NCPCR seeks fire safety audit of children’s hospitals in the country

National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has written to Chief Secretaries of all States and Union Territories on Tuesday asking them to conduct a fire safety audit of all medical facilities for children. This has been done in the wake of a fire accident at a Bhopal hospital that killed four infants.

Separately, NCPCR has sought from Madhya Pradesh Chief Secretary Iqbal Singh Bains, details of the last no objection certificate and audit of the Kamla Nehru Children’s Hospital, which witnessed the fire. Bains has also been told to shift the children from the Kamla Nehru Children’s Hospital to other hospitals.

“NCPCR recommends that to prevent recurrence of fire incidents in hospitals, fire safety audits should be undertaken in all the hospitals/medical colleges/nursing homes having NICU (neonatal intensive care unit), PICU (paediatric intensive care unit), SNCU (special newborn care units) and other medical facilities for children,” wrote NCPCR Chairperson, Priyank Kanoongo.

Meanwhile, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said on Tuesday  that the fire at the hospital Bhopal on Monday was a result of “criminal negligence” and that the guilty would not be spared.