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Army hospital under cloud as 2 generals die

Josy Joseph in New Delhi

The Army's prestigious Research and Referral Hospital, completed with much fanfare a few years back and counted among India's most advanced health institutions, is under a cloud after the untimely death of two distinguished Major Generals within the span of one month.

However, army headquarters has denied media reports that a high-level probe has been ordered into the deaths. The deaths brought into question the credibility of the RR Hospital.

Major General Gagan Kumar Verma, chief of staff of 3 Corps located at Dimapur, died in the hospital on June 10. General Verma, an officer of the Rajputana Rifles, had been decorated with an Ati Vishisht Seva Medal and a Vishisht Seva Medal. As the chief of staff of 3 Corps, he was a key officer involved in counter-insurgency operations in north-east India and, in fact, comes second in the seniority list of the 3 Corps.

The Army claims, "his was a case of Chronic Interstitial Lungs Disease and he was already in the low medical category." The disease is "undetermined aetiology, which blocks the transfer of oxygen to the blood from the lungs."

The second case is that of Major General Chandreswar Narain, a highly reputed engineer. He had recently been cleared for promotion to the post of Lieutenant General and was to take over as the Engineer-in-Chief of the army. The E-in-C commands the Electrical and Mechanical Engineers and the Military Engineering Services, the engineering branches of the army.

General Narain was the Additional Engineer-in-Chief and Director General (Words) when he died. He was a keen golfer and was, in fact, playing golf two weeks back at the Army Golf Club in Dhaula Kuan. He died on June 27.

The Army claims that he suffered from "acute fulminant haemorrhagic pancreatitis secondary to gall stone disease, and died despite the best medical treatment."

The terse army statement says, "Unfortunately, both diseases carry very high mortality."

Media reports said the Vice Chief of Army Staff Lt Gen Chandra Shekhar ordered an inquiry after the family of Gen Verma threatened to file a case of medical negligence against RR Hospital. Senior army officials pacified the family by assuring that proper action would be taken after an internal inquiry. But army headquarters denied it had ordered an inquiry.

The media reports claimed that the inquiry was supposed to look into the medical treatment administered to the two officers and pinpoint responsibility.

Despite the denial, what has been called into question was the fact that two high profile Major Generals died in the hospital in a month's time. There is talk in defence circles of unpleasant experiences in the hospital. "Nothing would have been deliberate. However, there is a need to find out what went wrong," a senior official says.

"Our doctors deal with some of the fittest men and women in the country. We eat the best diet, exercise regularly and live in highly hygienic conditions. So when such ailments come up, it poses a serious challenge for our doctors," reasons another army official.

Reports also point out that Air Marshal S G Inamdar, deputy chief of Air Staff who is heading the price negotiations committee on the Advanced Jet Trainers, too faced some trouble at the hospital in April-May. Though he was admitted with a stomach ailment, he had to spend some time in the Intensive Care Unit.

RR Hospital is the most prestigious project ever undertaken by the defence forces. Work on the hospital started sometime in the late 80s and was completed in the mid-90s. The Rs 100 crore project was conceptualised and completed by the MES employing private contractors.

Located on a sprawling campus by the Outer Ring Road en route to the Indira Gandhi International Airport, the Hospital is believed to be Asia's biggest defence hospital and has over 600 beds. What is important is that the hospital is supposed to treat even the President of India, the supreme commander of the armed forces, and all the service chiefs.

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