The Integrated Child Development Services Department has denied accusations of mismanagement.
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Three more infant girls have died at the state-run Sishu Gruhas in Nalgonda and Hyderabad, taking the toll at the Nalgonda centre to 14 in four months.
The latest deaths were confirmed by BP Pushapalatha, Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) project director, Nalgonda. "Two-month-old Lathikaand Sonakshi died between Dec 29 and Dec 30. Sonakshi was admitted to Rainbow Hospital and was on ventilator for two months. She was given good medical care, but we couldn't save her. Lathika had pneumonia, heart ailment and was admitted to Niloufer hospital, a month ago. She was recently shifted to Nalgonda," she said, speaking to Times of India.
She revealed that the baby developed complications on December 10. “After 15 days, she was referred to Niloufer Hospital and she died on Dec 30," Pushapalatha said. "We get 40 to 50 admissions with tribals often abandoning girl children. In other districts, admissions per day is between 7 and 10," she added.
Lathika was born on October 22 and handed over to Sishu Gruha two days later. The three deaths take the number of child deaths in Nalgonda to an alarming 14 in the last three months.
Prior to this, Telengana Today had reported that 11 children in Sishu Gruha lost their lives while undergoing treatment in a special ward in Niloufer Hospital at Hyderabad. The Sishu Gruha, which has a sanctioned strength of 20 children were providing shelter to as many as 25 to 30 children being provided until 2015.
Balala Hakkula Sangham honorary president Achyuta Rao attributed the deaths to mismanagement by ICDS, "Instead of using lactogen-free milk, they feed Vijaya tetra milk which triggers illness. Nalgonda project director of ICDS should be held responsible.”
However, ICDS denies that. "The kids who died had health complications like sepsis and pneumonia," department joint director (ICDS) Anuradha said.