Mamata Banerjee defends doctors in crib deaths in Malda

In the wake of uproar over fresh crib deaths in a state-run hospital in Malda district, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday virtually rejected the criticism of doctor's neglect and said the state lacked proper medical infrastructure.

Countering criticism from the Opposition and a section of the media over the fresh crib deaths in Malda Sadar hospital, Banerjee said, "Out of the seven babies that had died, two were brought dead to the hospital and the rest were brought in a moribund condition".

The chief minister hit out at the erstwhile Left Front government and said the problem was "hidden" elsewhere.

"The state lacked proper medical infrastructure because of the previous government's utter neglect with 40,000 children dying every year", she said.

"Infant mortality needs to be looked at very seriously. It is sad that seven children have died in Malda...... There has been canard when we are trying to improve the health infrastructure, which has been left in shambles by the previous government", she said.

"As per records, the infant mortality rate in the state is 40,000 per annum. We have been able to bring down the infant morality rate by two % in the past seven months and we will be able to bring it down to 25 %", she told a party rally here.

The Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress-Congress government came to power in the state in May last year ousting the Left Front after 34 years of uninterrupted rule Left Front since 1977.

The chief minister also said malnutrition was a major cause of infant mortality. "There are many contributory social causes, one of which is malnutrition of the mother."

She said there were large number of cases where birth of children were not institutionalised in rural areas. There were several instances of babies being born at home in the poor families in the villages, she said.

She said her government was taking steps to give health cards and conduct routine check up of pregnant mothers. She said that during the previous government there were no proper immunisation measures and no arrangement for anti-tetanus injection or polio vaccines in rural health health centres.

She said that her government has already spent Rs1200 crore under the national rural health mission.