The Centre has asked the State Governments to conduct fire safety audit of hospitals to avert fire incidents. In a letter to all states, Joint Secretary of Health Ministry Mrs. Shankuntala Gamlin has asked the states to get the fire safety audit done in all private and government hospitals.

She also asked the states to make an inventory of essential and life-saving devices in the hospitals in a time-bound manner.

The move comes after the recent fire tragedy at Kolkata's AMRI Hospital. In its letter, the Ministry has also sought report in this regard from 11 national health research institutes across the country.