The Rajasthan government on Tuesday told the state Assembly that deaths allegedly linked to a government-supplied cough syrup were caused due to “overdosing and comorbidity”, saying the medicine had been consumed without medical advice.
A sharp exchange broke out in the House after the opposition raised questions during the Question Hour over reports of children’s deaths allegedly connected to the cough syrup in October 2025.
Meanwhile, the Congress sought to corner the government over lower expenditure under the free medicine scheme despite a rise in OPD footfall, and reiterated concerns over the reported deaths allegedly linked to the consumption of the cough syrup.
Congress MLA Harimohan Sharma and Leader of Opposition Tikaram Jully raised questions on these issues.
Responding to them, Health Minister Gajendra Singh Khimsar said the syrup in question was not taken on the advice of government doctors.
"If medicines are given on the prescription of doctors and deaths occur, then the responsibility lies with the doctor and the government. But if someone brings medicines from outside and deaths occur, neither the doctor nor the government is responsible," the minister said.
Khimsar said that not many deaths had occurred in the cough syrup case, adding that "two to four or five deaths were reported". He said parents had administered cough syrup doses to children on their own, without medical advice.
The health minister said cough syrup contains chemicals such as codeine, and the deaths occurred due to "overdosing and comorbidity".
He also said the same cough syrup has been in use since 2014, including during the previous Congress government's tenure.
Reacting to the reply, Jully said the company manufacturing the syrup had been blacklisted in several places and questioned whether the quality of the medicine may have deteriorated over time.
The issue of fatalities caused by man-animal conflict was also taken up, prompting the government to announce a proposal to double compensation for deaths resulting from wild animal attacks.
Replying to a question by BJP MLA Jaswant Gurjar from Bari in Dholpur district, Forest Minister Sanjay Sharma said the government had decided to raise the compensation amount from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 10 lakh.
He informed the Assembly that the process of amending the relevant rules to implement the enhanced compensation was currently underway.