Congress downplays infant deaths in West Bengal

Congress Thursday downplayed deaths of a number of infants in Mamata Banerjee ruled West Bengal within weeks maintaining that public health system needs to be improved across the country and not only in the eastern state.

"There is a need for us to prioritise the working of our public health system not just in West Bengal but on a macro level at a national scale," Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari told reporters.

He was responding to a question on the deaths of infants in West Bengal's government hospitals over the past few weeks.

The continuously rising number of infant deaths in West Bengal had recently caught Governor MK Narayanan's attention, as in a virtual rap to the state government, he stressed on the need to prevent such occurrences in future.

Congress is part of the government in West Bengal headed by the Trinamool Congress leader whose party is the second largest constituent of the UPA at the Centre.