Regulatory failures and negligence highlighted in newborn care facilities. Police investigation ongoing in tragic incident.
The owner of the neonatal hospital in Vivek Vihar, where six newborns died in a fire, ran a string of facilities in Delhi and was pulled up several times by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) over glaring regulatory lapses, showed official documents, as investigations revealed a pattern of violations that culminated in Saturday night’s tragedy.
The health regulator in 2018 moved court against Naveen Khichi for illegally operating a paediatric hospital in Vivek Vihar Block B, metres away from the facility in Block C that erupted in flames on Saturday, showed DGHS documents.
Then, in 2019, DGHS found that he had continued to operate a hospital he owned in Paschim Puri, despite the agency scrapping its licence over rule violations. But that facility stayed open for years, flying in the face of the censure, before it was issued a licence in 2022. It then hurriedly shut its doors on Sunday night as outrage against Khichi swelled.
Meanwhile, Delhi Police interrogated Khichi (42) and Akash Singh (26), the ayurveda doctor who was inexplicably on duty at Baby Care New Born Hospital when the fire broke out, after a local court remanded the two in three days’ police custody.
Monday’s findings add to a litany of regulatory malpractices by Khichi that also underline a series of failures by the state administration. Experts said they also pointed to severe negligence in the establishment and operation of facilities for newborns, especially low-cost ones, which do brisk business due to the steep expenses associated with higher-end hospitals.
Police underscored that the hospital gutted on Saturday did not have a licence, was packed beyond its authorised capacity, stored more oxygen cylinders than it was allowed, its doctors were not qualified for neonatal care, and the building had neither emergency exits nor fire extinguishers.
Delhi health minister Saurabh Bharadwaj acknowledged the violations and said the state government has issued instructions to chief medical officers across the city to inspect hospitals in their jurisdiction and prevent a rerun of the Vivek Vihar accident.
Officers involved in the investigation said Khichi’s run-ins with regulatory trouble go back several years.
“He ran five hospitals at one point — in Vivek Vihar B and C blocks, Paschim Puri, Faridabad and Gurugram,” said a Delhi Police officer. “The facility in Vivek Vihar B Block was shut after legal trouble, and the ones in Faridabad and Gurugram were closed after they failed to recoup costs.”
HT on Monday accessed a report that showed his hospitals in Vivek Vihar B Block and Paschim Puri were embroiled in litigation.
In 2018, the DGHS’s nursing home cell conducted an inspection at the former and found it had not been issued a registration by the Delhi health department.
Khichi was then booked under the Delhi Nursing Home Registration Act. DGHS also moved the Karkardooma court against him for endangering lives, showed the documents.
“Khichi’s application for a licence in January 2018 was rejected,” said an officer, adding that the facility was packed beyond capacity and was spread over too small a space.
This facility was eventually shut down.