Four infants die of 'cold' at children home in Lucknow; minister disputes allegation

The Superintendent of a government-run children’s home here was suspended after the death of four infants in the last five days, allegedly due to cold, officials said on Thursday. A magisterial inquiry has been ordered into the deaths and Kinshuk Tripathi, the superintendent of the home, issued a show-cause notice, District Probation Officer Vikash Singh said.

Four infants reportedly died of cold between February 10-14 at the children’s home located on Prag Narayan road.

Women and child development minister Baby Rani Maurya disputed the allegation as ”totally false.” Maurya, in a statement, said that the infants were underweight and suffering from fever as well as Thalassemia and were undergoing treatment at different hospitals.

The district administration has also rejected the media reports which attributed the deaths to cold. It said the exact reason for the deaths could only be ascertained after the probe report.

The children’s home, run by the state Women’s Welfare department, nurses destitute infants and children up to the age of 10. The home currently has 75 inmates.

Vikash Singh told PTI that four inmates had died in the course of medical treatment at King George Medical college.

All four were aged between 1.5 months to 5 months, he said, adding, the post mortem reports are yet to come.