The Drugs Department sealing the Coldrif cough syrup containers after 10 children allegedly die due to consuming it during raid in an Ayush firm, in Chhindwara. File.
| Photo Credit: ANI
The Congress on Tuesday (October 7, 2025) demanded a judicial probe and compensation for the families of the victims who died consuming adulterated cough syrup in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.Addressing a press conference at the All India Congress Committee (AICC) headquarters, Leader of the Opposition in the Rajasthan Assembly Tika Ram Jully and his counterpart in Madhya Pradesh, Umang Singhar, alleged gross negligence on the part of the authorities in allowing the sale of the cough syrup despite reports of related deaths in the past.The two leaders claimed that the cough syrup was found to contain a highly toxic chemical, diethylene glycol (DEG), which is known to cause kidney damage among children and the same substance was found in the cough syrups linked to the deaths in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), Gambia and Uzbekistan earlier.Watch: Coldrif cough syrup | Why many states have banned?
The Congress leaders from Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh alleged that the company supplying the cough syrup had been blacklisted earlier, but despite that, it was allowed to supply the syrup.Mr. Singhar claimed that 16 children have died in Chhindwara and that the local Congress MLA had warned the government several times, but no action was taken. “When the matter escalated, the body of a girl child was exhumed from the grave and a postmortem was conducted. Children kept dying in the State and the Chief Minister kept roaming in Assam’s Kaziranga National Park,” he alleged.“The Deputy Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh (Rajendra Shukla) claims no death has occurred due to the cough syrup. He kept giving a clean chit to the company that makes the cough syrup. After all, what kind of an insensitive government is this? What is the link between the Deputy Chief Minister and the medicine company?” Mr. Singhar asked.Mr. Jully said that while the Prime Minister claims to have been serving the country for 25 years in different positions, all this has been happening under his regime. He “should apologise to the country” over this issue, the Congress leader said.“In Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, several children have died consuming a cough syrup, and many more are seriously ill. Despite this, the BJP government in Rajasthan is not ready to accept that the children’s deaths were caused by consuming cough syrup,” the Rajasthan Opposition Leader said.“My question to the Rajasthan government is that what is the compulsion to procure drug supplies from those pharmaceutical companies that are blacklisted and notorious?” Mr. Jully said. Published - October 07, 2025 04:00 pm IST
