Search the Internet          Tips

Sinha absolves Left Front govt on child deaths

Union Health Minister Shatrughan Sinha on Saturday gave a clean chit to the Left Front government on the deaths of children in a government-run hospital in Kolkata.

He said the negligence or incapability of doctors were not the factors responsible for the demise of 18 children in the state-run B C Roy hospital in September.

"The deaths were mainly due to demand-supply mismatch of oxygen cylinders in the hospital. But there is a great deal of improvement in the situation now with piped oxygen being provided," he told reporters at the Bharatiya Janta Party office in Kolkata.

Asked whether he was satisfied with the existing conditions Sinha, who paid a visit to the B C Roy hospital earlier in the day, said, "There is no room for satisfaction. But I am happy about the improvement in the hospital. It is the largest referral one in West Bengal."

He, however, added that it needed more infrastructural support and para-medical staff.

The health minister said West Bengal is not the only state with problems of health and poverty. Such issues existed in other states too.

Asked about Centre's responsibility in this matter, Sinha said that health was a state subject. "We have certain responsibilities, but we cannot cross that line."

Tell us what you think of this report