By Siddhant Mohan, TwoCircles.net
The day after the story about tragic deaths of children in BRD Medical college broke, media started talking about Dr Kafeel Ahmad Khan, who was portrayed as a hero to many when he tried to restore the oxygen supply by arranging oxygen cylinders after paying from his own pocket.
But very soon, the administration labelled Kafeel responsible for children’s deaths. Kafeel was reported on social media for stealing oxygen from BRD medical college in a close nexus with Principal RK Mishra and saving it for his private hospital.
But what makes the issue look more bizarre is that media soon shifted its attention from ‘What actually happened in BRD Medical College’ to ‘Under what charges Dr Kafeel should be punished?’
Contrary to what’s being circulated, Dr Kafeel is a pediatrician, but not the head of the Pediatric department. Dr Mahima Mittal, being the senior most person, heads the pediatric department. Kafeel was appointed under National Health Mission (NHM) as a contractual staff and he was regularised in December 2016. So Kafeel held the Nodal officer of NHM, the post from which UP government removed him on August 13 visit to the hospital.
State’s Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath visited the BRD medical college on August 13. He met hospital staff in a closed room. What transpired during the meeting is not known officially.
But what Dr Kafeel did on the night of August 10 tells a different story. He managed to get about 100 oxygen cylinders from various sources and hospitals. One nursing staff from medical college told TwoCircles.net, “No doubt that Dr Kafeel was arranging oxygen cylinders that night. He was moving at every corner to restore the supply. But I cannot comment on what he did for which he got punished.” A section of media even reported that Sashastra Seema Bal had issued a press statement oxygen cylinders were arranged by SSB on request of Dr Kafeel.
It seems that stealing oxygen from medical college is an impossible job. BRD medical college has liquid oxygen tank through which oxygen is supplied on beds via pipeline. Oxygen cylinders are usually stored for emergency situations.
With the fact that medical college gets supply through the pipeline, state health minister Siddharth Nath Singh said that children’s deaths did not occur because of oxygen deficit. UP government even tweeted this from their official tweeter handle.
गोरखपुर के बीआरडी मेडिकल कॉलेज में ऑक्सीजन की कमी से किसी रोगी की मृत्यु नहीं हुई है।
— Government of UP (@UPGovt) August 11, 2017
As per the charges of stealing the stored oxygen cylinder is concerned, one local journalist told us, “It is not some silly nursing home. It is the biggest government hospital and medical college in the whole district. Do you think that he was stuffing oxygen cylinders in the back of his car or some other vehicle and no one bothered to report this? It is a medical college, you cannot even take a single syringe without proper paperwork.”
Even if the charges of routing cylinders from the point of the source is concerned, no one seems to believe that Dr Kafeel could route so much of cylinders to his own clinic so that it may kill children in the medical college. The journalist said, “I am not of the opinion that he is not guilty, or he is. But this also makes me concerned how could he route so much of oxygen that people died of scarcity.”
Records show that Dr Kafeel was nowhere responsible for purchasing oxygen cylinders. He came into purchase committee in May 2017 and was only responsible for buying warmers. Encephalitis ward, which already raised the request for warmers, was yet to get them as Dr Kafeel did not buy any.
The oxygen supply inside the hospital was the responsibility of Dr Satish Kumar, who also heads the anesthesia department. He was not present on his duty on August 10 and August 11, when the deaths occurred because of oxygen deficit. According to the sources, Gorakhpur District Magistrate Rajeev Rautela has mentioned the absence of Satish Kumar in his report. But with all discrepancies with Satish Kumar, he is back at the medical college and has not faced any action yet.
There are allegations against Dr Kafeel that he did not ensure the oxygen sufficiency as he was NICU in-charge. But this allegation also seems baseless, because Kafeel did not hold the NICU in-charge post. Instead, it was Dr Rachna Bhatnagar who held the NICU in-charge post.
As per an alumnus of BRD medical college, BRD medical college has an inventory record which they must maintain at any cost. The medical college and government hospitals have to maintain the inventory of incoming cylinders, outgoing empty cylinders and remaining half-filled or empty cylinders.
The alumnus told us, “I don’t think Dr Kafeel could have taken out so many cylinders. One should take a look at the inventory and it will be clear.”
When TwoCircles.net tried to get the hands on BRD medical college’s oxygen unit’s record, we were refused because of the media attention. Also, Dr Satish Kumar was not available to comment on the issue.
The oxygen supplying firm Pushpa Sales wrote 10 letters and 14 reminders for the payment of dues. All letters were addressed to UP’s Director General Medical Education, Principal of BRD medical college, and district administration. Any of the letters were not addressed to the Nodal Officer NHM, the post which Dr Kafeel held.
But as our source told us, the case does not look more than a case of irresponsibility and negligence and Dr Kafeel is being made a scapegoat in the same.
The case is also being diluted because of Dr Kafeel’s alleged private practice where he allegedly stored the oxygen cylinders. Gorakhpur has a very famous pediatric hospital named ‘Medispring’, which Dr Kafeel Khan started in 2013. It has specialised NICU, that is best of the class for Gorakhpur.
Dr Kafeel’s job at the medical college was regularised in December 2016, and before that, he was working in medical college as contractual staff. There is no rule which stops contractual staff from doing private practice. But even after Dr Kafeel got regularised, his names were visible on hoardings of the ‘Medispring’.
According to some reports, Dr Kafeel’s name was painted white after the issue got media attention. But, there are also some morphed cards and banners, whose authenticity Medispring staff decline.
Locals inform that Medispring is one of the best private pediatric hospitals in Gorakhpur. Many patients come to Medispring for consulting Dr Kafeel only. But Medispring is at least 12 kilometres far from the BRD medical college. This distance makes toeing of oxygen cylinders from the medical to the Medispring difficult, that too with the fact that it takes four men to carry one oxygen cylinder.
Journalist Manoj Kumar Singh, who was reporting about the oxygen shortage since past 20 days, told TwoCircles.net, “The issue of private practice is a mask that government is wearing to escape from taking responsibility for the incident. They are putting Dr Kafeel in the centre to save others.
“The doctor who can run a hospital like Medispring can also buy oxygen cylinders which cost only 32 rupees per kilogram. Administration and government have saved themselves by putting the private practice discussion on the table.”
An old rape case against Dr Kafeel and his brother Kashif Jameel has also resurfaced. Many people forget to take note of the fact that PS Cantt of Gorakhpur dismissed the case in April 2015. Police found that complainant filed a fake complaint against Dr Kafeel and his brother. Even if he is guilty in a rape case, that indeed is not related to the oxygen deficit in BRD medical college.
Dr Kafeel could be involved in various deeds that can be questioned, but during the night of August 10 and the morning of August 11, Dr Kafeel managed to bring about 100 cylinders in the ward but they couldn’t last more than 30 minutes. The ploy of putting all the blame on him is another attempt by the state administration to ignore the massive failure of all parties involved in saving the lives of innocents.