Gorakhpur doctor Kafeel Ahmad Khan hopes to get back his job

Out on bail after spending seven months in jail in connection with the deaths of infants in a Gorakhpur hospital, Kafeel Ahmad Khan, doctor, is anxious about his future. He has not heard from the government and is wondering what its next step will be.

While the legal battle for him is far from over, he says his priority is to get reinstated at BRD Medical College in Gorakhpur from where he was suspended last year after 30 infants died allegedly due to lack of oxygen supply.

He was then a nodal officer of the National Health Mission and an Assistant Lecturer in the paediatrics department of the hospital.

“We will wait for the government to revoke my suspension. I will start again,” the doctor told The Hindu here on Sunday.

However, if the government does not reinstate him, he has an alternative plan: to set up a 500-bed encephalitis treatment centre in Gorakhpur to battle the deadly disease which consumes thousands of lives, mostly children, in the poverty-stricken region of eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

“Many NGOs, both Indian and from abroad, are in touch with me and have offered to fund the project. Not only will I be able to make a living but also serve people. There is no way I am leaving Gorakhpur,” Dr. Khan says.

On April 25, the Allahabad High Court granted him bail, observing that there was “no material on record which may establish medical negligence against” him individually in connection with the death of the infants.

He says he had no regrets about his efforts to get oxygen supply during the crisis. “There were infants dying in front of us one by one. Parents were losing hope and could have easily thrashed us due to their emotions. I would do it again, even if it meant saving only a single child. I didn’t do anything wrong,” he says.