Delhi Minister Atishi orders probe after 13 inmates of Asha Kiran shelter home die in a month, BJP stages protest

Delhi Minister Atishi orders probe after 13 inmates of Asha Kiran shelter home die in a month, BJP stages protest/PTI

MINT | August 2, 2024 | 09:48 PM IST | Breaking News, Delhi, India | Follow on Google News

Delhi Minister Atishi orders probe after 13 inmates of Asha Kiran shelter home die in a month, BJP stages protest

Delhi Minister Atishi orders probe after 13 inmates of Asha Kiran shelter home die in a month, BJP stages protest

The Delhi government has ordered an inquiry after more than a dozen residents of the state-run Asha Kiran shelter home died within a few days. The incident has drawn widespread condemnation with members of the Opposition BJP led protests across the city after being denied entry into the shelter home premises.

“A report is coming that 14 deaths have occurred here in the month of July…among 14 one is a child. This is a serious matter and to investigate this a magisterial enquiry has been ordered. The preliminary report will be submitted within 24 hours. We are waiting for the postmortem report and after 24 hours the preliminary report of the magisterial enquiry will come out. We will take action as per that report,” Delhi Minister Atishi said.

The senior AAP leader has asked the Additional Chief Secretary for Revenue to initiate a magisterial enquiry and submit a report within 48 hours. Atishi also called for action to be taken against those who had caused the deaths through negligence.

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According to a Times of India report, 12 Asha Kiran inmates died in the second half of July. Welfare department officials quoted by the publication acknowledged the surge in deaths (while disputing the number) but insisted that it could be “attributed to multiple things”.

“In the past 20 days 13 deaths have occurred at Asha Kiran shelter home run by the Delhi government…The reasons are yet not known…When I was there in DCW, I inspected the situation here…the situation here is very bad as there is no proper staffing, and no proper doctors are there…We made a report at that time and submitted it to the Delhi Government, but no action was taken at that time,” added Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal.

MINT