Mamata Banerjee injury: Director Security, SP suspended, DM removed over Nandigram incident
Kolkata, Mar 14: Director Security Vivek Sahay and Purba Medinipur's Superintendent of Police Pravin Prakash were suspended on Sunday over the incident in Nandigram in which Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was injured, the Election Commission said.
District Magistrate Vibhu Goel was also removed over the incident and transferred to a non-election post, it said.
The decisions come following a meeting of the EC over the report submitted by West Bengal chief secretary and the joint report by special general observers Ajay Nayak and Vivek Dube over the incident that happened on March 10, an official statement said.
"After going through the reports the commission decided that Vivek Sahay IPS, Director Security shall be removed from the post of the Director Security and be placed under suspension immediately. The charges must be framed against him within a week for grossly failing in discharge of his primary duty as Director Security to protect the Z+ protectee," it said.
The chief secretary, in consultation with the director-general of police, is authorised to decide on the new Director Security immediately, the EC said.
"Smita Pandey be posted immediately as DM and DEO, Purba Medinipur in place of Vibhu Goel who shall be transferred to a non-election post. Pravin Prakash, SP Purba Medinipur shall also be placed under suspension immediately and charges shall be framed against him for major failure of bandobast," the statement said.
Sunil Kumar Yadav was made the new SP of Purba Medinipur.
"Chief Secretary shall ensure that the investigation of Nandigram Case is completed and consequential action is taken as per law in next 15 days. Report in this regard shall be sent to the Commission by 31st march 2021," the EC said.
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Jhansi fire: Nurse's heroic efforts helped save over dozen babies
Lucknow/Jhansi (UP), Nov 17: Nurse Megha James was on duty when the fire broke out at the Jhansi hospital and she threw herself headlong into the rescue efforts, playing a hero's role by saving several babies.
Even when her salwar got burned, she refused to give up and was able to evacuate 14-15 babies with others' help.
"I had gone to take a syringe to give an injection to a child. When I came back, I saw that the (oxygen) concentrator had caught fire. I called the ward boy, who came with the fire extinguisher and tried to put it out. But by then, the fire had spread," James said.
Ten babies perished in a fire that broke out at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of the Maharani Laxmi Bai Medical College in Jhansi Friday night.
Faced with an enormous blaze, James's mind worked with a frenetic speed, to the extent she cared little about burning herself.
"My chappal caught fire and I burned my foot. Then my salwar caught fire. I removed my salwar and discarded it. At that time, my mind was virtually not working," she told PTI Videos.
James just wore another salwar and went back to the rescue operation.
"There was a lot of smoke, and once the lights went out, we could not see anything. The entire staff brought out at least 14-15 children. There were 11 beds in the ward with 23-24 babies," she said.
Had the lights not gone out they could have saved more children, James said. "It all happened very suddenly. None of us had expected it."
Assistant Nursing Superintendent Nalini Sood praised James's valour and recounted bits from how the rescue operation was carried out.
"The hospital staff broke the glasses of the NICU ward to evacuate the babies. It was then Nurse Megha's salwar caught fire. Instead of caring for her safety, she stayed there to rescue the babies and handed them over to people outside," she said.
Sood said James is currently undergoing treatment at the same medical college. She said she did not know the extent of her burns.
"The rescued babies were shifted to a ward very close to the NICU ward… When I recall the scene, I feel like crying," she said.
Dr Anshul Jain, the head of the anaesthesiology department at the medical college, explained the standard rescue operation and claimed the hospital followed the protocol to the T.
"In the triage process during an ICU evacuation, the policy is to evacuate less-affected patients first. The rationale behind this approach is that patients requiring minimal support can be relocated quickly, enabling a larger number of evacuations to be completed in a shorter time.
"In contrast, patients on ventilators or requiring high oxygen support demand more time and resources for evacuation," he said.
"This principle was successfully implemented in Jhansi, playing a significant role in saving many lives," Jain said.
A newborn rescued from the fire died due to illness on Sunday, Jhansi District Magistrate Avinash Kumar said.
