Locked doors of PHC force delivery of a child on road in Haryana: NHRC notice to Principal Secretary, Health & Family Welfare of the State (12.6.2014)
PRESS RELEASE
New Delhi, 12th June, 2014
The National Human Rights Commission has taken suo motu cognizance of a media report that the insensitive attitude of staff at Public Health Centre (PHC), Kulan, District Fatehabad, Haryana forced a poor woman to deliver baby on the road outside the delivery hut of the PHC. The woman and her new-born child spent night on the road and it was only in the morning the PHC admitted them.
The Commission has observed that the contents of the media report, if true, raise a serious issue of violation of human rights of the victim woman and her baby. It has issued a notice to the Principal Secretary, Health & Family Welfare, Government of Haryana calling for a report within four weeks.
Reportedly, the woman was taken to the PHC at around 11:00 p.m. on the 1st June, 2014 but her relatives found the door of the delivery hut of the PHC bolted from inside. They knocked the door for more than an hour but no one opened the door. It was learnt later that the staff was sleeping inside the delivery hut. Allegedly, there was no doctor. The Government of Haryana has set up delivery huts in PHCs to promote clean and safe delivery practices in rural areas. Auxiliary Nurse Midwifery (ANM) and other staff is required to be present on duty round the clock at these delivery huts.
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New Delhi, 12th June, 2014
The National Human Rights Commission has taken suo motu cognizance of a media report that the insensitive attitude of staff at Public Health Centre (PHC), Kulan, District Fatehabad, Haryana forced a poor woman to deliver baby on the road outside the delivery hut of the PHC. The woman and her new-born child spent night on the road and it was only in the morning the PHC admitted them.
The Commission has observed that the contents of the media report, if true, raise a serious issue of violation of human rights of the victim woman and her baby. It has issued a notice to the Principal Secretary, Health & Family Welfare, Government of Haryana calling for a report within four weeks.
Reportedly, the woman was taken to the PHC at around 11:00 p.m. on the 1st June, 2014 but her relatives found the door of the delivery hut of the PHC bolted from inside. They knocked the door for more than an hour but no one opened the door. It was learnt later that the staff was sleeping inside the delivery hut. Allegedly, there was no doctor. The Government of Haryana has set up delivery huts in PHCs to promote clean and safe delivery practices in rural areas. Auxiliary Nurse Midwifery (ANM) and other staff is required to be present on duty round the clock at these delivery huts.
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