Jhalani, additional secretary and MD, National Health Mission, on Saturday. “We have initiated an enquiry and if negligence is proved strict action will be taken.’’
He was speaking a day after Gurgaon’s Civil Hospital allegedly turned away a pregnant woman, insisting that Aadhaar card was required for admission. The woman was then forced to give birth outside the hospital, with bystanders using shawls as makeshift curtains. She was admitted hours after her daughter was born. The woman, Munni, and her daughter are recovering.
“Preliminary investigations have revealed that the woman was denied treatment because she did not have her Aadhaar card. A doctor and a nurse have been suspended for this,” said Dr. Pradeep Sharma, principal medical officer at the hospital.
Recounting the ordeal, Munni’s husband Babloo, a labourer, said her labour pains began around 9 am on Friday after which the family reached the hospital. “The officials asked for her Aadhaar card. We only had the Aadhaar card number at the time and said we would get the card as well. We requested doctors to admit her so that treatment could begin.
“Since she was in a lot of pain, I even showed them my Aadhaar card. But the officials asked us to come back with the physical copy of her Aadhaar. I went out to get the document and by the time I returned Munni had been thrown out and she was on the ground outside the hospital giving birth,” he said.