surgical gloves to begin her treatment because they were not available at the hospital. Chauhan recounted that around 11 PM, the CHC staff asked him to bring surgical gloves. However, even after looking for an hour, he couldn’t find any as it was late and the night curfew due the Covid-19 lockdown was on. At around 3 AM, he returned home with his wife. In the early hours on May 19, Guddi fell unconscious and Anil rushed her to a private hospital. When the doctors there conducted an ultrasound, they told Anil and Guddi that their child had died in the womb.

“My child could have been saved if she was provided treatment was provided treatment at the CHC. I hope authorities will take cognizance of the matter and ensure strict action,” Anil said.

Inquiry ordered

Following Anil Kumar’s complaint, Etmadpur SDM issued a notice to the CHC administration. District Magistrate Prabhu N Singh also ordered a probe into the incident. However, child rights activist told the publication that since April at least five children had died in Agra due to unavailability of timely medical assistance, the district administration only ordered inquiries but took no action.

In May, after suffering excruciating stomach pain, a 12-year-old child lost his life when six hospital allegedly refused to treat him fearing he might be Covid-19 positive. An eight-month-old too lost his life after he was turned away by three private hospitals in Agra.

In the month of May itself, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) had issued notices to the Agra District Magistrate after a six-month-old died due to the unavailability of an ambulance. It has issued another notice to the UP’s health department in the matter of two children carrying firewood in a discarded PPE suit which the kids found in a pile of garbage in a graveyard. PPE suits are to be sprayed with disinfectants and disposed of in an electric furnace after use.

The medical system of Uttar Pradesh seems to be crumbling if one is to go by these incidents. With no action taken against authorities who are in charge of saving lives, it looks like the citizens are set to suffer more till the lockdown is in place.

Related:

Is it enough to be ‘not as bad as Italy or France’?
The Deaths of Migrant Workers in India 

The post Apathy kills Agra woman’s unborn baby appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The Delhi High Court directed the state as well as central government to set up helpline for pregnant women, especially ones held up in COVID19 hotspots, and to ensure that no hardship is caused to them.

The Delhi High Court gave this order after finally hearing a petition filed by a women’s rights NGO called SAMA-Resource Group for Women and Health. This petition highlighted denial of health care to women, specifically denial of delivery/child birth services in Delhi in the wake of the COVID19 epidemic and nationwide lockdown.

The petition stated that although essential services during lockdown included medical services to pregnant women as well as neo natal care, in reality women are unable to access these services leading to distress and even deaths of foetuses. The petition was filed to ensure proper coordination between the concerned government departments on this issue and seeking appointment of a nodal officer in every COVID19 hotspot, as is declared from time to time by state governments, who contact number be made public so that they can be contacted by pregnant women seeking health care. The petition stated that this should include arranging transportation to and from the hospital, securing movement passes and so on.

The Directorate of Family Welfare, government of NCT agreed to make available the same helpline that has been set up for aid of senior citizens during lockdown, to pregnant women as well. This will enable them to visit hospitals for check-ups, delivery and post-delivery consultation, whenever required. It also said that Asha Workers have been assigned with this task of assisting pregnant ladies and contacting Auxiliary Nursing midwives (ANMs)

During the hearing, the petitioner’s counsel interjected that most ASHA workers have been assigned COVID19 related work and hence are not always available. To this, the counsel for department of Family Welfare submitted and assured the court that “sufficient number of Asha workers and ANMs, will be made available in their respective areas so that they can reach out to the pregnant ladies and particularly those who are in the high risk category for a follow up. Further, adequate assistance will be provided to pregnant women, particularly, in the last trimester”. He also pointed out that Asha workers are working under the supervision of the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, UOI and, therefore appropriate directions be issued to the respective parties.

The petitioner was satisfied by this response and the court while appreciating the governments’ prompt responses, disposed of the petition while issuing directions to the government parties. Directions were issued to ensure that the helpline number which is proposed to be set up within two days, for assisting senior citizens in Delhi, shall also be made available for pregnant ladies. The court also directed that this helpline number shall be publicised adequately in the newspapers and the social media as also through the Delhi Police, wherever possible. The court also asked both the central as well as the state governments to work in tandem and ensure that pregnant women and their families, living in COVID19 hotspots do not face any hurdles.

If implemented effectively and in a timely manner, this measure of the Delhi government, in cooperation with the central government could ease the difficulties faced specially by pregnant women during lockdown.

The complete order can be read here.

Related:

Why is Delhi Police using anti-terror law against Jamia Milia Islamia scholars?
Designate India as ‘Country of Particular Concern’, impose sanctions: USCIRF
No public gatherings and loudspeakers for religious events: Guj Gov’t

The post Delhi HC directs govt to set up helpline for pregnant women appeared first on SabrangIndia.

As the lockdown in India continues in the hope of curbing the spread of the coronavirus, it has brought along a multiple problems with itself.

1.       In Ranchi, Mohammed Imtiyaz, a grocer in his mid-30s lost his newborn daughter in the wee hours of Monday due to what he called overzealous cops enforcing the lockdown. A resident of Hindpiri’s Nizam Nagar area that is a containment zone, Imtiyaz was stopped twice by the police when he tried to take his pregnant wife to a hospital in his car around 1 AM on Monday this week.

Due to this, his wife, Nargis Parveen, had to deliver the baby at home with the help of a few women in the neighbourhood.

“The baby survived only for about half an hour,” Imtiyaz told The Telegraph on Tuesday. A sub-inspector had been suspended over the incident.

Holding back his tears, he told the publication, “The nearest hospital from our home is Seva Sadan at Upper Bazar, barely 600 metres from my home. If the baby was born there, things might have been different, the child might have lived.”

He said, “At a Nizam Nagar gate, the police told me to go back and get permission from some senior police official. I tried to go out from another road near the Marwari College, but was stopped again by another police team who said I had to arrange an ambulance.”

A distraught Imtiyaz added, “Unfortunately, my wife’s labour pains were so severe that there was no time to arrange an ambulance. Couldn’t cops understand that?”

Imtiyaz said that his first wife had died, leaving a daughter behind. “But this was Nargis’ first child. There are around 12 other pregnant women in our area. I humbly request the government to ensure these mothers-to-be don’t share my wife’s fate.”

2.       In Bengaluru, a migrant woman labourer who had to deliver her child on a pavement, was given first aid by a dentist who also revived her newborn, Deccan Chronicle reported.

The incident took place on April 14. Shanti, from North India had walked seven kilometers looking for a hospital. She went into labour soon, but a clinic she found was shut, forcing her to deliver on the pavement. As the child didn’t respond, her husband wrapped it in a newspaper, assuming it had died.

However, Ramya Himanish, the dentist, descended like an angel to save the child and the woman. She noticed the woman lying on the pedestrian platform, bleeding and immediately took her to the clinic.

Dr. Ramya told reporters, “When I went there, I saw the woman bleeding. I brought her inside and provided treatment. Then I checked the baby. After the resuscitation process, the child came to life.”

She also summoned an ambulance and sent the woman with the newborn to a government hospital for further better treatment.

3.       In Telangana too, a pregnant woman, who was in the last month of her pregnancy, walked 100 km and reached Kusumanchi mandal headquarters to go to her native place in Odisha from Hyderabad, along with her husband. She was rescued by police and revenue officials on Tuesday night and shifted to a hospital in Khammam, reported The Indian Express.

Sunita Sheel (27) and her husband Sridam Sheeel (37), residents of MV-79 village in Malkangiri district, Odisha, had arrived in Hyderabad three months ago to work as labourers. However, the contractors stopped paying them once work was halted due to the lockdown. Because they had no money and no transportation available, they started walking back to their native place.

A lorry driver saw her and offered them a lift after which he dropped the couple at Suryapet. They started walking from Suryapet again, and reached Kusumanchi in Khamman district. The police who was checking vehicles there, stopped them and put them with an organization that has been helping people in need.

4.       Reflecting no respite to migrants, the Assam police on Wednesday intercepted a truck at Golakganj in Dhubri ferrying 39 migrant labourers to Bengal from Hojai. The labourers had lost their jobs and money due to the lockdown and were on their way home, reported the Telegraph India.

The labourers were detained and the Bengal police was contacted, but due to the lockdown, the police said it was not possible to take them all back. The Dhubri police then contacted the Hojai police and sent back all the labourers where they were to be quarantined at their respected places with all possible resources.

5.       Citizens who are handicapped and depend on help by caregivers are facing a crisis during the lockdown. Most of them haven’t received financial help which was promised by the Centre and most don’t know whom to ask for it. The National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People (NCPEDP), a non-profit, recently shot off a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking him to look into difficulties faced by lakhs of disabled Indians, reported India Today.

Arman Ali, the non-profit’s executive director said, “The Rs 1,000 announced is for the entire three-month period which translates to Rs 333 per month for an individual. No one in the country has received the amount as yet.”

People who need medical attention find it difficult to get passes for caregivers owing to complicated procedures and lack of transportation. Thalassemia patients too are finding it difficult to get blood for transfusion.

For citizens of rural India, the problems are worse because there is no money coming in due to the lockdown and even two meals are a distant dream.

This is just a miniscule percentage of problems that are actually haunting people amid the lockdown. Nobody knows when and how, and if help will reach those in dire need.

Related:

Imprisoned on their boats along Guj coast
Several states announce monetary aid for workers stranded outside state

The post Lockdown impact: Distraught mothers, dead babies and more appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The Prime Minister, on December 31 announced a cash entitlement of Rs. 6000 for pregnant women across the country; presenting it as an original idea that will, somehow magically mitigate the hardships caused by demonetisation. A universal maternity entitlement of at least Rs. 6000 has been an entitlement for all pregnant and lactating women in the country since 2013; with the passing of the National Food Security Act (NFSA).

The Modi regime, in complete violation of the Act, has continued with the pilot Indira Gandhi Matritva Sahyog Yojana (IGMSY) in just 53 districts of the country despite repeated demands by women across the country, civil society organisations as well as the Supreme Court asking for an explanation for the delay in universal application and implementation.

While a few years ago the IGMSY amount was increased to Rs. 6000 from Rs. 4000; to be in tune with the NFSA neither the coverage nor the budget allocated for the scheme has been enhanced by the Central government.
The budget for the scheme has remained around Rs. 400 crores while around Rs. 16,000 crores would be required to cover all pregnant women, who are around 29 million.

A real test of what the intentions after the Prime Minister’s announcement will be to see how much the budget next month will allocate funds to implement the promises.  One way in which it is already obvious is how the government seeks to restrict coverage is by imposing conditionalities on access to this entitlement; as already exists in the IGMSY.

Presently it is a conditional cash  transfer of Rs 6000 provided only after the first 2 births to women above 18 years.

The Prime Minister in his speech mentioned that this is for women who have institutional deliveries and immunise their children. While institutional delivery is conditionality for Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY); immunisation along with a number of other services are conditions to get the installments for IGMSY. It has been argued many a time, that imposing such conditionalities, especially in the absence of good quality of universal health services being available only excludes the most marginalised women from much needed support.

Further the eligibility criteria of 19 years of age or benefits only for the first two children also serve to exclude women who belong to vulnerable and marginalised communities.

Maternity entitlements must be seen as a right for all women, universally. In a country like India where more than 90% of women are outside of organised sector employment, cash transfers for maternity entitlements (as wage compensation as well) becomes a crucial tool.

We demand that that the Maternity entitlement as envisaged in the 2013 NFS Act be implemented in its entirety, without any conditionality making it universal as well retrospective, since September 2013, when the Law came into force.
Rs 6000 be provided universally to all women who have delivered babies since 2013 September at the earliest. All states should be directed to institute mechanisms like in Tamil Nadu to ensure that the benefit reaches all lactating mothers.

The post Modi’s Regurgitating Old Sops, Nothing New: Universal Maternity Entitlement appeared first on SabrangIndia.